Faced with the flames, extensive cooperation from the emergency services. A huge village has sprung up on the golden sand of a beach in Malibu: it is temporarily home to thousands of firefighters from all over North America, to fight against the fires which are still ravaging the area around Los Angeles.
Around 5,000 men and women in uniform eat, sleep and recuperate there, before plunging back into the inferno of flames which have killed at least 24 people for a week and are still preventing more than 90,000 others from returning home.
“It’s a small town that was built from nothing,” Edwin Zuniga told AFP, on Zuma Beach, located a few kilometers under the burning hills of the region.
California, Texas, Mexico: the standards of the battalion disputes recall the vast cooperation dictated by these multiple fires over the past week. Among the firefighters, the dog Ember trots happily among the ranks, offering emotional support in exchange for caresses. A welcome distraction after hours of battling the flames.
“When people pet the dogs, their blood pressure drops and they feel good for a minute,” says his owner in a yellow uniform, Bari Boersma.
Inmates mobilized
For breakfast, essential, the chefs have a heavy hand: on Monday, the menu consisted of meat, eggs, potatoes and bread. Enough to swallow 10,000 calories before setting out to get busy in the exhausting heat.
The food is prepared by firefighters in orange uniforms. A color which indicates that they are inmates, recruited in prison by California to serve the State in the event of a natural disaster.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be here, to serve the community, to pay my debt to society, to return the favor to people,” says Bryan Carlton, 55.
During his 12 hours of work, the prisoner prepares more than 1,500 liters of coffee. “They need it,” he laughs. Some inmates commit to the fire service for a long time after their release from prison, according to Terry Cook. This prison officer sometimes comes across familiar faces among the firefighters.
-“I happened to shake their hands and say ‘congratulations’,” he smiles. After breakfast, the teams prepare their vehicles and arm themselves with sandwiches, various snacks and drinks. Coming from Colorado, the new battalion is pleased to be so well accommodated: these firefighters may sleep in a simple sleeping bag on the beach, but they have escaped the freezing cold of the Rockies in winter.
Fight against the flames
The morning briefing divides the tasks: certain battalions are responsible for putting out recent outbreaks, which have just broken out, while others are assigned to the fight against the “Palisades Fire”, active for a week.
Then, some head towards Pacific Palisades, an upscale district of Los Angeles reduced to ashes. Others head towards Topanga Canyon, a hilly maze populated with luxurious houses lost in the middle of the bushes.
Along the way, they greet their predecessors, exhausted and covered in soot, who are returning to the village. “After the first day, many people I had known for a long time at base camp barely recognized me,” says Jake Dean. “I was so tired and dirty that even the facial recognition on my phone didn’t work.”
In his 26-year career, this firefighter claims to have never seen such a destructive fire. After several days of respite, the Santa Ana winds which spread the fire at breakneck speed are expected to strengthen again on Tuesday. But Mr. Dean has faith in the air and ground interventions of his thousands of colleagues.
“It’s going to be fine,” he professes. “We’re going to take it easy, drink lots of water and be ready for a long day of work.”
Original article published on BFMTV.com