Harris Fire- Id of 4 who died in wildfire near U.S.-Mexico border

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Harris Fire- Id of 4 who died in wildfire near U.S.-Mexico border

Identification of four Mexican Nationals who died in wildfire near U.S.-Mexico border during illegal crossing complete

The Associated Press

Launched: 12/21/2007 07:02:27 PM PST

SAN DIEGO—A young married couple and a plumber were among four Mexicans killed in October's Southern California wildfires and identified by investigators Friday, nearly two months after their bodies were found near the U.S.-Mexico border.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said the dead were Ruben Santos Ramirez, 28, and his wife Areli Peralta Rivera, 25, from the small town of Mazatlan, Guerrero near Acapulco, Mexico; Lourdes Eugenio Tadeo, 21, from the same town; and Ruben Mendez Hernandez, 23, a plumber from Mexico's Guanajuato state. The town of Mazatlan shares a name with the larger city on the Pacific Coast.

The charred remains of the four, who were believed to have crossed the border illegally, were found in a ravine on Oct. 29. Investigators from the California Department of Justice used DNA analysis to help identify them.

Another member of the group, 20-year-old Alejandro Martinez of Mazatlan, died last month at UCSD Medical Center.

Peralta's father, Concepcion Peralta, was in San Diego County attempting to find out his daughter's fate. He had hoped upon his recent arrival that she was only missing.

The victims were among eight people killed by the Harris Wildfire in San Diego County, which also seriously injured four firefighters and a teenage boy and consumed hundreds of homes in the rural communities along the U.S.-Mexico border east of San Diego.

Source: Article

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Saturday, December 22, 2007