The Esperanza Final Report:
Executive Summary
The Esperanza Fire was reported on October 26, 2006 at 1:11 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time
(PDT) in Cabazon, California, within the jurisdiction of the California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE).
At approximately 7:15 a.m., five wildland firefighters from Forest Service Fire Engine 57 were overrun by the fire, while they were positioned near an isolated, vacant residential structure.
All five firefighters were fatally burned by a sudden, intense fire run up a steep drainage below their location.
The fatalities occurred in the rural mountain community of Twin Pines, which is located
in the San Jacinto Mountains approximately four miles southwest of Cabazon. Twin
Pines is an identified wildland urban intermix with a recognized “extreme threat” rating
for potential destructive impacts from wildfires.
Engine 57 and four other Forest Service fire engines from the San Bernardino National
Forest, San Jacinto Ranger District were dispatched to the Esperanza Fire based on an
Interagency Cooperative Fire Protection Agreement.
All five Forest Service Type III fire
engines and a March Air Force Base fire engine were performing structure protection in
close proximity to each other when the fatalities occurred.
At the time of the burnover, the fire was several hundred acres in size burning rapidly in
dry/dense chaparral/Manzanita, at the head of a steep drainage, and under the influence of
Santa Ana winds.
The fact that the insurance industry finds so many loopholes to avoid paying claims has something to do with the need and desire to save property whether inhabited or not. Saving lives is the primary goal of firefighters, but property is just as important when the insurance industry prevaricates on cause and compensation. Firefighters are the last line between nature and uncaring insurance companies. Protecting a persons largest expense from the wrath and ravages of fire is of the utmost importance when replacement costs are denied or minimized by the greedy insurance industry.
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