California Fire News

News: Article - The Western Air Defense Sector blazes in to help Posted: 06 Nov 2007 11:30 AM CST The Western Air Defense Sector blazes in to help For the first time in its history, the Western Air Defense Sector (WADS), a unit of the Washington Air National Guard, recently supported U.S. Northern Command's Defense Support to Civil Authority (DSCA) mission by helping to fight California wildfires. While still focusing on their normal daily duties of "Guarding America's Skies," the folks at WADS took on the role of maintaining visibility on all airborne fire fighting assets over the state of California while simultaneously providing air defense for the President when he visited the impacted areas. WADS maintained radar and radio links with the Air National Guard (ANG), Air Force Reserve (AFRES), U.S. Air Force and Navy assets. The primary fire fighting aircraft included ANG and AFRES C-130 Hercules turboprop aircraft modified to carry the 3,000 gallon tanks of pressurized fire retardant in the Modular Aircraft Fire Fighting System (MAFFS). A U.S. Navy P-3 aircraft, and an ANG RC-26 twin turboprop aircraft, both modified with full motion video downlink capabilities, provided real time situational awareness of the fires' rapidly changing directions. The P-3 and the RC-26 spotted fires and structures in the path of the fire with their Full Motion Video (FMV) systems. While the RC-26 reported directly to California State officials, the responsibility fell on WADS to communicate any new locations of possible interest to the P-3 and direct them to investigate. Conversely, whenever the P-3 crew discovered a new fire, WADS passed the coordinates of the new fire to 601st Air and Space Operations Center, at Tyndall AFB, Fla., who coordinated new instructions with fire fighting officials for transmission to the P-3. The Sector also played a critical role in maintaining situational awareness on the location of all other airborne military firefighting assets engaged in the fight including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) such as the NASA Predator and the USAF Global Hawk. Complicating the duties at the Sector were the simultaneous tasks of facilitating the fire fighting efforts while enforcing restricted airspace around the President when he visited the impacted areas. The President literally stood underneath the airspace where active fire fighting with airborne fire planes was occurring. "Usually, we clear out a 30 nautical mile circle around him, but we couldn't do that without impacting the fire fighting effort," said Sector Commander Col. Paul Gruver. "So we had to be extremely aggressive about identifying every radar track anywhere near the president." To help, at the Sector commander's request, the Department of Forestry made available one of their senior representatives with a high tech system the department uses to track fire fighting airborne assets in real time. "If one of the fire airplanes wasn't transmitting the correct code, we instantly checked with the Forest Service rep to confirm that the track our systems saw was friendly," Colonel Gruver explained. "This very proactive approach avoided unnecessarily scrambling fighters into the fire fighting area, while providing full security to the President while he was supporting the fire fighters and citizens." This is the first time WADS demonstrated its unique capability to simultaneously use its national network of air defense radars and radios to protect our national leadership and infrastructure, while aiding efforts to protect its citizens from natural disasters, anywhere in the country. The Sector, located at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., uses radars and communications systems to monitor air traffic and provide air defense for approximately 72 percent of the Continental United States, from the Mississippi River west. WADS contributes to lifesaving event The Western Air Defense Sector (WADS), a unit of the Washington Air National Guard, played a vital role in saving lives on Oct. 26 as wild fires blazed in Southern California. While on a night mission under WADS' tactical control, a P-3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft from the Navy's Patrol Squadron VP 46, Whidbey Island, Wash., spotted a home in an evacuated residential area that still had vehicles parked outside. Unsure as to whether the home was occupied, the P-3 crew sent a message to the Western Air Defense Sector at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., who then relayed it to the AFNORTH (Air Forces Northern) Air and Space Operations Center at Tyndall AFB, Fla. The timeliness of the WADS crew's action was instrumental in alerting local agencies to the area to help the family evacuate the home just ahead of the approaching fires. "WADS provided the key communication link from the P-3 to the ground units, enabling the information of the approaching fire to be passed to the Cal Fire ICF," said LCDR Shannon K. Tolliver, officer in charge of the P-3 detachment. The Sector offered the use of its national network of radio and radar systems to maintain visibility on the P-3 and other airborne assets aiding US Northern Command's Defense Support to Civil Authority missions for Southern California's wildfires. Source: The Sub Times

Local help proved vital in Southern California wildfires Posted: 06 Nov 2007 10:45 AM CST While SLO County crews were battling the recent blazes in Southern California, behind the scenes were two local women coordinating the response Source: SLO.com By AnnMarie Cornejo When Meg Swearingen and Kelly Van Buren were alerted that their help was needed in San Diego County shortly after the wildfires began on Oct. 21, they didn't hesitate. Both rushed home, packed a few items, rented a car and were on the road within hours. The 300-mile journey began a weeklong effort to assist in what is now being called one the largest fire disasters in California history. As emergency service coordinators for San Luis Obispo County, the women are trained to assist emergency crews on the front lines. Arriving about 10 p.m. at the main command center in San Diego County, they began working immediately. They didn't stop until long after the sun had risen. "We were working alongside people who hadn't slept in two days," Swearingen said. "They were exhausted, worried about their own homes and families, and grateful for assistance." Swearingen began conducting disaster assessments such as making sure enough resources were en route to evacuees and fielding calls from agencies in the field to coordinate help. Van Buren worked with more than 20 agencies to provide detailed reports twice a day of exactly what was happening. The reports were posted on a Web portal that could be accessed from anywhere, including on the front lines by fire crews submerged in the battle. The reports detailed everything from the number of evacuated people in temporary shelters and the status of the water supplies there to the needs of animal service workers trying to assist with roaming pets and livestock. The two remained in the command post for a week, only leaving to rest for a few hours each day. "We could feel the fires nearby and smell the smoke but we remained focused on the task at hand," Swearingen said. "There was never a sense of panic, but everyone was extremely vigilant." A disaster averted On the front lines, the information dispersed by Swearingen and Van Buren helped fellow San Luis Obispo County firefighters. More than 200 fire personnel were deployed to the fires, and more than 100 remain. County/Cal Fire Battalion Chief Robert Lewin, working as the deputy incident commander at the Harris Fire in San Diego County, recalled how information from the emergency operations center prevented a potential disaster that would have likely added the fire's death toll. On the night of Oct. 22, Lewin had been battling the fire for almost two days without sleep. Exhausted, he found a small grassy area and lay down to rest. An hour later, his phone rang. The emergency operations center was calling to warn of a fire headed toward the main substation providing power to San Diego. "You can just imagine," Lewin said. "Right then, power may have been more important than saving a house. If the power went, lives would be lost, fire hydrants stalled and hospitals disrupted. Keeping the electricity flowing would prevent a deadly loss." Lewin immediately redirected firefighters and was able to keep the fire from destroying the substation. "Without their knowledge of the area at the emergency operations center and their quick response, it might have turned out differently," Lewin said. Fighting through fatigue Each day, Lewin trekked to the evacuation center at Steele Canyon High School to brief the more than 400 residents waiting there. "I would stay until all their questions were answered," Lewin said. "Usually, the people there are those who are without relatives or money for hotels. These are the people with only the clothes on their backs. You are looking into the eyes of people who don't know if they have lost their homes or not." For Lewin, those visits intensified the need to continue the fight despite exhaustion. "Because we visited people every day, there was never a minute we forgot about them," Lewin said. "We knew that we had to do everything we could to get them home." The Harris Fire, which is fully contained, burned 90,440 acres, injured 21 civilians and 36 firefighters, and killed five. More than 200 homes were destroyed and hundreds damaged. But it is the moments shared with those closest to the destruction Lewin will always remember. At one briefing, Lewin had to tell the evacuees that more than 50 homes had been lost in an area where many of them lived. "But when we told them that our guys are working as much as three days without sleep and doing everything they could, they clapped for us," Lewin said. "Even in the face of this horrible loss, they trusted we were doing all that we could."

One hurt in Fremont apartment fire - News - PD maks good save Posted: 06 Nov 2007 10:08 AM CST Fremont Firefighters survey the damage to an apartment that caught fire Thursday morning at the Pennsylvania Apartments in Fremont. One woman was transported to the hospital with severe burns. (Anda Chu/The Argus) FREMONT — A 40-year-old woman rendered unconscious during a two-alarm fire at her apartment complex remained in a local hospital Thursday after suffering significant burns to her body earlier in the day, fire officials said. The woman, whose identity has not been released, was rescued from her second-floor apartment by two veteran police officers who were conducting a traffic stop nearby, officials said. They saved her by kicking in her front door when they heard her moaning in pain, Fremont fire Capt. Gerry Fogel said. Firefighters also rescued two other people and six pets from the Pennsylvania Apartments on Mowry Avenue near State Street about 9:15 a.m. Thursday. None of them was hurt, but because of intense smoke in the central hallway, firefighters had to use ladders to rescue them from balconies and windows, Fogel said. The two officers, 13-year veteran Brian Shadle and27-year veteran John Anderson, appeared to be OK after saving the woman, but they later were evaluated at a local hospital for smoke inhalation. Residents of the other 38 units were temporarily evacuated from their homes, but they were allowed to return hours later. Shadle and Anderson had stopped a car on Mowry Avenue in front of the complex about 9:10 a.m. when a passer-by told them smoke was pouring from the two-story building. After confirming the witness's account, the officers made their way to the second floor, where they heard a woman moaning for help and saw smoke coming from her apartment at the end of the hallway. They kicked in the door and found the victim lying on the floor, just six feet from the door. The officers carried her out and took her to emergency medical technicians, who were at a nearby home where they typically stay between assignments. Firefighters arrived minutes later and extinguished the fire, which burned part of the injured woman's apartment and spread to a neighboring unit. The cause of the fire was still under investigation Thursday.

Fremont - Structure - Two alarm fire - Narrative on WUI Posted: 06 Nov 2007 10:02 AM CST KCBS Fremont Apartment Fire Could Have Been a Lot Worse FREMONT, Calif. (KCBS) -- A two-alarm blaze that broke out in a Fremont apartment complex Sunday had the potential to be devastating. The fire broke out around 10:30 a.m. Sunday in a 200-unit complex on the 1200 block of Ocaso Camino, according to Fremont Fire Department Battalion Chief Mark Neveau. "This fire had potential to be devastating and somewhat similar to what we saw in San Diego last week," said Neveau. "The housing development actually sits on top of a hill with canyons on each side. The homes are wood sided and they have wood roofs." He said weather conditions and the dedication of firefighters kept the blaze from getting out of hand. "We put some crews in there as quickly as possible. This type of fire requires an awful lot of strenuous, physical activity. That plus the weather kept it to the three units. Otherwise it could have spread to the adjoining buildings very easily." One firefighter was treated on the scene for heat exhaustion. An estimated 13 people were displaced

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