The head of the United Aerial Firefighters Association, which has sent about 200 pilots to Southern California to battle the ongoing massive wildfires, told Fox News Digital that the scope of the fires is “absolutely demoralizing” and looks set to be one of the worst in the world. the history of the nation.
“What we’re seeing, especially in the United States and around the world, is that there’s no longer a fire season — that’s it fire throughout the year” Paul Petersen said Wednesday.”[This] could have ended up as one of the deadliest and climate-costliest wildfires in US history.”
Union firefighters are limited to eight-hour shifts in the air, like airline pilots. However, Petersen said, they work 24-hour shifts. At night, he said, pilots are equipped with night vision goggles. From the air, they report the location of the flames to firefighters on the ground and spray water or retarding substances from above.
Among the aircraft supplied by the association are helicopters, such as Blackhawks and ACH 47 Chinooks, and air tankers, such as Grumman S-2T and Lockheed C-130H planes, which carry thousands of gallons of water. They also supply “scooper” planes, which “capture water from oceans, lakes and reservoirs that can be released as plain water or mixed with a foam inhibitor,” according to Cal Fire.
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An airplane descends as smoke billows from the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon, in Los Angeles, California, USA, on January 11, 2025. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
These aircraft add to the large fleet trying to put out the fires Southern California. Cal Fire currently has over 60 aircraft and helicopters within its firefighting fleet; Cal Fire also counts three King Air A200 twin-turboprop aircraft among its “air tactical aircraft.” The Air National Guard has sent C-130 Hercules aircraft “equipped with modular aerial firefighting systems” to the Los Angeles area, where they are performing missions.
“I’ve only seen the pictures and I’ve talked to the fire chiefs that are down there – they [are] making sure the devastation is worse than what you see on TV, it’s worse than what you can imagine,” he continued. “And from a firefighter’s perspective, it’s completely demoralizing because firefighters are there to solve problems and their people call them when it’s their worst day. And you go in to try to solve that problem, and you can’t do it.”
As of Wednesday, more than 40,000 acres and more than 12,300 homes had burned statewide between the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst and Auto fires, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Palisades Fire, which has consumed more than 23,000 acres in the Los Angeles area, only 19% is restricted, the agency states.
“When you have 13,000 homes lost, you know that makes a lot of firefighters angry because they didn’t have the resources to do it,” Petersen said.
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A mural by Sergey Statsenko, also known as the artist Steeke, thanks firefighters in the Venice Beach area of Los Angeles as fires rage on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
“There are several different components [this],” Petersen said of why these latest fires are so devastating. “When you have extreme weather conditions and you have Santa Ana winds blowing, you know, 50, 60, 70, 80 miles an hour, and then you bring fire into that.. . it just moves so fast that people aren’t ready for it.
“Communities that aren’t ready for it, the firefighters are caught off guard by it. … When you start losing house after house and block after block after block, you’re just trying to figure out how to stop it? And, you know, there’s really no playbook on how to stop a fire.”
Fox News Digital previously reported that the city’s fire hydrants ran out of water as firefighters worked to contain the flames and that the department’s budget was slashed just weeks before the Palisades fire broke out.
“Without increased funding for wildfires, we’re going to continue to see this over and over again,” Petersen said. “[It’s] not only realizing that fire season is year-round, but also having the resources and money to invest not only in fire suppression, but also in hazardous fuels, to strengthen communities. The U.S. needs to understand, take this seriously, that you have to do everything you can to protect communities from fires.”
A California Department of Corrections hand crew works on containment lines before the Palisades fire Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in Santa Monica, California. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
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“There’s a huge need at the local, state and federal level to look at how to really start fighting when fire and suppression is a big part of it,” he continued. “You’ve got to fight. You’ve got to fight the fire you have. But there’s also got to be fuel processing, logging, grazing, green removal. There’s also got to be incentives from insurance companies for fire-adapted communities. All three have to work in one fell swoop to do that .”
“It takes a tragedy to really wake people up to this,” Petersen said. – And the firefighters have been talking about it for 25 years, about these problems that are happening.
There were two men charged with arson in Los Angeles this week as authorities battle firefighters and looters amid the chaos. Petersen said it is highly unlikely that the fires were caused naturally by lightning or spontaneous combustion.
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A helicopter descends as smoke billows from the Palisades Fire in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA on January 11, 2025. (REUTERS/Daniel Dreifuss)
“I can tell you with probably 99% certainty that it wasn’t lightning and there really wasn’t a natural start to it… [With] lightning, you’ll usually get weather or you’ll get the high clouds that come with cumulonimbus. Cumulonimbus clouds do not form with strong winds [like the] Santa Ana winds … Lightning is the number one cause,” he said.
“Well, was the fire started, or was it carelessness of the citizens, or was it the utility companies [it is likely a] a man-made fire… Wind is a natural event, fire is natural, but the cause of that fire is not natural,” he said.
