NEVADA CITY, Calif. — Jaleel Brown was in the field for a few weeks chainsawing for the state’s Task Force Rattlesnake, when the man raised his hands to tackle an blaze on Jones Bar Road fire.
“I didn’t realize what that I was in the middle of a fire. It’s the most bizarre fire we’ve ever experienced here. And I had to question the captain”Hey, do you know the way fires are handled?’ ” he says.
A Guardsman for more than 10 years, Brown had been considering going out of the military after Brown learned about the Task Force — and an entirely different type of military.
The fire ravaged 705 acres to the west in Nevada City, Calif. In the month of August in 2020. It was among 8,648 fires that were raging across Californiathat year. What drove it to be so wild to Brown was its terrain.
“We had to climb through the forest. We ended at the bottom of the drainage channel. We were required to cut uphill as well as uphill. It was for ages cutting uphill,” Brown said, looking exhausted just from the memories.
Endless fire season
Recent photos from Maui have stunned Americans with the largest death toll of a forest fire since the last century. They’re also familiar to residents of Western states as the warming climate has created fire a real danger. Following the fact that California suffered the loss of more than 4 million acres of land to fire in the year 2020 the state financed Task Force Rattlesnake, to help in the efforts of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
“Fire season is becoming over. All year long,” says Carl Trujillo an Sgt. 1st Class with the California Army National Guard.
“Even even if there’s no fire, it’s still preparing for a fire, and treating the landscape in order to reduce the effect of the fire in the event that it occurs because it will be there,” he says.
Cal Fire used to rely on inmates from prison for firelines that required more surveillance. In the case of Task Force Rattlesnake guardsmen, it’s a military effort, with a well-trained chains of command. The program was first established for an urgent response the year of 2019 the program has grown to 14 units of National Guardsmen, that are employed all year long.
“In previous years, Cal Fire] relied in its National Guard to step up when needed and fill in any gaps. However, the climate change phenomenon has gotten underway and influenced fire behavior the need has been to be more proactive and that’s the main part in which Task Force Rattlesnake plays,” states Trujillo.
In the midst of COVID emergency situations as well as civil unrest across the country, as well as the Guard’s normal outpost duties, the establishment and funding for the task force in fact helped to provide a level of structure and security.
However, the effects of climate change have been putting pressure on Guard forces across the nation and not just in California.
“In 2021 in 2021, it was estimated that the National Guard spent 172,000 personnel days fighting fires. that’s in contrast to 18,000 days of personnel in 2019. It’s a significant increase,” says Erin Sikorsky from the Center for Climate and Security. She studies the way climate impacts militaries around the world including that of U.S. Army National Guard. The stress on the Guard has her wondering what might happen if the U.S. were at war.
“Many of these troops will be needed in the event of a conflict,” she says. “There is a risk to be faced if they were deployed at the same levels as they have been recently in the United States and were needed to be on the frontline.”
Preventing fires from happening
The state of California it’s been an peaceful year thus far which means that there will be more time in which Task Force Rattlesnake to work in the field of prevention.
Nearby, in Nevada City, a crew takes a walk along an abandoned logging route which smells of damp earth and red cedar. The road has been open for several weeks to make it easier for people to accessibility and as a possible firebreak to shield the houses further higher up the hill. With chippers, chainsaws, axes and chainsaws they take out deadwood that could be a source of fire, and also cut off “ladder trees” shorter than 10 to 20 feet, that can help the fire to climb up the huge cedars and ponderosa trees that seem to be reaching for the sky.
Capt. Eric Ayers has worked 34 years for Cal Fire, and he’s overseeing this Task Force on this summer’s day.
“If we had a fire today in this area and without this reduction in fuel being completed the fire will be intense, and it’s going to climb through these trees, and the entire timber that’s here will be consumed completely,” he says.
Ayers is the third generation woodsman from the third generation. His grandfather was the first to log the forests. For centuries before, Native Americans did controlled burning to keep the forests healthy. But after decades without any, and with homes being built deeper and deeper into the forest, Ayers says the job is pressing — and never-ending across California.
“It’s similar to paint it like painting the Golden Gate Bridge. The first time you paint and you come to an finish and you need to revisit and redo the painting,” he says.
However, it’s a job that guardsmen love, they say. Brett Carl joined Task Force Rattlesnake in 2020 after two years of COVID responses in the National Guard. The idea of slicing down trees and carrying brush until tired was than what he was thinking about when his appointment to the.
“It’s masculine, isn’t it? You can’t get any more manly than this!” he says with a smile. “I am more confident physically and mentally each day when we are out there working with on the chainsaw.”
Carl says that the Task Force is an attractive change from the military which could open the door to a job in the field of firefighting which seems to be an industry that is growing as North America keeps posting record temperatures.
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