Local forester Austin Morrison with the San Augustine district recently returned from his two-week deployment to California. He was sent to help battle the blaze spreading across parts of the Inyo National Forest, located in California's Eastern Sierra region.
This was Morrison's first experience battling wildfires outside of Texas and explained the differences in climate and terrain brought some challenges.
"Things burn differently.. they are in an extreme drought condition and their fuels are all very very dry right now. I was definitely a little nervous going out."
Morrison went on to say with the rolling terrain, large boulders and arid environment, different equipment had to be used unlike Texas, were ground equipment is commonly the main line of defense.
"Seeing the type 1 helicopter, pick up buckets from the pond, and go take them to the fire, come back and continue do that all night long, different things like that were really kind of eye opening."
With the recent pattern of increased moisture, Texas is currently trending below normal for wildfire activity but Texans should still continue to do their part in wildfire prevention.