As wildfires continue to burn throughout California, a new documentary video released by the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) takes viewers behind the scenes with the governor’s top emergency managers as they direct state resources and help firefighters keep one step ahead of the flames.
Officials say it’s not often that people get to see what’s happening behind the scenes when flames dominate news headlines at the most spectacular wildfires.
“It’s important for people to see what the top emergency management leaders are faced with, especially when there’s such a complex emergency management system operating behind the scenes,” said Kelly Huston, Assistant Secretary of Cal EMA and producer of the video. “Our goal was to take viewers along to see some of the inner-workings of incident briefings, strike team strategy and the state’s mutual aid system at work on a real incident.”
The video, titled “No Time to Burn,” includes breathtaking images of several of this year’s wildfires, including point-of-view aerial footage from specially-equipped California National Guard Black Hawk helicopters dropping hundreds of gallons of water on flames.
It also takes viewers along with Cal EMA Secretary Mark Ghilarducci, California National Guard General David Baldwin and CAL FIRE Director Ken Pimlott as they visit a special “helitack base” near the massive Ponderosa Fire in Tehama County.
There’s also footage from a strategy session with federal and state coordinators at a regional emergency operations center in Redding, Calif.
Officials also included an interview with two residents of Manton, Calif., who were evacuated from their homes, expressing the grim reality of destruction caused by the Ponderosa Fire.
Cal EMA is responsible for the coordination of overall state agency response to major disasters in support of local government.
The agency is responsible for assuring the state’s readiness to respond to and recover from all hazards – natural, manmade, war-caused emergencies and disasters – and for assisting local governments in their emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and hazard mitigation efforts.
Visit them online at www.calema.ca.gov or @calema on Twitter and get the latest news at www.calemanews.wordpress.com . Watch additional videos from Cal EMA – http://www.youtube.com/CalEMATV .