In the city of Merced nestled within the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, 8am is rush hour
The roads are gridlocked, however with hearth engines. These commuters are heading to a extra harmful office than most.
Among the three,000 firefighters on this huge operation is battalion chief Jeremy Snyder.
He has introduced his group greater than 300 miles from San Diego to assist out, and they’re making ready to spend an uninterrupted 24 hours on the entrance line.
“The fatigue sets in,” he tells us. “You don’t get very many days off. It is mentally and physically challenging.”
Jeremy has been on the job for 25 years and he has observed a shift. “We are having a rapid growth of fires, extreme fire behaviour that we normally don’t see until later in the fire season,” he says.
“In September and October we expect most fires to grow very rapidly and with that it will deplete our resources.”
Read extra: More than 6,000 evacuated in California wildfires – however that is solely the start
This group is in a race in opposition to time to guard the houses of individuals like Jacalyn Hagans and Peter Gutierrez, who we meet alongside their border collie Max at a close-by evacuation centre.
Peter is near tears: “You work your whole life to accomplish something then to think that something like this can take it in a matter of seconds. It’s hard. Very hard.”
The drive into the evacuated space is sort of silent. There isn’t any birdsong, simply the occasional helicopter overhead on the best way to drop retardant onto the flames.
Just a couple of days in the past this was inexperienced woodland however the change is dramatic.
For a break up second it nearly seems like a winter scene as a result of there are not any leaves on the bushes they usually seem lined in one thing white. Yet this isn’t snow, however ash. And this isn’t winter however the peak of summer time.
The Oak Fire has not simply ripped by way of forests however buildings and livelihoods.
We discover one small home which has been totally destroyed. There is nothing to salvage. A chimney stack and charred washer are the one indicators of the house that was right here simply days in the past.
The homeowners at the moment are confronted with a selection: transfer away or rebuild.
And why would you try to restart a life right here when this devastation may occur another time.
Source: information.sky.com”