This is what California could have had flying for it every 15 minutes
These DOD helicopters can pick up 3,000 gallons of water in 1 - 2 minutes, and fly at 196 mph to a fire. Taking 9 minutes to reach the furthest fire, Eaton. And against a Santa Ana wind, only water works.
Is it fair or realistic to place national emergency response under local authority?
Disturbing Questions from the Tragic, 2025 California Wildfires
One of a consultant's most important roles is to ask the right questions, and introduce critcally needed dialogues. As a former FEMA contractor and US-EU first responder advisor, our belief is that one of these questions in the wake of tragic California loss of human and animal life, and related property and ecosystem loss and suffering; is whether national wildfire response and planning should be transitioned to the US military?
Fire Activity Analysis
Shortcomings with satellite-driven FRP hotspot recognition; failures of local California sensor and AI-directed evacuation response. What to do?
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Not Enough Chinook Drops
The US has the largest Chinook fleet worldwide, the go-to water drop standard. Why did the beautiful beach towns of Palisades and Malibu burn?
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Stop Exporting California Water?
How badly are California exports of state spring and municipal water draining acquifer and surface water supplies? Do sales trigger more fires?
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Should US Wildfire Response be Transferred to the US Military?
The US is unique in how many layers of government it funds, and its delegation of emergency response to
thousands of competing, local & federal venues. With one result being lack of standardization and quality.
Almost every other nation puts national emergency response under military control.
In Florida hurricane season, residents usually have 3-7 days warning to evacuate. California fire victims had as little as 15-30 minutes; and no organized, government transportation to organized fire shelter camps. The state's sensor system failed almost immediately, and beautiful coast villages were burned to the ground, killing animals and humans, steps from the Pacific Ocean.
Military water drops, water cannons, or even dirt could have been dumped on the flames in minutes. Should Americans' 'right' to be protected from natural disasters vary based on location? Are these fires a wake-up call for the US?
The US has repeatedly assigned US MIlitary resources to mass emergencies, including: the southern border (twice); January 6, 2021; Hurricane Katrina; the Baltimore bridge collapse; the Boston Marathon bombing; Kansas wildfires; and Covid-19.
Is it time to put wildfire response permanently - or even temporarily - under US Department of Defense control?
Innovation for Public Policy
True innovation does not stop with technology. Even tech-driven solutions often require supportive policy or organizational changes to ensure adoption and success. Are wildfire responses one of these needs?
Is FIRMS Still Adequate, as Global Thermal Events and Data Center Energy Usage Increase?
This was a (NASA) Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) Fire Map view we derived from near real-time data displaying fire radiative power (FRP)
on January 29, 2025. FIRMS uses data from NASA's MODIS and VIIRS satellites to detect active fires or developing hotspots, that emergency crews use for their response. But there were 17 fires in California on that day. Not two. And not all of Florida or Cuba were at fire risk. Illustrating how critical is the need for additional drone and low-altitude surveillance, fed into AI master analytics and mapping systems.
Map courtesy of NASA VIIRS (NOAA-20/JPSS-1) I Band 375 m Active Fire Product NRT data
Our Clients
DC Strategic Group has provided emergency preparedness strategy and training support for entities nationwide, including Ansr and US Homeland Security.
