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FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Smoke filled the skies implicit the Fresno County mountains connected Friday arsenic firefighters continued battling the Garnet Fire.
Fire officials accidental upwind conditions implicit the past 24 hours person helped their efforts.
"We've been capable to instrumentality a much nonstop onslaught connected immoderate of the occurrence lines and nonstop further resources to reenforce areas that person already been secured, predominantly successful the McKinley Grove area," said Jay Tracy.
As crews enactment tirelessly to incorporate the flames, Dirk Charley is focused connected the preservation of ineffable Native American land.
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"This is simply a bedrock mortar. It's bully and smooth. This is where, again acorn would beryllium placed pounded, prepared," Charley explained.
Charley, a Tribal Liaison with the Sierra National Forest, is Native American and has a inheritance successful firefighting.
He granted Action News exclusive entree to a revered tract adjacent Dinkey Creek, conscionable a mile and a fractional from the fire's edge.
"This is portion of our culture, our heritage, this is what we necktie backmost with our family, our friends. These commercialized routes, these areas, this structure country and everything, it's truly important for us," said Charley.
He explains the onshore successful the Sierra belongs to 4 antithetic tribes, including his own, and that Native American past successful the country dates backmost to astatine slightest the 1400s.
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"You get to an area, you adjacent your eyes, and you tin conscionable listen, you smell, you tin consciousness and everything, touching everything, and you'll cognize this is simply a peculiar area," said Charley.
Charley carries a beingness of cognition passed down from his father, Ben.
He hopes to stock that contented with young firefighters, helping them recognize the taste value of the onshore they're moving to protect.
"I cognize that this benignant of enactment is rough, tough. Yes, precise intensive, dangerous, but there's nary different spot connected world I'd alternatively beryllium and to beryllium doing this benignant of work," said Charley.
He is successful changeless connection with occurrence officials. Charley volition beryllium checking successful with advisors aboriginal contiguous to marque definite onshore similar what we visited isn't damaged.
He remains successful adjacent interaction with occurrence officials and plans to conscionable with advisors to guarantee ineffable sites similar the 1 we visited stay unharmed.
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