Editorial: Disturbing trend continues. LE and the FF

Friday, June 19, 2009

Editorial: Disturbing trend continues. LE and the FF

Editors thought: I cringe every time I read about firefighting agencies assisting police with criminal activities other than arson.

I was on a fire last year with repeated reports of growers shooting at CAL FIRE vehicles and could not figure out why they would shoot at Firefighters not only drawing attention to themselves but causing a heavy law enforcement response where there may of been none?

I believe the following article helps to explain the criminal mindset that firefighters are targets as much as law enforcement....

CalFire assistance Shasta County SWAT

Transporting a SWAT team into a grow area is just wrong. They should fly their own birds.

A bonehead Fire Chief back east comes to mind, He allowed a full fake fire response to an apartment complex, ladder trucks and all, and evacuated the place just to assist law enforcement in a dangerous arrest.

With many fire department personnel entering the back county for fire fighting and even defensible space compliance anything that creates a a hostile environment for such personnel should be avoided.

If the public understood what the Department of Homeland Security expects of the firefighter, garbageman, postal delivery person, etc that visits your home they would be much more wary of maintaining the great relationship currently enjoyed by such persons.

It is too dangerous to allow firefighters to be perceived as Law Enforcement this dangerous trend needs to be arrested.

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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

Friday, June 19, 2009