BLM: Firefighters Move To Taft

Sunday, January 18, 2009

BLM: Firefighters Move To Taft

TAFT, Calif. -- About a dozen firefighters from the Bureau of Land Management are moving into a fire station on the Westside to get closer to the area they're designated to protect.

The firefighting force started moving in earlier this year, and is bringing all their equipment from the old station on Allen Road in Bakersfield to Center Street in Taft.

The Taft fire department incorporated into Kern County fire in May 2007, leaving the former city fire station vacant.

"It's going to save us at least a half-hour in response time," BLM field manager Tim Smith said.

"That better response time sometimes makes the difference between a 100,000-acre fire and a 5-acre fire," fire captain John Moreno added.

"The city really wanted us here, and has been really gracious to us as we move in," Smith said.

The main priority for BLM in western Kern County is protection and maintenance of the Carrizo Plain National Monument, but the move allows them better access to help the Forest Service with the Los Padres National Forest, and assist Kern County fire on the Westside if needed.

"The wildland urban interface is our bread and butter," Moreno said. "Protecting that is one of our top priorities."

The fire station should be fully operational in time for the peak fire season starting in May.

Source: KERO 23 - Link

No comments:

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

Sunday, January 18, 2009