Log In | Register | 
Share |
 Last Updated: Thursday, September 02, 2010 Subscribe

Orange County Fire Authority Without Hand Crews

Add Feedback
Share |


For the first time in thirty years, the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) is without a hand crew, according to the Orange County Register. The department released their part-time hand crew at the end of last year's fire season. The plan to hire a full-time crew is no longer an option because of hard economic times, according to fire officials. The OCFA will have to rely on other agencies for help if a major fire occurs, like last year's Freeway Complex Fire.

"Hand crews are a scarce resource when the fires get burning. We can never count on anybody else's," OCFA Battalion Chief Ken Cruz told The Register. Cruz oversees hand crew operations. He added, "With your own, it's faster to help control the fire, and you know they're going to be there."

In less than two years, Orange County has been hit with two major fires, last year's Freeway Complex Fire and the Santiago Fire in October 2007. Hand crews are instrumental in controlling these large fires. In last year's fire, hand crews were credited with keeping the blaze from burning homes in Anaheim Hills and Orange Park Acres, according to the newspaper.

If needed, the department will transform its own engine companies into hand crews and officials are hoping for a quiet fire season, according to the Register.



Author:Barbara Brooks - FDNNTV.com




Feedback

(no feedback yet)

Videos
Rio Hondo Wildland Academy
9/2/2010 12:01:35 PM
Rio Hondo Community College has offered a Wildland Firefighter Training Academy since 2001, preparing hundreds of firefighters for careers in wildland firefighting. Join FDNNTV.com's Barbara Brooks and members of Academy Class #12 as they work through the physical conditioning component of the course.
EmergiLink
8/31/2010 9:30:34 AM
Join FDNNTV.com's J.R. Ybarra for a look at EmergiLink, a new system that provides wireless fingerprint identification technology to put life saving medical information into the hands of first responders, improving the care they give patients and increasing their chances of survival.
Lincoln High School Student Firefighter Program
8/29/2010 11:06:46 AM
More than 200 students are enrolled in the Student Firefighter Program at Lincoln High School in San Diego, California, and many students have said that the course has made an extremely positive impact on their lives. Join FDNNTV.com's Deanne Goodman for an inside look at the program and hear some of the stories from those whose lives have been changed by it.
Window Washer Rescue Training
8/26/2010 6:44:45 AM
San Diego Fire & Rescue and Chula Vista firefighters have performed high-rise rescue drills before, but never from 50 stories up as they did at the GM Vantage Pointe Condos in Downtown San Diego, California.
Powerheart AED G3
8/24/2010 9:10:49 AM
Cardiac Science is a company which focuses on noninvasive ways to manage the world's leading cause of death - heart disease - and has engineered a line of Automatic External Defibrillators (AED's) to help both citizens and first responders to save lives. Join FDNNTV.com's Deanne Goodman for a look at their Powerheart AED G3.