It's the exact situation they're dealing with in Oklahoma and Texas, it's the same type of situation for an aggressive fire. The only difference is out here it gets cooler in the evening.
Unfortunately with the long range forecast, we're looking at above normal temperatures like this all the way until the next 12 months. We're looking at below normal precipitation in the next few months, basically the recipe is there that we can have a long fire season ahead of us.
Right now, it's moving so fast and so far that it puts everything in that park at a greater threat.
We've been seeing hundreds of fires this winter, basically multiple fires everyday. When you talk about these wind events that have been coming through, instead of these fires where firefighters can quickly stop them, they're turning to thousands of acres.
You are not going to leave somebody on the street.
This has been a monthly event all winter: a hot, dry day with westerly winds. As the mountains have been receiving the moisture, we've been receiving the wind.
This happened so fast that firefighters just had to stop the fire without having time to evacuate.
What people need to realize is that fire season is a year-round problem. If you don't have snow on the ground or it's not raining, you're in fire season.
This weather pattern has been continuing for weeks, and there's no real relief in sight.
That smoke plume that you see there is not just a plume going up into the sky. It is extreme energy. This is awesome power that we're looking at.
