Positioning of fire crews helping get ahead of the wildfires

Agencies that fight wildfires in Southern California are increasingly positioning fire engines in high-hazard areas and increasing staff in anticipation that major conflagrations will break out during red flag warnings.

It’s that positioning they say that has helped limit the destructiveness of the wind-driven fires in the past two weeks.

“When you pre-assemble strike teams, they’re at a moment’s ready to be dispatched,” said Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department Capt. Fernando Herrera.

The U.S. Forest Service’s four Southern California forests — Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres and San Bernardino — are having their firefighters work 24-hour shifts. Those firefighters do not staff fire stations at night when flames tend to spread slowly and an immediate response is not always necessary, San Bernardino National Forest spokesman Zach Behrens said. But now they are on duty after dark. Hotshot crews that battle flames by hand have been moved from the Big Bear area about 22 miles west to Skyforest, closer to where more serious fires could break out, he said.

That meant that on many recent nights, 18 engines, four water tenders, 11 patrols, five chiefs and the hotshot crews were on duty.

The Forest Service also moved more aircraft into San Bernardino and Lancaster after modifying contracts that originally left some aircraft unavailable after September, said Randy Skelton, assistant fire director for the Southern Region.

The San Bernardino County Fire Department placed two strike teams — each with five engines staffed with four firefighters — and four hand crews of about 15 firefighters each in Devore about two weeks ago. Some camped out and others stayed in hotels.

Those moves paid off Oct. 24 when the Old Water fire broke out about 2 a.m., and on Oct. 31 when the Hillside fire started about 1:30 a.m., both in the San Bernardino area.

“The Hillside fire pre-positioning was a key component in limiting the damage to what it was,” San Bernardino County fire spokesman Eric Sherwin said Friday, during a rare break from the week’s fire siege. The fire destroyed eight houses and damaged 18 others, “but the pre-positioning is why we saved 116 homes in the community.” Sherwin expressed similar sentiments about the Old Water fire, where no homes burned.

The strike teams were assembled using engines and firefighters from the county as well as municipal agencies that included Redlands, Rialto, Colton, Chino and Barstow. If the strike teams had to be assembled on the fly, Sherwin said, it would have taken 45 minutes to two hours. Instead, the strike teams responded within minutes.

Grants from the state Office of Emergency Services have made it easier for the Orange County Fire Authority and San Bernardino County Fire Department, among other agencies, to afford to pay the necessary overtime.

“It’s something we just started touching upon last year,” Sherwin said.

“Before, it was on our dime,” said OCFA Chief Brian Fennessy, who also said his agency began the practice last year.

OCFA has been staffing additional helicopters and adding dispatchers when the weather forecast warrants. Fennessy said he recalled all off-duty personnel recently to make strike teams available not only for Orange County responses, but also for mutual aid to other counties. Fennessy placed the majority of the strike teams in south county, where more fires are expected.

The additional staffing paid off on Oct. 24, when about 4 a.m. a speeding car sheared a pole in half at Santiago Canyon Road east of the 241 Freeway, touching off a brush fire as the wind howled.

“We were able to stop the fire at 2 and a half acres,” Fennessy said. “Had it jumped the highway, we would have had 5,000 residences in the path. Certainly, by throwing a robust response, it’s paid off at least two or three times locally where we were able to keep these fires small.”

The Los Angeles County Fire Department pre-positioned strike teams in Sylmar, Canyon Country and Agoura Hills, an engine and water tender in Glendale and added two dispatchers, all in October, in anticipation of high winds in those areas, according to Cal OES news.

Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department can draw resources from throughout the state. Cal Fire recently recalled everyone from the rank of firefighter through battalion chief and pre-positioned strike teams at its sprawling Perris headquarters. If necessary, it will open up a base camp to stage resources, said Capt. Fernando Herrera. Those extra resources helped stamp out the Hill fire and the 46 fire, both in Jurupa Valley.

“It makes a big difference,” Herrera said.