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The head of the United Aerial Firefighters Association, which has deployed about 200 pilots to Southern California to fight massive ongoing wildfires, told Fox News Digital that the scope of the fires is “totally demoralizing” and shaping up to be some of the worst in the nation’s history.
“What we are seeing, especially in the United States and worldwide, is there is no longer a fire season – it is fire year-round,” Paul Petersen said on Wednesday. “[This] could end up being one of the deadliest and most climate-costliest fires in U.S. history.”
Aerial firefighters with the association are limited to eight-hour shifts in the air, like airline pilots. However, Petersen said, they are on 24-hour shifts. At night, he said, pilots are outfitted with night vision goggles. From the air, they communicate the …