The October fires have kept the 10News I Team busy trying to figure out who is telling the truth and who is blowing smoke.
Critics of CalFire say they were slow to react and didn't do a good job of getting aircraft up and over the fires.
Where was the Navy?
Where were the Marines?
These are all valid questions after such a devastating fire that took precious lives and property.
CalFire tell us a different story about how the agency reacted. We talked to the people in the aircraft and those on the ground worrying about the people in the aircraft. They say at 0930 hours on the fateful Sunday they initially dispatched one air tactical plane (the quarterback of the effort) three air tankers and three Hueys. Within the next hour, the incident commander on the ground for CalFire ordered two more air tankers, two sky cranes and another Huey. Was it enough? Could more be done?
You can draw what conclusions you wish by looking at the documents the I-team acquired from CalFire. More will be coming. While they don't answer all questions, it gets us closer to finding the truth. There is another report in the works from the USDA-the federal prospective of the effort. I called their Joint Information Center to find out when this report is coming out but they hadn't gotten back to me by the time I posted this blog.


jwblog@10news.com