A Burning Issue
About 60 firefighters being trained in the Santa Monica Mountains on Wednesday were instructed to just watch for a few minutes to learn about wind, burn paths and other fire characteristics from a blaze consuming a field.
It’s not easy to stand still when fire is that close, but hand crews and other firefighters also doused flames and set up containment lines. The trainees were from the Ventura County Fire Department, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the National Park Service.
In all, 25 acres of brush were burned.
“Under these conditions, we have the opportunity to train firefighters to see what a fire is telling them--some of the real factors behind fire behavior,” said Terry Raley, the county’s wild land fire officer.
In return for providing the training space, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area receives controlled burning on 1,500 acres of brush considered hazard fuel during fire season, which started last week.
Fire training will continue through Sept. 17.
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