WildfIres are often the best and hardest stories to cover. Pictures of flames and fire crews, sirens, people evacuating, aerials of air tankers and pressers from command posts are assured to get you on the air. The hard part is getting to the flames, which are often in very remote areas. Getting a satellite to the flames poses more challenges, and then if the fire moves, which they tend to do, you can be stuck with no backdrop.

The past few days, I’ve been covering the aptly named Wild Fire - which started in Napa but quickly moved into rural canyons of Sonoma County and scorched more than 4,000 acres. Some 500 firefighters did an amazing job- especially considering many had come straight from fighting other fires sparked by dry lighting over the weekend. They had this one wrapped up in a matter of days… only to be sent off to another fire in Colusa County, about 3 hours away. Before the base camp packed up and moved out, we watched them all have breakfast, and what a spread! Eggs, bacon, bagels, coffee, cereal, danish… all cooked, laid out, and served by prison inmates, who often make up half of the firefighting force. They’re non-violent offenders who are easily identifiable by their orange jumpsuits, and who do lots of the heavy work on fires, fromloading equipment to building fire breaks out on the line.

State fire officials are amazed at the sheer number of blazes burning in Northern California - more than 800… not to mention fires that began earlier this month, like the huge Indian Fire in the Los Padres National Forest, now more than 57,000 acres big. They said it was hard to keep track of them all, and due to strapped resources, they simply had to ignore fires in which no life or property was threatened.

My guess is- if they have to get into a firefight, crews would like all fires to be like the Wild Fire: No serious injuries, no homes lost, and only one outbuilding, a barn, burned

Now it’s on to the next one, and given California’s bone-dry conditions, it’s likely going to be a long summer for firefighters…. and reporters who cover their efforts.