CAL FIRE News: New RRU CAL FIRE Forester

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

CAL FIRE News: New RRU CAL FIRE Forester

New CALFIRE forester arrives

J.P. Crumrine | September 11, 2012

Chief Gregg Bratcher joined CAL FIRE from the private sector and three years later is assigned as the agency’s forester for the San Jacinto Mountains.

Bratcher attended the August Mountain Area Safety Taskforce and will lead it at the November meeting. He has replaced battalion Chief Bill Weiser, who is the new chief of the Cajalco battalion near Riverside.

While Bratcher went to school in Northern California at Humboldt State, he grew up in Orange County. While at Humboldt, he looked for a program that allowed him to enjoy the outdoors. He discovered forestry and fell in love with it.

His current assignment is not his first experience on the Hill. As a youth he camped at Hurkey Creek Park and fished at Lake Hemet.

After 16 years in the private sector, he left it in 2009 and found CAL FIRE, when he was assigned to the San Bernardino County area. As part of the Forest Care program, Bratcher traveled to the Hill to review projects. This renewed his connection here.

In Northern California, CAL FIRE is much more involved in the application of rules and regulations for implementation of the Forest Practice Act.

In Southern California, Bratcher devotes more time to working with and educating the public about defensible space and safe and healthy forest, he said.

“Here it’s easier with scope and importance of the work,” Bratcher observed.

His priorities will continue to be fuel modification work and public education. “Kevin Turner [who preceeded Weiser as the Forestry Chief on the Hill] did a great job of preparing people,” Bratcher noted. “I want to take time to meet people.”

Some of the work will be in the Anza area and north to Garner Valley, he said. The priority will focus on finishing existing projects before starting any new ones.

Despite the dry spring and summer, Bratcher has not observed any major infestation of bark beetle. He has noticed more presence of the turpentine beetles. They attack the top of pine trees.

In response to a question about wearing a uniform daily, he replied, “I’m proud of it. My father spent 38 years as an Orange County fire captain.

Source Article: J.P. Crumrine - idyllwildtowncrier.com - http://idyllwildtowncrier.com/2012/09/11/new-calfire-forester-arrives/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-calfire-forester-arrives

CFN - California Fire News 2012

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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

Wednesday, September 12, 2012