The call came in on the evening of July 26 to Fire Chief Paul Tualla of the Los Banos Fire Department. Within hours, a strike team of three Los Banos firefighters were on their way to fight what is currently the fifth largest wildfire in state history. At the time of writing, they make up a small part of the nearly five thousand working to stop the Park Fire.
According to the website of CAL FIRE (the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection), by Aug. 1 the Park Fire burned more than 390 thousand acres. As of Aug. 1, the fire is currently at 18 percent containment. The Park Fire affects four counties: Butte, Shasta, Plumas and Tehama.
The fire allegedly started just northeast of Chico after 42-year-old man pushed a burning car into a gully. He was arrested and arraigned on July 29.
The three fighters from Los Banos are Captain J.P. Soares, Engineer Brad Ellien and Firefighter Diego Flores. They work in 48-hour cycles, 24 hours of rest, and 24 hours “on-the-line.”
The strike team works within the fire’s “North Operation” and rest in Redding. Currently, their team lead is a chief from Fresno.
According to a phone interview with Fire Chief Tualla, who they’re reporting to and their duties “can change day-to-day depending on what the operational needs are.”
The strike team is part of a mutual-aid agreement throughout the entire state, allowing CAL FIRE to pool resources to fight massive fires like the Park fire.
“Our department has participated for years with state-wide mutual aid. These guys have gone to fires all throughout the state of California. They do a really good job preparing each year to make sure that their wildland skills are up to par. We do everything to prepare for incidents like this,” Tualla stated.
According to Tualla, they’ve been assigned to do mop-up work and structure protection. In mop-up work they put out any hot spots in a burned-out area.
In structure protection they, “go around and make sure in areas where it’s unburned they check to see if it’s salvageable,” Tualla continued. He explained that they will “move things that might be combustible near the home and clear them out to give them a good defensible space.”
Other local departments that have sent personnel are Merced County Fire, Fresno Fire, Clovis Fire and more.
“I’m just glad we’re able to participate in mutual aid and to be able to help out our fellow brothers and sisters throughout the state,” Tualla said. “We get help here when we have big incidents, it’s nice to send out help when others need it.”
