Lakeside Firefighters help with Fire in Anza Borrego State Park

In the early morning hours of Saturday, August 1st, 2010, firefighters from Lakeside's Blossom Valley fire station (fs26) responded as part of Heartland Strike team 6440C to the Scissors fire. The incident was near the 14-mile marker of County S2, threatening the Anza Borrego State Park. The fire had started the night before, and was burning on both sides of S2. Initial attack fire crews had worked through the night, and the Heartland Strike Team was assembled and dispatched to assist units still at the scene. Strike Team 6440C was assigned to Div. A, and was tasked with mop-up and patrol. Work consisted primarily of mopping-up the residual hotspots, and containing any flareups that would occur. County Copter 12 was requested to assist with any flareups that occurred. Due to the terrain, vegetation, and challenging access, work proved difficult and slow. Weather on the valley floor was 96 degrees, with a relative humidity of 7%. Unfortunately, Lakeside Brush 26 developed mechanical problems and would eventually need to be towed back to the Lakeside Fire repair facility.  


Strike team assignments such as this are very common for the agencies of Southern California.  With mutual aid agreements in place all throughout the state, agencies provide assistance to one another when it is needed. These mutual aid agreements make it possible for Lakeside Fire Department to substantially augment our response capabilities when we have a fire that calls for more resources.

Engineer Williams and Firefighter Fox work on mopping-up the fire

A view of the type of vegetation available to burn in the desert

Copter 12 arrives to help with flare-ups

Brush 26 has a mechanical issue

Brush 26 catching a ride home

Story and pictures provided by: Captain Jerry Daoust, Lakeside Fire District
Submitted by: Firefighter / Paramedic Bernie Molloy, Lakeside Fire District

Multiple Agencies Assist With A Spring Valley Brush Fire

View Lakeside Incidents and Story Map in a larger map

Dictionary Hill- Lakeside Brush 26 along with units from Santee, El Cajon, La Mesa, Viejas, Barona, CalFire and Lemon Grove responded to assisted the San Miguel Fire Protection District with a vegetation fire which burned a hillside skirting apartment complexes and single family homes. The fire was reported just after 3:00pm today and spread quickly in dry brush on the steep terrain. Quick response by local resources held the blaze in check with help from water drops by San Diego City and County fire helicopters. Homes were initially threatened and evacuations were called for but ultimately no structures were damaged.
 

After the flames were doused, crews worked in the rocky soil to cut a control line around the nine acre fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation but San Miguel fire officials are calling it suspicious in nature.

Submitted by: Chuck Palmore, Lakeside Fire Captain

Lakeside Firefighters Take Part in Annual Fire School

Fires are set in the vast open spaces of Camp Pendleton

 

On June 10^th, 2010, Firefighters from Lakeside's Blossom Valley fire station (fs-26) were sent to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton for a very unique training opportunity.  Brush 26 along with Engines from agencies all over the Southern California area took part in live wildland fire training exercises put on by US Forest Service.   The training is called Fire School, and units from agencies as far away as LA County and Big Bear City got together for some joint command and fire suppression training.

Fire crews respond, extinguish the fires, regroup and do it again.

Fire school is a large-scale exercise that is put on annually by the US Forest Service to build and strengthen fire officer and firefighter-level skills.  All exercises are planned, supervised, and evaluated by certified Fire School instructors. The training is conducted over the course of several days and the fighting of live fire is used to make the scenarios as realistic as possible.

 A "training" fire does not behave differently than a real fire.

These “real life” scenarios give crews the ability to perfect their incident management, progressive hose lay and handline construction skills while under the same conditions of a true fire emergency.

Firefighters attack multiple fires throughout the long day of training.

 Submitted by: Engineer Ian Lowe, Lakeside Fire District

Lakeside Firefighters Assist at Spring Valley Brush Fire

Fire crews work the steep hillside above Spring Valley and the Sweetwater Reservoir

 
Dictionary Hill: As the weather in our county continues to increase in heat, so does the frequency and intensity of brush fires. This was the case today in the San Miguel Fire Protection District in Spring Valley. A fire broke out just after 11:00am and spread rapidly in dry grass and vegetation on the steep hillside racing towards the homes above (map). Thanks to the quick response by San Miguel units and automatic aid from Bonita, Santee, Lakeside and San Diego Copters 10 and 12 the blaze was brought under control before structures were lost.

Lakeside Firefighter Todd Welch and Engineer Steve Thompson "Mop Up" the hot spots.

The tall grass crop that has grown with help from above normal rain fall this winter is becoming dryer by the day and was a contributing factor in the rapid flame spread on this incident. Some of the homes threatened by today's fire had dry grass and vegetation dangerously close, luckily they were spared this time around. Please remember to provide your home with a "Defensible Space" in order to increase the odds of surviving a fire like this one. Learn more about defensible space HERE.

Homes within 50' of the blaze with NO defensible space.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.


Submitted by: Chuck Palmore, Lakeside Fire Captain