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Irvine, Calif., April 22, 2021 California s wildfire problem, fueled by a concurrence of climate change and a heightened risk of human-caused ignitions in once uninhabited areas, has been getting worse with each passing year of the 21st century.
Researchers in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine have conducted a thorough analysis of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection wildfire statistics from 2000 to 2019, comparing them with data from 1920 to 1999. They learned that the annual burn season has lengthened in the past two decades and that the yearly peak has shifted from August to July. The team s findings are the subject of a study published today in the open-access journal
CAL FIRE announces new fire chief for SLO region
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. CAL FIRE announced the hiring of a new fire chief for the San Luis Obispo Unit on Wednesday.
Eddy Moore has been appointed as Unit Chief starting March 2.
Chief Moore will oversee the CAL FIRE SLO Unit, SLO County Fire and Pismo Beach Fire Departments.
This news comes after Chief Scott Jalbert announced his retirement back in December 2020.
Chief Moore has worked at multiple CAL FIRE units ranging from San Diego, Riverside and San Benito-Monterey, CAL FIRE said.
Eddy Moore has been named CAL FIRE s new chief for the SLO region
–Cal Fire has announced the retirement of several Cal Fire/San Luis Obispo County Fire Department employees:
Captain John Aguilera began his career with the State of California as a Park Aide with Parks and Recreation in 1986. Since 1987, Captain Aguilera rose through the ranks from Seasonal Firefighter I, Fire Apparatus Engineer to Fire Captain. Most recently, he was the Administrative Captain of the Emergency Command Center. Captain Aguilera retired on Oct. 31, 2020, after 34 years of dedicated service.
Captain David Latham started his career with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection on July 1, 1993, as a Firefighter II Paramedic with the San Diego Unit. His career saw him promoted to Fire Apparatus Engineer, Limited-Term Fire Captain, and finally Permanent Fire Captain to the San Luis Obispo Unit. Captain Latham worked as a Fire Captain Paramedic from July 1, 2002, until retiring Nov. 1, 2020, with over 27 years of service.
–San Luis Obispo County Assistant Fire Chief Alan Peters has announced his retirement.
After 16 years, from 1988-2004, working in the private timber industry all over the western United States, Chief Peters, a Registered Professional Forester, joined Cal Fire in 2005. He started his Cal Fire career as a fuels reduction Forester I in the Tuolumne/Calaveras Unit. In 2009, he promoted to his current Unit Forester position in the San Luis Obispo Unit, where he has served as the Pre-Fire Division Chief for over 11 years.
Peters has always promoted an “extremely ambitious agenda in SLO County,” according to the county. He has focused on all aspects of fire prevention including fuels reduction, public education, defensible space inspections, hazard mapping, forest health, and pre-fire planning. He was instrumental in the implementation of thousands of acres of fuels reduction treatments and prescribed burns, and hundreds of miles of roadside and fuel break treatments throughout the