NorOps: SCU/CZU declare end to 2011 fire season today

Monday, November 7, 2011

NorOps: SCU/CZU declare end to 2011 fire season today

Cal Fire will declare an end to the 2011 fire season today, Nov. 7, and reduce seasonal staffing at Cal Fire Alma Helitack Fire Station 13 on Santa Cruz Highway in Los Gatos, Cal Fire Burrell Fire Station 47 and Cal Fire Saratoga Summit Fire Station 21.

Cal Fire provides fire suppression service to the mountainous area of Los Gatos through the Santa Clara and Santa Cruz units. The latter two stations are funded by the Santa Cruz County Fire Department and remain open year-round.

This season, resources from the Santa Cruz Cal Fire unit responded to 724 wildland and other fires within the county's state responsibility area.

Officials reported 100 percent of wildland fires were kept to less than 10 acres due to aggressive firefighting, cooperative responses from other fire agencies, and sufficient defensible space.

Cal Fire announced it maintains a full time staff of nearly 5,000 Firefighters and staff for all emergency response capability year round. The Santa Clara Unit also maintains a full time firefighting staff to respond to all emergency incidents within our administrative unit as well.

The closing of the so-called peak wildfire season does not lessen residents' responsibilities to be fire safe, according to Cal Fire spokesman Chris W. Morgan.

He said now is a good time to service home heating systems, clean chimneys, check smoke detectors and check or install your new carbon monoxide detectors, required by law in every home in California as of July 1.

Cal Fire Unit Chief John Ferreira also encouraged residents to maintain at least 100 feet of defensible space around their homes and other structures, even during the rainy season, as winds can quickly dry fuels and increase fire danger.

Cal Fire will continue to staff engines as a part of cooperative agreements for professional, all-risk, year-round emergency services.

California Fire News 2011

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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

Monday, November 7, 2011