Photos: The grueling struggle of being a California firefighter in the age of climate change
By: The Washington Post Staff
The United States suffered another brutal fire season this year. More than 57,000 wildfires burned nearly 7.7 million acres in 2021, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
The monstrous Dixie Fire was responsible for a significant amount of that destructing, burning nearly 1 million acres.

It was California's second-largest fire on record.
The intensity has been grueling for firefighters, who are working longer hours and more days than ever before. In November and December, when fires are practically unheard of, some flared up as far north as Colorado and Montana amid record-high temperatures.

Blazes are often wilder too, burning hotter and faster because of the multiyear drought and extreme heat, intensified by climate change.
"We can't catch a break," former Eldorado HotShot Aaron Humphrey said.

Earlier this year, the Eldorado HotShots crew was called back from a 14-day deployment in Northern California to fight a blaze burning in their own backyard.
Usually, firefighters can increase containment at night or when weather patterns shift, but the current crop of fires don't seem to let up. Some blazes exhibited extreme behavior and created their own weather, generating towering pyrocumulonimbus clouds that unleashed lightning, violent winds and even fire tornadoes.
Firefighting is taxing on the human body.

Firefighters carry loads of up to 75 pounds. In many western states, they must hike up steep terrain to access the fires, often while breathing in smoke.
"They're beaten up, limping," Humphrey said. Some have been pushed to the brink. At the same time, many acknowledge that "this is the new normal."
Santa Clara County FireSafe Council
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