Burning chaparral, tall grass and timber in a rugged and remote part of Monterey County are posing serious challenges to firefighters battling the Soberanes Wildfire in Monterey County, reported Ed Joyce on Capital Public Radio. Joyce spoke to UC Agriculture and Natural Resources researcher Scott Stephens about the factors driving the growing fire.
"Since it's so remote, in terms of road access, just difficult terrain in general - very steep slopes - you get a fire in there like it is right now, it really is a difficult conundrum for managers," Stephens said. Stephens is a UC Berkeley professor of fire science and an Agricultural Experiment Station researcher who also serves as co-director of the Center for Fire Research and Outreach.
"I don't think the fire managers in that kind of terrain can do more than actually look at it strategically and figure out where they can make a stand and actually try to keep that fire from causing harm to human facilities. But other than that, it's a very difficult fire to access, very dangerous for firefighters," Stephens said in the interview with Joyce.
