Firefighter’s Dec. death underscores CalFire’s ‘new normal’
By Adam Ashton, Sacramento Bee
Last week’s death of a state firefighter battling a December blaze in Ventura County underscored a stark message from this year’s devastating fires: There is no end to fire season in California anymore.
Since 2004, no CalFire firefighter had died on duty after October in a calendar year. That changed when the so-called Thomas Fire on Thursday overtook San Diego-based engineer Cory Iverson, a 32-year-old firefighter who left behind a pregnant wife and a 2-year-old daughter.
His death stunned the department not only because it lost a veteran firefighter, but also because it occurred so late in the year.
