CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS: Thursday, July 1, 2010

Thursday, July 1, 2010

CFFJAC's 2010 Firefighter Career Expo:

Save the Dates: 2010 Firefighter Career Expo

If you know someone who has ever considered joining the ranks of California's finest in the fire service, you need to let them know about the CFFJAC's 2010 Firefighter Career Expo:
• Saturday, October 2, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at the CPAT Center in Orange
• Saturday, October 9, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at the CPAT Center in Livermore
• Saturday, October 23, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at the CPAT Center in Sacramento
Sponsored by the CFFJAC's Commission to Recruit Women for the Fire Service, the Firefighter Career Expo provides an up-close-and-personal look at the women and men who serve on the front lines to protect millions of Californians.

Highlights will include:

Direct Recruitment: Meet recruitment officers from fire departments throughout California and find out how to secure a future with their departments.
Candidate Physical Ability Testing: Try your hand at the physical ability techniques needed to be a fire fighter and learn how to take, and pass, the industry-leading Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT).
"A Day in the Life of a Firefighter": Watch presentations detailing the responsibilities and rewards associated with firefighting.
Meet and Learn from Working Firefighters: Talk to firefighters from throughout the state about becoming a first responder.
Apparatus displays: Take an up-close look at the "tools of the trade" including a fire apparatus on display.

Best of all, it's FREE to attend. So, what are you waiting for?

To RSVP your attendance, click here.

California Fire News Blog

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).