40 firefighters are back in Kentucky following two weeks fighting woodland fires in California.
Chief Forester Kristian Pickering led a squad of six working on fire lines in Yosemite National Park. She says bug infested dead trees fell at a constant rate, which created a significant safety risk including a firefighting related death. “The area we worked in, there was a fatality on the fire while we were there. A tree had killed a firefighter and we worked in that same division as that firefighter. The rest of our time there we worked in that area where he was killed,” said Pickering
Pickering, with the State Division of Forestry, says it was steep terrain with hot conditions, with temperatures near 100 degrees. “There was one night where the fire had jumped the road and they thought the camp was compromised, so, we had to go to another camp and we didn’t have sleeping bags or tents to sleep in that night, so, you know your mentally exhausted,” noted Pickering.
The Harrodsburg firefighter says California firefighters said the Yosemite area fire may not be completely put out until snows come over the next few months.
