At Oak Flat Fire Station in the Angeles National Forest, veteran firefighters are already getting a bad feeling about this year. There has been so lit

Firefighters fear disaster ahead as heat transforms landscape: ‘The driest I’ve ever seen.’

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2021-07-09 16:00:05

At Oak Flat Fire Station in the Angeles National Forest, veteran firefighters are already getting a bad feeling about this year.

There has been so little rain, and rising temperatures caused by climate change have made the landscape drier than they’ve ever seen — ready to combust with the smallest spark.

They’ve watched the rugged mountains of the forest around the Castaic station change before their eyes, from a place of seasons to a place that seems like it is in perpetual summer. And with homes encroaching farther into the terrain each year, there are more people in harm’s way.

The firefighters’ readiness and anxiety now hang in the air, as thick as the dead, dry brush clinging to the surrounding hillsides.

Record temperatures are expected for the region. They could be deadly, and they are a clear impact of climate change, scientists say.

“My first winter here, I was burning piles in thigh-deep snow,” said Christian Bauzo, a firefighter who has been with the Forest Service for 15 years. “Now it’s like, ‘What winter?’ Almost all winter we were fighting fire.”