Volunteers in Southern California work together to stay 1 step ahead of fires

Smoke from a fire in Orange County, California.
(Image credit: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

Smokey Bear has nothing on Ray Hutchinson and Lynda Armbruster.

Hutchinson, a retired fire captain, and Armbruster, a retired college professor, are two of the 238 volunteers with the Orange County Fire Watch (OCFW) in Southern California. Started in 2006, OCFW volunteers go out to canyons and foothills during dry, windy days when the fire threat is high, to look for smoke, flames, and suspicious activity. Their goal is to stop fires before they get out of control, and on average, there are volunteers on patrol about 20 days a year.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.