CommuniqueCalifornia Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

January/February 2004

See page 2 forCDF 100 Year

CommemorativeHistory Book details.

2 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

With this issue of the Communique’ wecatch up on many events that have oc-curred since the last issue and before the2003 Fire Season. The next issue of thenewsletter will deal with Fire Season, thehistoric Southern California Fire Siege andCDF’s tremendous efforts alongsidefirefighters from so many other agencies.

Due to the severity of the budget situa-tion, with this issue we also begin, for theforeseeable future, Communique’s pro-duced only in electronic format. Thenewsletter will be produced on a bi-monthly schedule, along with specialeditions as necessary, and posted to theCDF Website in both a color format thatincludes photos, and an all-text version foreasier downloading.

The CDF Public Education Office en-courages submissions of articles and

The Communique’

The CDF 100 YearCommemorative History Book

As many of you know, the CDF is in the process of publishing an all new commemorative historybook to celebrate its 100th Anniversary. Hundreds of you have responded by submitting photo-graphs, stories, and book orders, but still hundreds more have yet to participate.

This historic full-color book will document the proud history of our department, with hundredsof historic photographs as well as candid and action pictures. Events of the past will be recorded,along with stories written by employees and retirees. Veterans of CDF understand the importanceof what we do and the memories this album will preserve. For those who are new to the depart-ment, this book will demonstrate the proud tradition of your new career, a shining example of thecall you have answered. The number of books printed will be based on the number of copies re-served in advance-so don’t miss out on this unique opportunity! We want to be sure everyone isincluded!

Here’s Your Chance to Be a Part of This Book!We need all CDF members and retirees to participate so that our book may be as complete as

possible. The FINAL deadline for participation has been extended until July 1, 2004. Bothmaterials and book orders need to be in by this final deadline. This is your book ... a tribute to yourservice to your community and the perfect heirloom to pass on to future generations.

photos from CDF employees and retirees onthe following schedule:

March/AprilDeadline April 10

May/JuneDeadline June 10

July/AugustDeadline August 10

September/OctoberDeadline October 10

November/DecemberDeadline December 10January/February

Deadline February 10

Personnel Transactions and Kudos areproduced monthly and posted on the CDFwebsite.

Contact the CDF Public Education Officeat 916-653-5123.

See HISTORY page 3

3JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

This Book Will Contain• History of the CDF from 1905-2005;• Full-color pictorial section with historic and modern photos

throughout the state.• Station information with group shots and action photographs;• In Memoriam tribute to CDF personnel killed in the line

of duty, and much more.

HISTORY: from page 2

4 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

Hundreds of family members,friends, uniformed firefighters,and representatives from all overthe state gathered at the Califor-nia Firefighter Memorial May 22to participate in the First AnnualCalifornia Firefighter Memorialservice held in Capitol Park inSacramento.

Since the unveiling of theCalifornia Firefighter Memorialon April 6, 2002, 13 firefightershave fallen in the line of dutyprotecting California. The namesof these courageous Firefighterswere permanently inscribed onthe memorial wall symbolizingthe courage, honor, respect anddevotion to duty that representsthe essence of the firefightingprofession.

Also added to the wall werethe names of 45 newly confirmedcasualties from previous years.This brings the total to 913firefighters who have made theultimate sacrifice protecting andserving in a proud tradition ofCalifornia firefighters since webecame a state in 1850.

The memorial wall serves asthe centerpiece of the CaliforniaFirefighter Memorial and servesto remind us of those individualswho courageously placed othersbefore themselves. In addition tothe wall the memorial includestwo statues that represent thejoy and pain of the job. The firststatue “Holding the Line,” depictsfour firefighters advancing a hoseline up a hill in a fierce battle.The second statue “FallenBrother,” depicts an emotionalscene of one firefighter carryingthe lifeless body of a fellowfirefighter to safety.

California Firefighters Memorialby Josh Hubbard, staff writer, CDF Public Education Office

The CaliforniaFirefighter Memo-rial is located inthe shadow of theState Capitol inSacramento in theeast lawn of Capi-tol Park, which isalso home to othermemorials such as the Koreanand Vietnam memorials.

Funding for the firefightermemorial was raised by theCalifornia Fire Foundation andcame from the sale of firefightinglicense plates, special firefighter

9-11 Remembered

Sacramento staff laid a wreath at theFirefighter Memorial on September 11, 2003in honor of those that have died in the lineof duty.From L to R: Deputy Chief Dick Hayes, PublicEducation; Division Chief John King,Sacramento Command Center; Deputy ChiefSteve Dunlap, State and Federal CooperativeFire Programs; Staff Chief Dave LeMay,Cooperative Fire Programs; Deputy Chief JimTroehler, Local Government Programs; StaffChief Ernylee Chamlee, Fire ProtectionOperations; Deputy Chief Kevin Olson,Operations Support; Deputy Chief DaveGoldemberg,Command and Control; DivisionChief Brian Kirk, CAD Project Manager.

credit cards and state income taxdonations.

The memorial is a truly hum-bling experience that representsthe brave individuals who may begone, but certainly will never beforgotten.

5JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

Never has the importance offire safety and prevention beenmore prominent than during the2003 Fire Season. The challengeto spread the fire preventionmessage, from clearance, toproper building materials, tostop, drop and roll, is ongoing.Wildfire Awareness Week is asignificant opportunity to putprevention in the spotlight.

While Wildfire AwarenessWeek (WAW) was May 5-11,CDFers know that fire preven-tion is a year-round effort. How-ever, each year WAW allows us achance to really push our mes-sages of warning to residents ofCalifornia to prepare for fireseason by taking the properactions to ensure their homesand families will survive in theevent of a wildfire. The 2003theme for Wildfire AwarenessWeek was “Defensible Space isYour Responsibility.”

Wildfire Awareness Week isan annual event, proclaimed bythe Governor, and coordinated bythe California Department ofForestry and Fire Protection, toremind the people of California ofthe importance of fire safety andcooperation in providing defen-sible space for firefighters.

To kick-off WAW 2003, CDFSacramento Headquarters coor-dinated with the CDF Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit for an event onthe Auburn Headquarters lawnfeaturing demonstrations of firefighting techniques and fireprevention and safety messages.During the event CDF DirectorAndrea Tuttle stressed the need

techniques tolocal firstgraders, andCDF also usedthe event tounveil its newand improved fire safety educa-tion website offering valuablehistorical and interactive safetyinformation that applies to allage ranges.

Fire safety awareness andresponsibility is up to each one ofus, and a variety of events wereheld throughout the State duringWildfire Awareness Week toencourage Californian’s getready and become aware of thethreats.

Wildfire Awareness Week

for homeowners to do their partand work with fire agencies toprovided the necessary safetyprecautions, and Deputy DirectorJim Wright warned Californian’sthat the late rains had onlycreated additional fuel for theupcoming fire season. Localhomeowners who had lost theirhomes during wildfires drovehome the importance of defen-sible space.

Fire prevention dogs Miss Evieand Tuffy displayed their Stop,Drop and Roll, and 911 dialing

Fire Prevention in the spotlight

Clockwise:Tuffy showsoff her 911dialing skills,VIP KristenTaylor showsreporters howto find firesafetyinformationon the CDFwebsite, andMiss Eviedemonstrates,stop, drop, and roll and crawllow in smoke.

Below, Director Tuttle discussesthe dangers of the then upcomingfire season with a news crew.

6 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

With a short reprieve fromrainy weather, the Butte Unit’sWildfire Awareness Week(WAW)“Fire Safe Open House”event was a success despite cooltemperatures and showers ear-lier in the week. Su and GerrySchlecht graciously offered theirnew home, which is built fromfire safe materials, as the site forButte’s 2003 WAW celebration.Communiqué readers and thosewho responded to Butte’s de-structive “Poe” Fire in 2001 mayremember Su and GerrySchlecht’s dramatic rescue byFire Apparatus Engineer (FAE)Matt McKenzie and his crew offCDF Engine 2180 during thefirst half hour of the incident.

“Those kids saved our lives,”stated Su Schlecht. “If theywouldn’t have been there torescue us, we wouldn’t be heretoday to share our story.”

The Schlecht’s story is one oftenaciousness and lessonslearned. Their stunning log homein the pines had 30’ clearance butit was no match for the firestormthat raced out of the draw to-wards it that September morn-ing. While Su and Gerry franti-cally tried to round up theiranimals, the fire intensified. CDFEngine 2180 was in the areadoing structure protection andproceeded up the Schlecht’sdriveway to take a stand and try

WildfireAwareness

WeekButte Unit

and protect the home. FAEMcKenzie and Firefighter I AmyBrown deployed hose lines whileFirefighter I’s Ryan Babb andTim Maxwell calmed theSchlechts, coaxing them into therelative safety of their home toshelter in place. The fire blew upand the resulting firestormincinerated Matt and Amy’shoselines, eliminating theirwater supply. They were able totake refuge in the engine andmaintain contact via radio withthe rest of the crew and theSchlechts who were inside thestructure. As the conflagrationgrew, the back of the home burstinto flame and fire was literallyrolling over the heads of thoseinside who were laying face downon the ground holding hands, thecalm encouragement ofFirefighters Babb and Maxwellbelying their own fear. Mean-while, the firestorm burned justas intensely outside, promptingFAE McKenzie to instruct hiscrew to hold out for as long asthey could. When the fire brieflysubsided, McKenzie gave theorder to get the Schlechts to theengine just moments before thehouse became fully involved. Asthe engine made its way to safety,the hosebed burst into flame butthe crew of Engine 2180 and theSchlechts escaped unharmed.

The Schlechts had moved tothe Concow area to retire andbecame very active in theircommunity. These were just twoof the factors that they consid-ered when making their decisionto rebuild on the same property.The Schlechts consulted withtheir local Firesafe Council andCDF fire personnel on buildingmaterials and home placement.Using a local contractor, theSchlecht’s new home was built

using 4-coat stucco, metal roofingand fire safe landscaping.

“The silver lining is that wenever realized what an amazingview we have,” stated JerrySchlecht. “We can see all the waydown the Feather River drainageinto the valley. On clear days,we’ve even seen Mt. Tamalpias!”

With a million dollar view, abeautiful new home and a tightknit community of friends andneighbors, the Schlechts are veryhappy in their new home.Though the topography and windpatterns in the Concow area pre-dispose it to catastrophic wild-fires, the Schlechts home hasmore than a fighting chance towithstand anything MotherNature could throw at it.

“The Schelcht’s shouldn’t besurprised to find us in theirdriveway setting up a commandpost the next time a large firehits this area,” stated *AssistantChief Bill Holmes. “They havedone an amazing job rebuildingtheir home and have made somegood decisions that will greatlyincrease their homes chance forsurviving a wildfire.”

*Chief Bill Holmes is now theCDF Amador-El Dorado UnitChief. See Special Edition -

New Chiefs.

From L to R: Firefighter I RyanBabb and Tim Maxwell chatwith homeowner Su Schlecht -happy to see each other undermuch better conditions thanduring the Poe Fire.

by Janet Marshall,fire prevention specialist II,

Butte Unit

7JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

See LANDSCAPE page 8

In the spring of 2001 I wascontacted by Mova Verde fromthe California State Parks (CSP)and asked to meet with her andMr. Dave Woolley from the De-partment of the Interior (DOI),Bureau of Reclamation (BOR). Atthe meeting I was asked if Iwould be interested in putting afire resistive plant display to-gether at the visitor center atMillerton Lake. What trans-formed from this meeting was apartnership between the Depart-ment of the Interior, State Parks,California State UniversityFresno (CSUF) and CaliforniaDepartment of Forestry and FireProtection (CDF). I was giventhe opportunity to design a fireresistive plant display on a siteat the Millerton Lake VisitorCenter. Mr. Woolley had receiveda grant to remodel and renovatethe visitor center. His desire wasto turn it into a Water EducationGarden with the Fire ResistiveLandscape component.

I put together a plan for my“dream” exhibit for Mr. Woolley.We had several meetings todiscuss the details. I was givenan area of land that included aslope to create my exhibit. Mr.Woolley was using the Inter-mountain Nursery in Prather, toprovide the plant materials forthe rest of the project. TheNursery specializes in native,draught tolerant plants whichmade my selection of plantmaterials more available. I hada number of meetings withBonnie from the IntermountainNursery, we discussed fire resis-tive plant lists, proper plantplacement, the zone theory of

planting, anddefensible space.A number of blueprints were devel-oped and wedecided on the onethat is currentlyin place. Grantdollars paid for allof the plant mate-rials.

Over the nexttwo years Iworked with ChiefDoug Hicks, Chief Michael Na-tion, Chief Ron Subia and ChiefPete Marquez to schedule handcrews to prepare the site forplanting. I also met with ChiefJim Smith and brought him intothe project. He had helpfulsuggestions and was very sup-portive. It was Chief Smith’ssuggestion to create the Vegeta-tion Management Area (VMP) forthe garden. While the crew waspreparing the site I had a won-derful idea to create a pad andconstruct a “house” at the top ofour slope, to provide a morecomprehensive fire preventionmessage for the public. Mr.Woolley agreed and I scheduled acrew to prepare the constructionsite and build the house. Wedecided on a pre-fab “house”, thecrew poured the foundation andthe “house” was delivered. Thecrew built a rock creek for theexhibit, planted a VMP demon-stration area, installed “logsiding” to the house, constructeda walkway, and provided valuablelabor for the site, weed eating,cleaning, and maintaining thearea. I then asked if we couldconstruct a deck off the “house”

for greater visual impact andadditional information for thepublic. Mr. Woolley provided thematerials and a fire crew con-structed the deck. One half ofthe deck is our “good” exampleand one half is our “bad” ex-ample. Fresno State UniversityCenter for Irrigation Technologyinstalled the irrigation systemand a crew of volunteers, includ-ing myself, planted the plants. Ihave also been a member of theweed patrol for the garden.

The CSP system provides toursof this facility for 4,000 FresnoCounty school children each year.I was asked to be a mentor and toprovide training for the tourguides for our fire resistiveexhibit area. The education teamhas contributed many hourstoward the development of thegarden, the education center,tours, and the learning packet.The learning packet was de-signed to correlate with theCalifornia State Content Stan-dards for Science and Historical-Social Science. This team in-

Karen Guillemin, fire prevention specialist II, Fresno-Kings Unit

Fire resistive landscape exhibit ties in with WAW

8 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

On May 15, 2003 multi-agencies gathered at the Univer-sity of California, Hopland re-search extension center in theMendocino Unit for a uniquepresentation and tour of theeffects of prescribed fire andmastication in Northern Califor-nia chaparral. This vegetationmanagement project was createdto assist the Bureau of LandManagement (BLM) and the

University of California in con-ducting prescribed fire treat-ments for a chaparral researchstudy.

Jennifer Potts, a student at UCBerkley working on her Phd. inenvironmental science, policy andmanagement, chose this difficultfive-year research project as herdissertation. Jennifer presentedher scientific research throughvideo and a field tour. She

showed the effects of seasonaltreatments for fire hazard reduc-tion, recovery of vegetation,ecosystem function, resurgence offuels and costs of the differenttreatments.

The project began in the fall of2001 after a federal grant appliedfor by UC Berkley and BLM was

Prescribed Fire and Masticationby Tracy Boudreaux, fire prevention specialist II, Mendocino Unit

See PRESCRIBED, page 9

LANDSCAPE: from page 7

cluded David Wooley DOI,Millerton State Park RecreationArea staff, Ted Jackson, VinceSereno, Shirley Spencer, andMove Verde; Center for IrrigationTechnology, CSUF educationcoordinator Marilyn Creel, andme. When a school contacts theCSP for a tour the teacher isprovided with a learning packetprior to their visit. The class canthen prepare for what they willbe viewing. The materials in thepacket explore aspects of the SanJoaquin River watershed, ripar-ian environment, water cycles,Water Education Garden and theFire Resistive Landscape exhibit.Further, there are worksheetsthat may be reproduced forstudent use. All of this was alsomade possible by grants from theBOR/DOI.

A partial list of fire resistiveplants, common sense landscap-ing for a fire safe yard, and a selfguided tour of the exhibit, planteducation information, descrip-tion of “zones” Fire PreventionTips by Month, and fire’s role in

nature are currently included.Plans are in the works to includeword search, 10 questions foreach student to look for andanswer on the tour, and a fewother fun learning ideas. Aftereach visit each student is pro-vided a Smokey Bear color bookor puzzle book depending on age.

The exhibit is completelysigned with photographs of thedisplay and titles of the plantmaterials used with common andbotanical names.

I am in the process of develop-ing the inside of our “house”. Itcurrently has a wooden statue of“Smokey”, the true story ofSmokey Bear, posters, informa-tion on 911, stop,drop, and roll,defensible space, fire’s role innature, watershed, addressing,and, “Are You Doing The RightThing The Wrong Way?”. I amworking with SBC Communica-tions to create a 911 simulatorfor the interior of the house foruse on the guided tours. Theentire exhibit is handicap acces-sible.

The Fire Resistive LandscapeExhibit was officially presentedto the public on May 8, 2003.This was the date for the FresnoKings Unit Wildfire AwarenessWeek media event. In addition totelevision, radio and newspapercoverage of the exhibit andwildfire awareness informationon May 8 a follow up program onChannel 24 was developed. JackNolden presented the exhibit onhis two minute makeover seg-ment Tuesday May 20, 2003.

WildfireAwareness

Week 2004 inCalifornia isMay 9-15

WildfireAwareness

Week 2004 inCalifornia isMay 9-15

9JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

approved.Chaparral makes up 6 percent

of California’s vegetation. Like aforest, chaparral has manydifferent species. Commoncharacteristics include flamma-bility and dense structure. It isknown that through prescribedburning or mastication we candecrease the effects of wildfire byreducing the flammability andrate of spread. The controversyhas always been what time ofyear is best for vegetation man-agement and whether or not toburn or use mastication. Otherserious concerns are what effectsthese measures have on plantspecies, soil and wildlife.

To begin the project 20 differ-ent 5-acre plots of land in replica-tion were chosen in 30-year-oldchaparral. These plots werelocated at the University ofCalifornia Hopland ResearchExtension Center, and BLM CowMountain Recreation Area inboth Mendocino and Lake coun-ties. Pre-treatment informationwas gathered from these plots inboth fall and summer of 2001.

Then came two years of pre-scribed burns and mastication.This included four fall burns, fourwinter burns and four springburns. The burning for thisresearch project was conductedand coordinated by CDF. Thiswas a unique vegetation manage-ment burn project due to thegreat importance of its outcome.The burns went on withoutincident thanks to the extensiveefforts of Mendocino Unit Battal-ion 3 and foresters from JacksonDemonstration State Forest.

Mastication duplicated theefforts of the prescribed burns,including the time of year, but

excluding winter due to potentialerosion problems.

Jennifer observes and monitorsthese plots continually with thefocus on environmental impacts.Depending upon which seasonthe projects took place the plantlife was effected differently.During pretreatment certainspecies were noted. After treat-ment some plots showed anexchange of species composition.A change in plant species candramatically affect the foodsource for wildlife. This in turnimpacts the whole ecosystem. Itis important to know the ex-

change of composition becausewith chaparral this exchange ispermanent.

As usual, time of year createdits own challenges for prescribedburning. Fall, the more historicaltime to burn had a greaterchance of fire escape. Winter hadless window of opportunity toburn due to weather. Spring hada much greater window of oppor-tunity for burning and lesschance of escape. Masticationhad no limitations except for thewintertime due again to potentialerosion.

See VMP, page 10

PRESCRIBED: from page 8

On Wednesday October 15,2003, the San Diego Unit enteredinto the history books when itconducted the first ever bina-tional Vegetation ManagementBurn between the United Statesand Mexico. The area involvedencompassed 60 acres in theUnited States and 75 acreswithin Mexico. Though small insize, this block of the Bell Valleyproject was the first of its kindand an enormous step forward in

cooperation with our neighborsand sister organizations to theSouth.

This project was the result ofnearly a year of discussions,meetings and training betweenCDF, CONAFOR (ComisionNacional Forestal), the Federalagency responsible for wildlandfire in Mexico, SFA (Secretaria deFomento Agropecuario), the State

San Diego Unit makes historyby Pete Scully, battalion chief,

San Diego Unit

10 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

WHAT IS FIRE PALS?The North Valley Fire PALS

(Prevention And Life Safety) is achildren’s education troupe thatwas started three years ago byBTU CDF. The group consists ofseveral emergency responseagencies in Butte County. Theseagencies are Butte County FireDepartment, Butte CountySheriff ’s Office, California De-partment of Forestry and FireProtection, Enloe EmergencyServices, First Responder Para-medics, Oroville Fire Depart-ment, Paradise Fire Departmentand the Paradise Police Depart-ment.

WHAT DO THE FIRE PALSDO?

The emergency respondersthat make up the group are thosewho see the day-to-day accidentsthat cause injury and loss of lifeto the children in their communi-ties. The Fire PALS organizationprovides a venue to try and stopthese accidents before they occur.This is accomplished by bringingsafety messages to life throughmusic, comedy and characteriza-tion for elementary school stu-dents throughout the county. The

of Baja, Department of Agricul-ture and the Bomberos de Tecate,the local municipal fire depart-ment. During this time a rela-tionship was established andtrust between the agencies wasdeveloped and enhanced.

Two weeks prior to the bina-tional burn, members ofCONAFOR and the Bomberos deTecate came to the United Statesand participated as trainees on acontrolled burn conducted onanother block of the Bell ValleyVMP. After participating in thisburn enthusiasm and supportwas high for the binationalproject.

Two days prior to the sched-uled day of the binational burnmembers of CONAFOR and SFAmet with CDF Captain RubenHernandez at the site in Mexico.Under the guidance of CaptainHernandez , handlines wereconstructed around the southernportion of the project.

On the morning of October 15,resources from CONAFOR, SFAand Captain Hernandez, whowas assigned as CDF’s Liaison toMexico, arrived at the southernside of the border fence at BellValley. Units from the Bomberosde Tecate were also planning toparticipate but had to withdrawdue to other commitments. Atthe same time resources fromCDF, US Fish and Wildlife Ser-vice and Rural Fire ProtectionDistrict arrived on the northernside of the fence.

Utilizing the existing MutualAssistance Agreement betweenthe two Countries, notificationswere made to the respectiveConsulates and all partiescrossed over the border to attenda unified operational briefing.

Incident Action Plans weredistributed in both Spanish andEnglish. The day’s weather,operational plan, and safetyconcerns were reviewed duringthe operational briefing. Finalnotifications were made andapproval received to commencethe burn. Approval was given bythe Incident Commander tocommence firing operations at0915 hours.

Resources from Mexico withsupport from CDF’s helicopter303s helitack crew began burningfrom the border fence to thesouth and west. Simultaneously,CDF resources, with supportfrom our American cooperators,began burning to the north andwest. A single Operations Chieffrom CDF coordinated bothoperations. Burning conditionswere well within prescriptionand operations proceeded asplanned.

Upon reaching the western

portion of the burn, firing on theMexican side was halted (asplanned) as resources from theUS side fired down hill, acrossthe border and into a river bot-tom in Mexico tying into thesouthern operation from thesouth. In support of the firing onthe west side, CDF and its coop-erators performed a 3,000-foothose lay from the United Statesdown to the river bottom inMexico. The firing operation wascompleted by 1,200 hours andminimal mop-up was startedalong the hose lay portion of theburn.

Personnel from both sides ofthe border were very pleasedwith the operation and theoutcome and expressed a greatdeal of enthusiasm toward con-tinued cooperation and a strongdesire to pursue future coopera-tive projects of this cross bordernature.

FirePALSby Janet Marshall, fire prevention specialist II, Butte Unit

VMP: from page 9

See FIREPALS, page 11

11JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

to his room. Garrett told his littlebrother they had to stay out ofthe house and wait for thefirefighters. Shortly after Jaredtried to go back inside the housethe first time, he attempted torun inside after the family dog.Again, Garrett not only toldJared he couldn’t go back in, hephysically restrained him fromreturning to the house. WhenMrs. Davis’ attention was re-turned to the boys, she praisedthem for staying put. Garrett toldhis mother, and subsequently thepress, that he learned to “get outand stay out” during the FirePALS presentation at his school(Spring Valley) the year before.

The fact that Garrett remem-bered this important safetymessage from the spring FirePALS program he saw as asecond grader eight months priorto his family’s home fire, illus-

trates what the Fire PALS havelearned in the course of theirtraining and that is when chil-dren are engaged in the learningprocess, they tend to have aretention level well into the 90th

percentile.“What happened with Garrett

makes this worth all the timeand effort we put into it,” statedCDF Fire Captain GraysonMagana. “We believe the worstaccident is the one that couldhave been prevented, especiallywhen it comes to children.”

The Butte Fire Safe Councilhas been extremely supportive ofthis Fire PALS program, award-ing it two grants, one each for thepast two years. The grants haveallowed the program to go for-ward with their innovativeefforts to educate children inButte County.

The “SmokeDetectives”, akaFire CaptainGrayson Maganaand FireApparatusEngineer ChelsyeJenkins.

Paradise Fire Captain JohnSingler and CDF FireApparatus Engineer ScottMcLean help CDF BattalionChief Marlene Heisey teachstudents about exit drills inthe home.

FIREPALS: from page 10

life and fire safety messagesinclude burn prevention, strangerawareness, helmet safety, gunsafety, 9-1-1, Stop, Drop and Roll,Exit Drills in the Home, smokedetectors and seatbelt safety.Water safety and poison controllessons are in development andwill be tested this fall on thestudents that attend the FirePALS partner in educationschool, Ophir Elementary inOroville. Dr. Linebarger, theschool’s principal, along with theteachers at Ophir, review theFire PALS curriculum and give ita stamp of approval from aneducator’s point of view. Thetroupe then takes their hour longprogram on the road, often doingup to three programs a day, foran entire week each spring.

SUCCESS!The group had its first docu-

mented success story this pastfall when 8-year-old GarrettDavis of Concow remembered oneof the Fire PALS lessons on “ExitDrills in the Home”. Garrett andhis family, including his 3-year-old brother Jared, his four-month-old baby sister and hismother, ran outside after anexplosion rocked their house theevening of November 13. Mrs.Davis found her husband lyingon the ground with an arm injuryhe sustained from the blast thatoccurred while he was fueling ahot generator in a shed adjacentto the home. As the house beganto catch fire, Garrett and Jaredwere left on their own while Mrs.Davis was simultaneously calling9-1-1, holding her baby girl andattending to her husband. 3-year-old Jared was frightened andwanted to run back in the house

12 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

On August 28, 2001 theFresno- Kings Unit announcedthe arrest of James Bradley Haagof Fresno for arson. Mr. Haagwas believed to be responsible forsetting a number of fires includ-ing the Highway 180 fire, theHighway 168 fire and the Power-house Fire in 2000. Collectively,these fires cost the taxpayerswell over $8 million dollars tosuppress.

On December 28, 2001, DerrickZucco was arrested by FireCaptain Specialist, JoshChrisman and Battalion Chief,Rick Moore. Mr. Zucco wasarrested and charged with fourcounts of arson and one count ofassault with a deadly weapon-vehicle. The arrest was madepossible due to informationprovided by a private citizen, TimKochheiser.

On Tuesday November 26,

2002 at the FKU emergencycommand center Kurt Luikhartand Tim Kochheiser were pre-sented with cash rewards forinformation provided that led tothe arrest and conviction of thetwo separate arsonists. Mr.Luikhart and Mr. Kochheisereach decided to become involvedand go above and beyond what isexpected of any citizen. Theiractions have prevented countlessfires in the future and have savedthe taxpayers millions of dollars.These two men supplied theDepartment with vehicle descrip-tions, license plate numbers anda description of the suspects theywitnessed.

The Fresno Kings Unit recom-mended Mr. Luikhard and Mr.Kochheiser for the arson rewardbecause they supplied significantinformation for the arrest andconviction of the suspects. The

Fresno-Kings arson arrestby Karen Guillemin, fire prevention specialist II, Fresno-Kings Unit

recommendation is reviewedthrough channels for approval ofpayment. The information pro-vided is evaluated for how ithelps the case and the type andsize of the fires. A recommenda-tion is then made for all or partof the $10,000 to be awarded tothe witness. The State of Califor-nia supplies the arson rewardfund from general fund money.CDF believes this is an excellentinvestment and a cost savings forthe citizens of California.

Both James Bradley Haag andDerrick Zucco were found guiltyof arson. Mr. Zucco is currentlyserving two years in prison andMr. Haag was sentenced to 115years in prison.

Fire Prevention and Safety on the WebHomeowners ChecklistA comprehensive list of the fire safemeasures that every responsiblewildland homeowner needs to take.

Fire Hazard Field Zoning GuideThis Guide is a tool for fire agencypersonnel and local land use plannerswho are involved in the creation andimplementation of local fire hazardzoning strategies.

Structural Fire PreventionField GuideThis guide is meant to help fireagency, homeowners, landowners,decision-makers and local governmentin implementing state ordinances that

Equipment Use Fact SheetThe do’s and don’ts of equipment usein wildland areas ( lawn mowers,chainsaws, welders, tractors, etc.)

Public Resources Code 4291The law requires wildlandhomeowners to take fire safe mea-sures.

Burn PermitsGeneral information on burn permitsin California.

make structures more fire safewithin the Urban-Wildland Inter-face.

CA Fire AllianceThe Alliance is a cooperative mem-bership dedicated to the support ofpre-fire principles and activities.

CA Fire Safe CouncilsThe Fire Safe Council fulfills itsmission to preserve California’snatural and manmade resources bymobilizing all Californians to maketheir homes, neighborhoods andcommunities fire safe.

FIREWISEThis web site contains educationalinformation for people who live orvacation in fire-prone areas of theUnited States.

13JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

advantages of air-cushion land-ing craft are numerous. They cancarry heavy payloads, such as anM-1 tank, at high speeds. Theirpayload and speed mean moreforces reach the shore in ashorter time, with shorter inter-vals between trips. The vehiclerides on an air cushion approxi-mately five feet above the land orocean surface, which allows thisvehicle to reach more than 70percent of the world’s coastline,while conventional landing craftcan land at only 15 percent of thecoasts. All of these advantages,of course, make them an excel-lent tool for transporting firefighting resources to a remoteisland like Santa Catalina.

After the request for type 3engines was received, Strike

Another CDF first – CDFengines storm the beach asthey respond to a vegetationfire on Santa Catalina Island.

In the dark and early morninghours of January 6, 2003, astrong Santa Ana wind eventenveloped the southwesterncounties of California, causingnumerous fires, downed powerlines, and numerous other wind-related incidents that kept CDFand other local fire agencies busyfor more than two days. Includedin the activity was the PacificIsland of Santa Catalina, some20 miles offshore from LongBeach. At approximately 5:34a.m. a fire was ignited after apower line was blown down byhigh winds on a ridge just south-west of the Catalina airport,which sits high above the harbortown of Avalon.

Most of the island of SantaCatalina is CDF responsibilityinside the county of Los Angeles,where CDF contracts wildlandfire protection to L.A. CountyFire Department. BattalionChief Mike Williams of LACounty FD responded by helicop-ter to assist LA County FDStation 55, a combination paid/volunteer station and the only LACounty station on the island.Upon his arrival, Williams sawthe need for several hand crewsand a type 3-engine strike team.A request then went out to CDFthrough the FIRESCOPE Multi-agency Coordination System(MACS). Along with a fixed-wing

and helicopterresponse, threehand crews from LACounty FD and atype 3-engine strike teamfrom the San Diego Unitresponded to the fire toaugment the few availableengines that the islandcould muster.

So you may be askingyourself, how did the fireresources get to SantaCatalina from the main-land? By US Navyhovercraft how else? Moreaccurately, this craft isknown as an LCAC - LandingCraft Air Cushion.

LA County has been using theLCAC for immediate transporta-tion of fire resources for severalyears now with the cooperation ofthe US Navy. The Navy AssaultCraft Unit – “Swift Intruders”are stationed at Camp PendletonMarine Base in Oceanside, CA.,one of two LCAC bases in thecontinental US. Through a pre-planned effort coordinated withthe LCAC base, fire apparatusand personnel can be transportedfrom either Camp Pendleton orLong Beach, depending on theneeds for each incident.

Navy LCAC are a high-speed,over-the-beach fully amphibiouslanding craft capable of carryinga 60-75 ton payload. They arenormally used to transportweapons systems, equipment,cargo and personnel from ship toshore and across the beach. The

by Mike “Spanky” Bratton, battalion chief,San Diego Unit

Hovercraft toSanta Catalina

The crew awaits the trip home.

Theenginesareunloadedafter thetrip to theisland.

See HOVERCRAFT, page 14

14 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

Team 9330C with Battalion 3316and Engines 3388 (Ramona),3381 (Miller), 3387 (San Marcos),3374 (Campo), and 3375(Cuyamaca) to the CampPendleton LCAC base at 4:00a.m. on Tuesday, January 7.There we met up with a well-trained crew from LA County FDwho performed a thorough safetyinspection of each vehicle in thestrike team. After the inspection,we were given a safety briefingon how to travel safely across theopen sea aboard the LCAC.

By 6:30 a.m. we began loadingour apparatus aboard the firstLCAC, which was able to fit fourCDF engines (three Model 15sand one Model 1) on its deck. My4WD pickup and the remainingModel 1 engine were loaded on asecond LCAC along with a heli-tender and other LA County FDsupport equipment. The enginecrews boarded along with theapparatus and were required toride inside the cab, as the windcreated by the LCAC’s powerfulturbines is tremendous on thedeck. I boarded the first LCACand rode along in the cockpitwith the three Navy personnelthat are required to pilot thecraft – pilot, engineer and navi-gator (each trip aboard an LCACis considered a “flight”). This wasdone to maintain communicationwith the personnel in the en-gines.

The first LCAC was launchedafter a short and expertly ex-ecuted battening down of theapparatus by a skilled deck crew.Under combat conditions, oncethe LCAC arrive on the beach,this same crew is required toclear all military vehicles andpersonnel off the decks in two

minutes or less! After a some-what exciting beach entranceover a four-foot wave that choseto crash right onto the deck, wewere underway. Moving west-ward, at an average of 40 knots,over a mildly rolling sea, the 60-plus nautical mile trip went offwithout a hitch – we arrived inan hour and a half.

Arriving at Little Harbor onthe southwest shore of SantaCatalina, the LCAC landed on abeautiful tropical beach at LittleHarbor. We were greeted by L ACounty FD BC Mike Williamsand CDF Agency Rep, BC KellyZombro, along with a few LACounty FD personnel. Theybriefed us on our assignment andsoon after we were on the fireline of a 75-acre brush fire, wherewe spent the next two daysworking the fire.

Having spent a few days onSanta Catalina, beyond thenormal duties of fighting a veg-etation fire, we were able to seejust what a gem the island is.Sitting on the same latitude asCasablanca, and just 2 degreessouth of Crete, Santa CatalinaIsland seems equally exotic, a

shimmering mirage just 20 miles(not 26 as the Four Preps sang inthe ’50s) across the sea from theport of Long Beach. There are nostoplights, no billboards - and thesheriff runs around in a souped-up golf cart. Cars are limited (itis said that there is a waiting listof around 10 years for new resi-dents to bring automobiles over)and everything but the residents’sunny dispositions has to bebarged over. The hospitalityextended by its citizens wasfantastic. On the day we left theisland the mayor of Avalon,Ralph Morrow, met us at PebblyBeach and personally shook ourhands and invited us back underbetter circumstances as we werewaiting to board the LCAC forthe return trip home.

Once again, CDF met thechallenge of responding to anemergency in one of the mostunique settings imaginable.

For more info on the US Navy’sLCAC program visit the site:http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/ships/ship-lcac.html

The annual Labor Day Tubingevent brings over 15,000 revelersto the Sacramento River in BTUeach year. CDF has a lead role inthe task force that providescommand and control for theincident – everything from par-ticipating in the unified com-

Sacramento RiverLabor Day Event

Gets “Hot”

mand to public information towildfire stand-bys to waterrescue to providing the IAP forover 13 local, state and federalagencies.

CDF’s versatility was espe-

HOVERCRAFT: from page 13

by Janet Marshall, fire prevention specialist II, Butte Unit

See RIVER, page 15

15JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

The fire service recognizesweather as the most criticalelement in fire behavior. This iswhy the Remote AutomatedWeather Station (RAWS) is animportant tool in protectingCalifornia from devastatingwildfires. RAWS allows state-of-the-art weather predictions thatare fast, accurate and recordedon an hourly basis. This informa-tion is readily accessible andalerts fire agencies to critical fireweather periods while alsoassisting in the prediction of how

cially evident this past LaborDay when the traditional halfway point of the float, a brushywildland area known locally as“Beer Can Beach”, caught fire.The crew of CDF Engine 2169quickly donned their PPE,grabbed several hosepacks, backpumps and their floato pumpand jumped on a rescue boatpiloted by Retired CDF Battal-ion Chief Dave Minton. The crew,escorted onto the beach filledwith over 5,000 drunken revel-ers by Butte County Sheriff ’sdeputies, quickly attacked thefire and held it at ¼ acre.

“It appears the fire wascaused by smoking,” statedEngineer Matt Mackenzie. “Itlooks like someone tried to beatthe fire out with a wet towel.”The fire ran through some dry,matted marsh grass and wasstopped just inches away from

acres of dry brush on a large,inaccessible peninsula. “I canhonestly say that’s the first timeI’ve done that,” stated FirefighterStephen Morris of his boat ride infull Nomex and web gear througha throng of drunken tubers. “Itwould be impossible to get en-gines in here.”

The 16-hour day ended with111 river assists, 15 medicalemergencies, 25 DUI arrests andnearly 400 citations from various

law enforcement agencies forminors in possession of alcoholand being drunk in public.

“We were expecting nearly30,000 tubers this year,” statedIncident Commander and CDFBattalion Chief Bill Redding.“We’ve been pushing a campaignthat stresses the river is not theplace to be on Labor Day. Ournumbers are way down from lastyear so it looks like our tactic isworking.”

a fire will behave as conditionschange or shift directions.

The National EnvironmentalSatellite, Data, and InformationService allows CDF to transmitand receive RAWS data via aGeostationary OperationalEnvironmental Satellite (GOES).The GOES satellite then re-transmits the data back to earthallowing any agency or individualwith RAWS or a receiving dishfor GOES to arrange to patchinto the network to receive thedata information.

Data that is received from theGOES satellite is collected byseveral agencies. The primaryone is the Automated Sorting,Conversion and DistributionSystem (ASCADS). This systemis run by the Bureau of LandManagement (BLM). Data isalso sent to the Weather Informa-tion Management System(WIMS) for fire danger ratingcalculations, the NationalWeather Service, the Western

Weather’s critical role in fire behaviorRemote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS)by Josh Hubbard,staff writer, Public Education Office

RIVER: from page 14

See RAWS, page 16

16 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

Regional Climate Center for longterm data storage, and the Uni-versity of Utah for operationalproducts. CDF also collects theRAWS data for the Fire Plandatabase. CDF has a network of99 RAWS which are part of aninteragency network of over 350RAWS situated throughout thestate. Data from all these RAWSis shared by various agencieswithout regard to ownership.

At the local level, CDF usesthe RAWS data on a daily basis.The CDF Butte Unit is a primeexample. Within the Butte Unitthere are a total of four RAWSstations located at Cohasset,Chico, Carpenter Ridge, andBangor. Butte also has a portableRAWS unit that is placed out onfires and other emergency inci-dents to assist fire officials withcritical weather information.

Data from each one of theRAWS stations is transmittedevery hour, collected and stored.This data is available from avariety of sources but theInternet serves as the easiestway for the casual user to obtainreal time information for eachsite, (http://raws.boi.noaa.gov/rawsobs.html.) RAWS is ex-tremely accurate and collectsdata about every second on thehour and transmits this dataevery hour at a specific time.Once this data is collected, theButte Unit reviews the informa-tion and determines the currentfire weather conditions through-out their Unit on an hourly basis.Much of the RAWS process isautomated but the stations dorequire periodic maintenance andcalibration. Currently the Com-munications Division of theDepartment of General Serviceshas the contract for the mainte-

nance in coordination with theunits.

The RAWS stations are solarpowered and automaticallydetect conditions such as airtemperature, relative humidity,wind speed and direction, fuelmoisture and temperature,barometric pressure, and pre-cipitation. The system receives,compiles, sorts and then files thedata that is available for a localagency to download via com-puter. This information can bedisplayed on maps, charts, andgraphs to show the weatherconditions throughoutthe state. Historicaldata and condition thatmay be familiar to acertain area or time ofday are also availableby using the system.RAWS stations havehad a positive impacton many organizationsand have assisted CDFin doing the job in a safer andmore efficient way.

There are a variety of usersthat rely on this informationfrom the RAWS station. Inaddition to CDF, others includeDepartment of Water Resources(DWR), National Park Service(NPS), National Weather Service(NWS), and the United StatesForest Service (USFS).

The Butte Unit uses the datathroughout the year; however, theprimary use falls during the fireseason when weather patternsand conditions play big roles inthe wildfire danger. Monitoringweather conditions is an impor-tant and necessary method ofassisting firefighting efforts toreduce losses and protect lives.

Emergency Command Centers(ECC) are able to set up the

emergency response levels basedon the current fire danger pre-dicted by RAWS and it alsoallows the ECC to announce thecurrent Burn Index values tohelp firefighters with their pre-arrival size-up. “RAWS has beena complete success far exceedingthe systems and expectations ofinitial fire agencies. It hasprovided accurate weather obser-vations giving fire fighting per-sonnel an advantage in safety,”said Pete Guilbert, Fire Protec-tion Operations Chief.

RAWS: from page 18

17JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

Folks are seeing alittle different versionof the crew carryingvehicles (CCVs) usedby CDF’s conservationcamps these days.Many of them nowhave Code 3 emergency lightingand warning sirens on them. Inan effort to provide a more effec-tive fire fighting force, the Califor-nia Department of Forestry andFire Protection pursued andreceived a federal grant to pur-chase and install Code 3 emer-gency lighting and warning sirenson approximately 50 percent of itscrew carrying vehicles. Thesevehicles serve as transportationfor the inmate hand crews thatCDF uses to perform emergencyresponse assignments and conser-vation related work projects.

CDF recognized the value ofequipping the CCVs with emer-gency warning devices severalyears ago. With the onset ofurban migration into what oncewere largely rural settings, trafficand congestion has become com-monplace in areas that weredesigned to handle much smallervehicular traffic. Often times,there are delays in the transportof fire ready crews, many of whichare stuck in traffic, causingextended response times.

In order to find a solution, theDepartment decided to pursue afederal grant that would allow forthe funding of emergency lightingand warning devices that wouldeffectively clear the traffic corri-

CDF CCVs Get New Look To Become ECTs

dors, allowing thevehicles to proceedcautiously throughtraffic. The intentof the installationwas to provideanother tool forfirefighters tomove through congested areasquickly and safely, shorteningresponse times and possiblysaving additional lives andproperty.

When the grant funding wasreceived, it was decided to installlights and sirens on approxi-mately 108 crew carrying ve-hicles. These signaling devices,once installed, would change thefamiliar acronym of the CCV(crew carrying vehicles) to ECT(emergency crew transports).These ECTs represent latermodel vehicles, all 1990 andnewer. The lighting and sirenpackage included a large roof-mounted flashing light bar, redflashing front grill lights, flash-ing side and rear lighting, au-dible sirens, and alternating(flashing) headlights. Thesevehicles are similar to otheremergency response vehicles.When an ECT is responding withthe lights in operation, driversshould pull over to the right, use

caution, and providefor safe passage ofthe emergencyvehicle. In keepingwith thedepartment’s Code 3policy, vehicle opera-tors are asked to usecaution whenever thevehicle is respondingto incidents, in allcircumstances.

All of the aftermarket installationswere completed by

the end of June, 2003. All newvehicles arriving from the CDFDavis Equipment Facility willhave the Code 3 equipmentinstalled by the vendor that isconstructing the vehicle.

There were many CDF employ-ees involved in the installationprocess of these ECT conversions.The Davis Equipment Facility ledthe project by obtaining thewarning devices, conducting theinstallation training and makingevery effort to ensure that thefield had all of the tools andmaterials to make this project asuccess. The staff at the DavisEquipment Facility includedSenior Forestry EquipmentManager Rick Brown, ForestryEquipment Manager II RichardArmstrong, and Heavy Equip-ment Mechanic Michael Kay.

Special mention needs to bemade to the following CDFers fortheir efforts in the installation of

by Mike Ursitti, forestry equipment manager II, CDF Northern Region HQ

Emergency Lighting and Warning Sirens

See ECTS, page 18

18 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

the vehicles, and training of theoperators and inmates during theproject: Forestry EquipmentManager Danny Sykes, Shasta-Trinity Unit, Forestry EquipmentManager Rich Mattos, Lassen-Modoc Unit, Forestry EquipmentManager George Mattos, Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit, ForestryEquipment Manager LarryHilbert, Tehama-Glenn Unit,Fleet Equipment Manager ArnyBolkcom, Humboldt-Del Norte

Unit, Forestry Equipment Man-ager Robert Gutierrez, SanMateo-Santa Cruz Unit, ForestryEquipment Manager Mike Mor-gan, Northern Region Headquar-ters, Forestry Equipment Man-ager Jim Smith, Fresno-KingsUnit, Heavy Equipment ManagerJay MacDonald, Davis MobileEquipment Facility, HeavyEquipment Manager Jason Kane,Lassen-Modoc Unit, Fleet Man-ager John Carrier, SouthernRegion Headquarters, and Fleet

Manager Gordon Gholson, South-ern Region Headquarters.

Special thanks goes to CaseButterman, deputy chief, Conser-vation Camp Program, andBryan Zollner, deputy chief,Operations, Northern Region, fortheir support, funding, attention,tracking, and drive to get thisprogram underway and com-pleted prior to the 2003 SummerPreparedness response period.

ECTS: from page 17

Friday April 25, 1986, 1524hours, Pacific Standard Time, Iremember where I was. Divisionchief, Tehama-Glenn Unit in RedBluff, California. Unbeknown tothe rest of the world, techniciansand engineers at Russia’s pre-mier nuclear power plant –Chornobyl – were engaged inexperiments and system testingthat would change the entirenuclear power industry for alltime.

Testing had been started 24hours earlier that would evaluatethe system and program perfor-mance regarding the residualpower available from storedmechanical energy from theturbine generators. This datawas needed to determine theenergy available for safety sys-tems when steam delivery fromthe nuclear reactor was inter-rupted. The testing would deter-mine the reliable forced circula-

Revisiting ChornobylCDF staff chief goes to Ukraine

The welcoming sign at thetraining site in Slavutych, the citythat was built after the Chornobylaccident which occurred on April26, 1986 at 0124 hours.

Damage to Chornobyl Unit 4 andTurbine Building, Unit 3 Reactoris located to the right of thecooling tower and the Turbinebuilding that runs across thebottom of the photo.

tion in the cooling system duringthe period between complete lossof facility power and full auxil-iary Diesel-generator operationpower restoration.

Chornobyl time was SaturdayApril 26, 1986, 0124 hours. Ten

The Ghost Town of Pripyat. 50,000people evacuated on April 27,1986. Family pictures andfurniture still remain in theapartments and the guest registeris till on the desk at the PripyatHotel on Main Street. Access to thetown is controlled by guards stationed in a lead shielded trailer.

by Dave LeMay,staff chief,Cooperative Fire

seconds earlier the reactor con-trol operator activated the “reac-tor manual emergency shutdown”AZ-5 button. The system hadresponded to the testing with an

See CHORNOBYL, page 19

19JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

increase in positive reactivityand as a result an uncontrolledreactor runaway had beenstarted in the lower section of thereactor. The senior engineerrecorded “…: strong knocks, CPSrods stopped before reaching thelower ends ….”

The resulting steam andreactor explosion lifted the 200-ton concrete lid of the reactorinto the air, extruded large blocksof radiated graphite and pelletsof raw plutonium from the reac-tor into the air and on to theroofs of adjoining reactor andturbine building. The lid camedown sideways straight downinto the reactor. Several reactoroperators were killed. Electricaland structure fires were ignitedby the explosion and superheated radioactive materials.Just like any other emergency,the fire department responded.

The six firefighters, fullytrained in fire suppression tech-niques, knew that they had tostop the fire from extending anddamaging Unit 3 (Unit 4 washistory) or the fire extending intothe turbine building and causinga complete shutdown of power.Either of these could imperil thelives of plant operators and thepopulace in nearby Pripyat Town,Population 50,000.

On October 4, 2003, CDF StaffChief - Cooperative Fire Protec-tion, David B. LeMay traveled toSlavutych and Chornobyl,Ukraine as part of a multi-disciplinary team of civilian fire,health, and emergency responsepersonnel along with the Califor-nia National Guard. The purposeof the trip was to study and learnfrom the Chornobyl accident, theresulting impacts, and the con-

tinuing response and activitiesthat were being employed over 17years after the incident.

The team received instructionand information, through variousinterpreters and guides, fromseveral Russian and Ukrainianexperts. The Lead Instructor andNuclear and Radiation SafetyAdvisor, Volodimir Scherbinaprovided a wealth of informationregarding the situation that leadup to the accident, the response,damages, lessons learned, andthe ongoing activities to mitigatethe effects.

Upon the completion of threedays of instruction and variousshort trips to the SlavutychHospital and Fire Station, theteam spent the day at theChornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.Each member was provided withthe standard Radiation Dosim-eter and was instructed on whatareas or materials to avoid.

Those instructions included,“Don’t sit on the concrete blocks,they’re still radioactive.”; “Stayon the hard surfaces, the dirt stillcontains particles that might becharged”; and “Don’t walk on themoss, it picks up the radioactiv-ity from the soil.” I was glad thatmy Official Certificate for Exter-nal Irradiation only read 0.04mSv by the end of the day.

While traveling in the “Exclu-sion Zone” the team was shownthe effects of working to mitigatethe effects of the accident. Sev-eral hundred vehicles and heli-copters were contaminatedduring the activities and wereabandoned. As these vehicles agethe radiation lessens and salvageof metal parts may be possible. (Ithought I saw an AMU FEPP tagsigned by Dave Wardall on one ofthe helicopters.)

During the field trip the team

visited the Memorial to theFallen Fire Fighters and Emer-gency Workers that responded tothe Chornobyl accident. At theFire Station in the Town ofChornobyl, the station personneldesigned and built the Memorialto their fallen comrades. TheMemorial depicts the actions thatthe Fire Fighters took to stop thespread of the fire into Unit 3 andthe Turbine Building and theEmergency Workers that miti-gated the radiological impacts ofthe accident.

The main “Lessons Learned”from the Chornobyl Incidentinclude: Full and Complete Pre-Planning and Emergency Re-sponse Capabilities; Training anda full understanding by emer-gency responders of all hazardsthat they will face, and conduct-ing exercises for any and allpossible scenarios; Trust in thereports of first-in company offic-ers and initiate immediate actionbased on those reports; and,Immediate Command and Con-trol at the Incident, with the fullauthority and responsibility toorder all necessary actions toprotect life, property, and toprovide for emergency respond-ers’ safety.

CHORNOBYL: from page 18

StaffChiefDaveLeMayretiredfrom CDFonDecember31, 2003after 28yearswith the Department.

20 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

On January 27. the peacefulatmosphere of Alturas, Californiawas shattered. The AlturasPolice Department received a callfrom the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation (FBI) that sometype of chemical agent had beenreleased at a local high schoolbasketball game three daysearlier. That morning, two localresidents were admitted toModoc Medical Center, diagnosedwith the plague. The hospitalwas quarantined until the magni-tude of the problem could bedetermined.

Later that afternoon, severalhigh school students reportedthat six or seven men had chasedthem out of the old lumber millsite that was being used to houserailroad cars. Three suspects fledthe scene when police arrived.Three others began destroyingequipment. The CaliforniaHighway Patrol (CHP) appre-hended two of the suspects aftera high-speed chase down High-

Weapons of mass destructionAlturas, California preparesby Leah Sandberg, office technician, Lassen-Modoc Unit

way 299.The Alturas Fire Department

went to the mill site prepared todeal with a suspected metham-phetamine lab. When theyarrived, they noticed severalexplosive devices placed aroundone of the boxcars. The fire chiefand crew withdrew until policecould question the suspects whohad been apprehended. Uponquestioning the suspects, lawenforcement officials began tosuspect that a terrorist groupwas responsible for operating thelab. They became concerned thatthe boxcar might contain weap-ons of mass destruction. Adecision was made to activate anemergency operations center tobe staffed by various agencies.Shocked that something like thiscould occur in Modoc County andfeeling a little overwhelmed bythe magnitude of the situation,the operations center commanderrequested help from state au-thorities and the National

Guard’s 95th Weapons of MassDestruction – Civil Support Team(95th).

The 95th arrived late thatafternoon with equipment ca-pable of detecting nuclear, bio-logical, chemical or radiologicalmaterials. Their equipmentincluded a self-contained com-mand center, decontaminationunit, field laboratory, communica-tion links, and all the personalprotective equipment needed toinvestigate these threats. Theteam members, led by Lt. Col.John Haramalis, suited up andentered the smoking boxcar. Theboxcar was booby-trapped with atrip wire rigged to detonate abarrel armed with nails and C-4explosives. The team disarmedthe trap and proceeded into theboxcar where they found the lab.Team members began gatheringsamples. Once this process wascompleted, they started the

See WEAPONS, page 21

A firefighter memorial stampdedication ceremony was held onJuly 2, 2002 at Fresno CountyFire District Station 90 inCaruthers. The United StatesPostal service sponsored theevent in which the firefightercommemorative stamp wasunveiled. In attendance at theceremony were Unit Chief SteveSunderland, Deputy Chief TedMendoza, Division Chief Larry

German, Fire Apparatus Engi-neer Peter Trowbridge, FireCaptain Mark Brodowski, severalfirefighters, PCF’s, members ofthe Fire District Board, PostalService representatives, and localresidents. It was a full house inthe garage at station 90. A saleof the stamps was conducted bypost office staff, refreshmentswere served and a plaque of theevent was on display.

Karen Guillemin, fire prevention specialist II,Fresno-Kings Unit

Firefighter Commemorative Stamp

21JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

For 10 days in March and Aprilof 2003, approximately 55 em-ployees from the Humboldt-DelNorte Unit (HUU) enrolled in adriving course using the revolu-

A spider inHumboldtCountyJuliana Gilman,Safety-Training Office,Humboldt-Del Norte Unit

decontamination process. Eachteam member was rinsed andscrubbed several times and thecontaminated water was sealedin separate barrels for laterdisposal. A hand-held meteringinstrument was used to confirmthat team members were fullydecontaminated.

While the decontaminationprocess was taking place, thesamples were taken into the fieldlab to determine what type ofcontaminant was present. Thelaboratory contained infraredspectrometers, gamma spectrom-eters, and other equipmentcapable of identifying more than250,000 organic compounds.

A second team from the 95th

suited up and entered the boxcarto take additional samples and tobegin cleanup. One team mem-ber was taken hostage, when anarmed terrorist surprised them.A local SWAT team was called infrom the Alturas Police Depart-ment and Modoc County Sheriff ’sOffice. After suiting up, theSWAT team entered the boxcarand was able to free the hostage.The terrorist was killed in theprocess.

Though this scenario did notactually occur, it is somethingthat the 95th prepares for andtrains for on a regular basis, andAlturas was pleased to have thehonor of hosting this particulartraining exercise. So how didAlturas get the opportunity tohost such a training exercise: aprestigious opportunity re-quested by many larger cities.Lt. Col. John Haramalis, theteam’s commander, met RogerDorris, Fire Chief for the City ofAlturas and owner of DorrisRealty when he came to Modoc

County looking for property.Haramalis invited Dorris toBenecia, California to see the95th in action. Dorris feltHaramalis and his men couldprovide valuable training to theModoc County Emergency Ser-vices Team and asked how hecould get the team up to northernCalifornia for a training exercise.Lt. Col. Haramalis said all Dorrishad to do was ask. Haramaliswas interested in having histeam experience a cold weatherscenario. The details were devel-oped and the date was set forJanuary 27.

Several CDF staff fromLassen-Modoc Unit had theopportunity to observe the three-day training exercise. BattalionChief John Hughes was amongthem. “We were called upon byAlturas City Fire Department toprovide assistance in evaluatingand controlling the exercise. More precisely, they wanted us toevaluate their use of the IncidentCommand System (ICS) and thecomponents/functions of a haz-ardous materials incident. Wewere happy to be able to takepart. We also provided someother logistical support as re-quested by the city”, said ChiefHughes. “The Civil SupportTeam arrived equipped andstaffed to handle nearly anythingthat might be thrown at them.

They came with a completecommunications unit,monitoring and testingequipment, full level “A”entry and decontaminationcapabilities. Every mem-ber of the team is handselected and the depth of

training and experience on theteam is impressive. To the teamscredit was their emphasis onproviding assistance to the localagency, not taking over. Theywere able to provide very goodadvice to the Incident Com-mander on how to handle variousproblems. I was impressed withthe efficiency, effectiveness, andcapabilities of this team. I hadno idea that such a resource wasavailable.”

On January 30 the 95th loadedup their equipment and headedhome. Alturas returned to thepeaceful town it once was – alittle excited for the experienceand a lot wiser.

WEAPONS: from page 20 Photos by JeanBilodeaux fromCedarville.

See SPIDER, page 22

22 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

See SPIDER, page 23

tionary SkidCar System.The SkidCar System was

developed in Sweden and mod-eled on the “stable platformconcept of driving”. Dubbed “TheSpider”, the SkidCar apparatuslooks like a large red platformwith eight hydraulic outriggers.The premise of the SkidCarSystem places a driver into askid from any wheel or wheels totest the drivers’ recovery when askid occurs. The goal of thetraining is to enable a driver todevelop insight on how to correcta skid properly, or how to avoid askid situation in the first place.The stable platform concept ofdriving refers to the physicalstarting point for grip, in otherwords, where the rubber meetsthe road.

Santa Rosa Jr. College pur-chased the SkidCar System for$110,000 and it has quicklybecome a popular feature in thefire science curriculum. Used inconjunction with a donated CDFModel 12 engine, it is the onlytraining apparatus of its type ona fire engine in the UnitedStates.

The genesis of bringing theSkidCar System driving course toHUU began over a year ago whenSafety-Training Battalion ChiefDave Short negotiated a loanwith Santa Rosa Jr. College. InMarch of 2002 Chief Short en-rolled HFEO Robert Barrow in aTrain-the-Trainer course inSanta Rosa. Selecting HFEOBarrow to instruct the uniquedriving course was wise; hiscalm, controlled manner is para-mount for any motor vehicleinstructor. Upon completion ofthe course, Barrow was proficientin operating the HAL SCC

(SkidCar Controller) used formaneuvering the hydraulic skids.These hydraulic skids are de-signed to raise and/orlower the front or backend of the engine simu-lating a loss of controland, in most cases, a 180-degree spin.

When I spoke to Rob-ert Barrow about theSkidCar, the first thing Iwanted to know was howit got up here. It was alogistical challengeutilizing the time, effort,and skill of HFEOsRobert Barrow and Bob Laddeach driving a low bed transportfrom HUU to the Santa ClaraUnit. One transport hauled theModel 12 engine; the other wasused for the SkidCar platform.In addition to the drive back toHumboldt County, three morehours were required to make itoperational.

The day I drove the SkidCarwas a memorable one. There wasa break in the weather and it waswarm outside. As I drove to theparking lot of the defunct EelRiver Sawmill I saw the familiarred and white markings of a CDFengine, but it looked different.The engine was sitting atop araised red platform all the wayaround. I walked toward theengine that held several of my co-workers intending to simplyobserve the SkidCar in operation.

“Get in—you’re driving” Iheard someone say. I offered upa lame excuse, certain there wasno way I could possibly drive avehicle that large, though I hadbeen assured by InstructorBarrow there was no chance theengine could or would flip over.What I experienced was anopportunity to do something I

had never done before—drive afire engine and put it into a 180-degree spin! After I spun out a

second time, Barrow asked mewhat I saw, felt, or recalledduring the spin. I was unable toanswer any of his questionsbecause it seemed that time bothstopped and hurtled forward. Itwas bizarre.

Instructor Barrow assured methis was a common reaction andprovided me with a useful tool forthe next time. “Focus on thatmud puddle between the orangecones when you feel the skiddingbegin”. I doubted whether Iwould have the presence of mindto pull it off, but it worked. Theprinciple behind this advice ispart of the SkidCar Systemphilosophy: 90 percent is sight—your life expectancy is based onwhat you see; 5 percent istouch—the greater the “G” force,the lesser your stability, and 5percent is hearing—listen to yourtires.

According to the SkidCarSystem ideology, however, at theend of the day no matter whatpath you drive or how great adriver you are, if you go too fastfor the conditions, you will crash.

At work the following day I

SPIDER: from page 21

23JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

Here is an excerpt from a notesent to Butte Fire PreventionSpecialist II Janet Marshall bythe victim’s mother:

“Rodney had surgery lastnight to put a rod and screwsthrough his femur. He has afractured pelvis and two brokenhands which will make it hardfor him to get around oncrutches but they are takinggood care of him here at thehospital....We are all grateful forfor everyone’s help and concern -Great Job!!! We all think youguys are really great”

Fire Captain JimAllen of Vina’sCopter 205receives locationinformation overthe radio on avictim who fell40 feet in to theFeather River onJune 17th.The copteravailability cutthe incident timein half. The hikeout of the steepcanyon wouldhave been trecherous, both for the seriously injuredvictim and the rescuers.

Short Haul Rescue

SPIDER: from page 22

shared my experience with co-workers who promptly signed upfor the class. Like me, theysurprised themselves by drivinga vehicle that large and learningto react safely as it spun out ofcontrol. Although some skepticsmaintain the skid pan technique

taught at the Academy is just asviable, most students had highpraise for the course. The HUUSafety-Training office structuredthe training classes in 3-hourblocks twice a day, with eachsession accommodating 3-4students. Attendance was di-verse and not limited to engi-neers. Battalion Chiefs, HFEOs,

support staff and foresters allfound the training beneficial, onthe job and off.

For additional informationabout the SkidCar, go towww.SkidCar.com. See theSkidCar in operation by clickingon the MOVIES link.

See COALINGA, page 24

The Fresno-Kings Unit held aformal open house and dedica-tion to showcase the newestCDF station in Fresno County.The open house was held onMay 31, 2003 at the CoalingaForest Fire Station 25600 W.Jayne Ave, Coalinga, California.

Among the many dignitariesin attendance were CDF Direc-tor Andrea Tuttle, PublicEducation Deputy Chief Dick

Hayes, CSR Chief Tim Turner,CSR Assistant Chief CandaceGregory, FKU Unit Chief SteveSunderland, Fresno CountySupervisor Phil Larson, andFresno County Fire DistrictDirector’s Sylvia Gomez and AmyKnight.

The construction of theCoalinga Forest Fire Station wascompleted prior to the 2001 fireseason. The facility was con-

structed on 6.5 acres of land thatused to be Fresno County FireDistrict Station 92. During theplanning stages of the facility, itwas determined that approxi-mately $50,000 would be allo-cated to provide for the landscap-ing of the grounds. However, dueto budgetary constraints, thismoney was cut from the final

by Karen Guillemin, fire prevention specialist II, Fresno-Kings Unit

Coalinga Forest Fire Station Dedication

24 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

On Wednesday December 3,2003 the Tehama Glenn Unithonored its office support staffwith a personalized luncheon.The ladies were treated to anemployee catered meal served onfine china and waited on handand foot by unit chief officers.The menu included marinatedtri-tip, potato gratin, bean casse-role and pumpkin crisp desert.Each dish was personally pre-pared by the serving staff. Thisevent was to acknowledge theunit’s appreciation for the hardwork the staff does in support ofour mission. This year the ladiesoften worked short handed andhad many new provisions toovercome. The changes in thepurchasing polices, contractadjustments and seasonal hiringmeant many long hours puttingthings in order so that we couldconcentrate on our mission offirefighting. The event was sosuccessful that it has been

budget. This cut resulted in abrand new two million dollarfacility on 6.5 acres of flat barrenland.

Knowing that the departmentwas not in a financial position tohelp with the landscaping project,the 2002 Coalinga crew turned tofamily and friends to raise thesupplies needed to get started onthe landscaping. Four monthslater, the crew had labored formore than 1,250 personnel hours,raised over $30,000 in goods andservices, planted 60 trees, seeded1/3 of an acre of grass, planted200 plants, installed 130 yards ofwood chips, placed 50 tons of

landscape boulders on 140 yardsof fresh top soil, and found thetime to fight fires and respond toother emergencies throughoutthe state.

The open house was a hugesuccess with more than 250donors, citizens, and employeesin attendance. The Coalinga FireCrew served hot dogs, chili beans,potato salad, and drinks whilevisitors toured the station andstatic displays. CDF copter 406and Fresno County Sheriff ’sEagle One helicopter made awelcomed appearance at theevent. Many children were in-trigued and entertained by theequipment and interactive fire

prevention props that were onhand for their education.

State Assembly Woman NicolePara’s office presented the em-ployees of Coalinga Station witha resolution for their creativity,motivation, and service to thecitizens of Fresno County and theState of California.

The collaborative efforts of theemployees assigned to theCoalinga Station and the gener-osity of many local businessesand citizens have provided theresidents of Fresno County andthe California Department ofForestry and Fire Protection witha station they can be proud of.

dubbed the first annual staffappreciation luncheon.

This year’s attendees were(clockwise from bottom) SueWalker, Mickie Jakez, HeidiNuchols, Jani Brewer, LoriLoucks and Karen Baros. Thecooks / waiters for this yearsluncheon were ( from left )Battalion Chiefs Gary Lyon,Jack Lefort and Dale Kinyon.

Arnold SchwarzeneggerGovernor

State of California

Michael ChrismanResources Secretary

The Resources Agency

Andrea E. TuttleDirector

Department of Forestryand Fire Protection

www.fire.ca.gov

Lisa Boyd Editor

CDF Public Education Office916-653-5123

COMMUNIQUE’

COALINGA: from page 23

BCs serve lunch in TGU