On June 30 Chief Araiza said a relief crew was dispatched with Captain Byrum and engineer Manny Morales, along with firefighters Bernie Arana and Brian Eaton. Once they arrived at the Chico fairgrounds Command Post, the Engine 82 and its crew was released.“We were in the hills of the Chico area,” Segovia said Thursday. “We got there on a Monday and came home a week and a day later.”Stationed out of Silver Dollar Camp, “like a fairgrounds,” the SPFD engine company was first assigned to laying hose and extinguishing spot fires. “They basically had a shortage of Type 3 engines, those that mostly go out in the field and fight... we’re a Type 1 engine,” which provides structure protection.“We were really in the thick of things for the first three days... it’s really bad up there,” Segovia noted. But the SPFD did manage to make the front page of a Paradise newspaper that showed fire personnel talking to an area resident returning to their home.“The fire where we were at is settling down, from what we’ve been told,” and Segovia said he believes fire personnel will probably be diverted to other firefighting locations. Wildfires have burned more than 20,000 acres in Butte County; of the 13 active fires in the area 11 have merged, but firefighters have slowing been getting closer to containment.
SPFD: Engine companies sent to fight Chico wildfires
July 09, 2008
Santa Paula News
Santa Paula firefighters have responded to the wildfires plaguing Northern California, many burning since June when lightning storms struck tinder dry brush and caused at one point more than 1,000 fires.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesSanta Paula firefighters have responded to the wildfires plaguing Northern California, many burning since June when lightning storms struck tinder dry brush and caused at one point more than 1,000 fires. Santa Paula Fire Department Chief Rick Araiza said that fire personnel have been to two incidents in Northern California, including the Chico Fire in Butte County.“We have been to two incidents in Northern California,” with Engine 81 under the command of Jerry Byrum dispatched to Chico as part of a mixed strike team culled from Ventura City, Ventura County and Oxnard City fire departments. “They spent four days on structure protection and were sent home.”But shortly after, on June 23, “another request came for another strike team,” and Araiza said SPFD personnel “again went out as part of a mixed strike team with Ventura City, Oxnard City and Ventura County” fire departments. Captain Gil Segovia took Engine 82, engineered by Carlos Arana and firefighters Kyle Bauerlein and Garrett Kobayashi.Upon arrival Engine 82 was assigned to fighting fire and cutting lines around the fire, and “They indicated they were pulling lines of one-half-mile to a mile around parts of the fire,” said Araiza. “They were on 24-hour shifts... and were dead tired.”
