Briceland Volunteer Fire Department

Recently, the cooperation and teamwork of Southern Humboldt Fire Departments reached another historic milestone with responses by not one, but two simultaneous Strike Team deployments, one “Foxtrot” and one “Charlie” to major wildfires along the central California coast near Big Sur.

On August 23rd, type 6 engines from Briceland, Whitethorn, Telegraph Ridge, Palo Verde and Petrolia headed south to rendezvous with Strike Team leader (STEN) Brian Davis and trainee Kurt Nylander from Napa Fire. This was the 2nd assignment for the 2075F Strike Team, but marked the first time all five engines and crew were Southern Humboldt Fire and Rescue member departments, including a 1st time deployment for Petrolia Fire.

Appropriately, 2075F was assigned to Division F on the Timber Fire, and was tasked with structure protection in some of the most difficult to access areas in the steep and rugged terrain. Additionally, when the base camp at Pfeiffer State Park was itself threatened with being drawn into the fire, our crews maintained the defensive hoselay along the main roadway.

When the Plaskett Fire broke out just to the south of Big Sur, a 2nd Strike Team from Southern Humboldt prepared a response. On Aug 31st, type 3 engines from Briceland, Shelter Cove, Myer’s Flat, Salmon Creek and Redway assembled to form the first ever Strike Team numbered 2076, led by STEN Nick Pape.

Both 2075F and 2076C are currently working on the Plaskett Fire, which has now grown larger than the Timber in the passing of just a few days due to the difficult access and dry fuel conditions in the wilderness areas inland of the coast.

  With many CalFire and local government personnel and apparatus deployed to Hoopa for the MP18 Fire, Briceland VFD and other local departmentrs were called on to assist with ongoing local emergency response. Briceland Engine 5416 and a four person crew was assigned to the Bridgeville CalFire Station for several days and responded to numerous medical call while on duty there. One unusual walk-in emergency brought the crew a small puppy that had stopped breathing after being stung multiple times by bees. With their medical training and some improvisation, the crew administered oxygen with positive pressure and the puppy regained its breath and vitals, then was sent on to emergency veterinary care. After several days at Bridgeville, 5416 was reassigned to Thorn Station in Whitethorn.

To ensure our communities continued to have a local response capability while so many of our local volunteer firefighters and resources were assigned to the fire in Hoopa, an additional local coverage of the “Westside” (Hwy 101 to Shelter Cove) was established. Briceland Engine 5436 and engines from Whitethorn and Telegraph Ridge Volunteer Fire Departments were staffed by firefighters in 12-hour shifts.

This summer has been a good example of how mutual aid works at the local level. Our volunteer departments are willing to send firefighters and equipment wherever they are needed, but just as importantly, neighboring departments work together to make sure that when our people are away helping others, our own communities remain protected.

When the Feliz Fire broke out near Hopland in neighboring Mendocino County on August 1st, Southern Humboldt fire departments quickly banded together again, reforming Strike Team 2075C.

The five Type 3 engines making up the team were staffed by firefighters from Briceland, Shelter Cove, Salmon Creek, Telegraph Ridge, and Redway Fire Departments, and were led by Shelter Cove Chief Nick Pape as Strike Team Leader.

After a 24-hour shift working in extreme heat to hold the fire’s edge and help corral the blaze, the team received word of another large and destructive fire burning in Calaveras County. Once released from the Feliz Fire, ST 2075C was immediately reassigned to the Gann Fire.

After travelling across the central valley and into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, crews spent another shift working that fire, securing homes that had survived the initial spread and gathering information on structures and property that had been lost. Unfortunately, there was a great deal of loss to document from the fast-moving fire, which burned under exceptionally dry conditions.

As additional emergency resources arrived by land and air and winds began to subside, firefighters were able to stop the Gann Fire’s forward progress.

On August 7, after several days of back-to-back assignments, the Southern Humboldt strike team was released and began the trip home.

We are proud of the firefighters from across Southern Humboldt who came together to represent our communities on these incidents. The ability of our local volunteer departments to combine personnel, equipment, and experience into a single, effective strike team is a powerful example of regional cooperation and mutual aid.