Every year, wildfires encroach on residents homes in Redding and challenge firefighters.
Dense, dry brush throughout the Northstate makes some fires unavoidable but Redding Fire Chief Gerry Gray says a portion of those fires are started by illegal transient camps.
According to Gray, at least 15 percent of these fires are caused by transient activities such as camp fires and cooking.
Gray added that fire season poses two major issues involving the transient population.
"The first is the actual fires that may be started from transient activity in the wild spaces. The second thing is, during high fire danger days, when we have strong winds, we could have casualties involving the homeless population from fast moving wild fires," said Gray.