Season early for firefighters Many already spending a lot of time away from home, but say they’re doing duty.

The hardest part is being away from family.

For weeks on end this summer, Tim Henry, a veteran Fresno fire battalion chief, has been hundreds of miles from home, fighting wildfires as California confronts an extreme fire season.

He came home Thursday for a two-day visit. He spread his gear out in the garage: a computer, a radio and other communications equipment, an emergency fire shelter, extra boots, a stack of maps.
“Everything smells like smoke,” Henry said.
And on Saturday, it was time to leave again.

Across the central San Joaquin Valley, hundreds of firefighters from local, county and state agencies have been summoned to join thousands of firefighting personnel statewide since early June.

Ken Shockley, a spokesman for the Fresno Fire Department, estimates about 65 department personnel have been deployed outside the area since June, with the list expected to grow throughout the fire season.

Capt. Mike Bowman, a spokesman for Cal Fire/Fresno County Fire Protection District, said that as of Friday, 102 personnel from Cal Fire/Fresno County and Kings County units were deployed away from their areas.

For Henry and many of his colleagues, the raging fires have meant being away from home from two to three weeks at a time, with only 48-hour breaks.

west coast 911 news source -The Fresno Bee