Firefighters fought the blaze with a water tender

TAMPA — A house in rural Odessa burned to the ground Tuesday evening as firefighters scrambled to find a source of water to help fight the blaze.

No one was home at 19502 Pine Valley Drive at the time of the fire, but two dogs and two cats perished in the blaze, said Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Capt. Bruce Delk.

Firefighters arrived at the house at 6:16 p.m. to find flames shooting through the roof and the house already largely engulfed in flames, Delk said. To make matters worse, the closest fire hydrant was nearly a half-mile away, he said.

The first fire crews fought the blaze with a water tender while other firefighters uncoiled more than 2,000 feet of hose to reach the hydrant. Eight units responded to the blaze, with 24 firefighters on scene.

A motor home and a detached garage were saved, though the house itself was a total loss, Delk said.

"The only things that were left standing were the outside walls," he said. "The inside was totally devastated."

The one-story house, a 2,120-square-foot, single-family home with three bedrooms, was built in 1987, according to county records. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Source: Link

Water-Tender Accident Injures Two Firefighters

Firefighters injured in water tender roll-over accident

(CFN) - Two firefighters in Wisconsin were injured when a fire department water tender rolled while negotiating a curve on its way to a fire.

According to reports, the water tender was traveling too fast when it entered a curve. The apparatus then rolled and hit a tree, injuring both occupants. One firefighter was able to crawl out of the damaged cab, but the driver had to be extricated.

The fire was in a shed.

Two firefighters hurt as truck rolls over

Two firefighters hurt as truck rolls over
TOWN OF NEWARK - A water tanker truck from the Orfordville Fire Department rolled over while responding to a fire and two firefighters were injured Monday.

Chad Cleasby, 31, of Orfordville, was flown by React helicopter to Rockford Memorial Hospital after the accident, and Michael Ponkauska, 54, of Orfordville was taken to Beloit Memorial Hospital. Both had non-life-threatening injuries.

The firefighters were responding at about 1:30 p.m. to a report of a vehicle on fire in a shed at 8314 W. St. Lawrence Road, about five miles west of Beloit. The truck full of water was southbound on South County Road H just south of West Mill Pond Road where the road makes an 80 degree turn to the right. An ambulance and fire truck made the sharp turn. However, as the tender truck made the turn it rolled over on County Road H. Several citizens saw the crash and called 911 and assisted the firefighters. Town of Beloit Police and Rock County Sheriff's Department officers responded to the accident.

Cleasby had freed himself from the cab, but Ponkauskas remained trapped in the cab until extrication equipment arrived.

The Rock County Sheriff's Department is conducting the investigation. Preliminary investigations indicate speed was a factor in the crash.

Wisconsin: Tanker rollover - Two Firefighters injured

TANKER ROLLS WHILE RESPONDING IN WISCONSIN:
Two Firefighters were injured after a fire tanker overturned on its way to a fire in the Town of Newark yesterday (Monday) and they became pinned inside. Rock County authorities said that the driver of the apparatus apparently took a curve too fast. One of the victims was taken by MedFlight to a hospital while the other was rushed to a local hospital. Both Firefighters suffered non-life threatening injuries.

News - Fire season declared in Humboldt

The Eureka Reporter - Article:

Fire season declared in Humboldt

The Humboldt-Del Norte Unit of Cal Fire will be on fire season status as of Monday. Cal Fire will complete hiring and training seasonal firefighters, and will begin staffing all facilities 24 hours per day.

“Fire season” means that Cal Fire increases preparedness levels, but it can mean restrictions for citizens as well.

Dooryard burn permits have been required since May 1, but a seasonal burn permit suspension should be expected as ground fuels become increasingly susceptible to fire. Cal Fire encourages community residents to clean up and dispose of their non-fire-safe vegetation early in the season.

Cal Fire firefighters want to remind loggers that all fire tool and clearance requirements are in effect. In addition, homeowners need to create a defensible space around their property so that it can be protected from wildfire.

For guidance on making a home defensible, consult the Cal Fire Web site at www.fire.ca.gov."

De Luz Fire Department conducts training

The Village News :: De Luz Fire Department conducts training

: "De Luz Fire Department conducts training
Mike Manchor

4/26/2007 6:44:34 PM

DE LUZ — De Luz Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) conducted firefighting training on Sunday, April 15, with San Diego County Copter 12, utilizing their new piece of equipment: a 2,000-gallon firefighting water tender. The drills were conducted at Dancing Spirit Ranch on De Luz Road near the San Diego County line.

The training session simulated a wildfire scenario in which a county firefighting copter was ground- filled with water from the tender, then, after lift off, engine crews in the fields nearby directed airdrops by radio communication direct to the pilot.

Thirty firefighters from De Luz VFD plus CAL FIRE/CDF firefighters from the Red Mountain and De Luz stations filled the copter’s 375-galllon tank and directed drops through ten evolutions.

De Luz VFD will officially receive its tender next month after it is fully completed and equipped by the county, just in time for fire season.

This fire apparatus is the first of 16 newly built vehicles for the unincorporated fire agencies in the San Diego County Fire Enhancement Program, which was started in the fall of 2005. De Luz will also be given a new Ferrara Type II Urban Interface engine in six to eight weeks.

The County Fire Enhancement Program "

San Bernardino County Sun - Early alert for forest

Early alert for forest - Dry winter poses wildfire risk

George Watson, Staff Writer

Article Launched: 03/25/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT

Earlier this month, officials celebrated cutting down the one millionth bug-killed tree in the San Bernardino National Forest.

It was a moment of understandable celebration because of the vast scope of the work: Trees had been dying at a high rate over the past decade, filling the overgrown forest with what are essentially standing matchsticks ready to explode.

For more than three years, dead and ailing trees have been coming down at a rate of 750 per day, boosted by a $70million grant from the federal government.

But as the sun shined brightly on another uncommonly warm March afternoon, the circumstances of that day's weather caused some concern.

"Normally, firefighters would be packing sandbags right now," said David Stuart, a mountain resident and leader of the nonprofit group Rebuilding Mountain Hearts & Minds, which was born out of the devastating 2003 Old Fire that destroyed nearly 1,000 homes. "Instead, they are filling up their pumper engines."

There's been little reason to make sandbags for residents to place around their homes for protection against heavy rainfall.

People used to talk about the region's fire season.

Traditionally, it lasted from June when temperatures rose and moisture levels plummeted - to late November, when rain tends to fall in the valleys and snow blankets the San Bernardino Mountains.

Those days are becoming a memory.

The reasons are twofold: a warming trend further drying out an arid region thanks to a Mediterranean climate that provides little moisture; and population growth in traditionally rural areas that are difficult to defend from wildfires.

Despite the rain that fell in recent days, Southern California is heading toward a historic low in rainfall.

Normally, this time of year is a favorite for flower enthusiasts. But the lack of any real sustained moisture has left the mountains and deserts devoid of their typical spring blooms - another sign of the region's dryness.

It's also a foreboding indication of this year's wildfire season, because the blooms are critical for retaining moisture and holding off the dry season that normally wouldn't start for a month.

"We've seen this coming for the past several years," said Pat Dennen, chief of the San Bernardino County Fire Department.

Historically, the county Fire Department has requested $500,000 to pay for supplemental, temporary firefighters for the fire season.

"This year, we left them in place because we never really got out of fire season," Dennen said.

Dennen doubted he would ask for additional funds above the $500,000 for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The reason? He credited the county Board of Supervisors for consistently beefing up his full-time roster of firefighting jobs over the years.

Like the county, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has been readying for year-round firefighting.

Following some then-uncharacteristic wildfires in winter months during the mid-1990s, CDF officials began looking at how the fire season was changing.

The department is in the second of a three-year trial program that is keeping some fire stations open year-round, said Bill Peters, a CDF spokesman. Those stations are in and around San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego.

Normally, stations like those in Chino Hills and Phelan would shut down during the wetter, winter months, Peters explained.

"Now, the bulk of them are left open with an engine crew stationed there," Peters said, estimating that about 60 percent of stations have stayed open.

Yet while the firefighters are there to battle wildfires, their main responsibility during the winter months is prevention inspections, he added.

"Our inspections are going up exponentially," Peters said, explaining that by making homes and properties safer, it reduces a wildfire's destructive abilities. "The Legislature wanted to see how it was working, making sure they got their money's worth.

"I'd say it's working out pretty well."

A water truck crashed into the side of a mountain

10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, March 17, 2007

The Press-Enterprise

A water truck crashed into the side of a mountain Saturday in the Running Springs area, injuring the driver and blocking traffic lanes until he could be freed from the wreckage.

The accident happened about 6:05 p.m. on Highway 330, near Hunsaker Drive, said Bonnie Curtis, dispatch supervisor for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.

California Highway Patrol officers and firefighters from Running Springs, Lake Arrowhead, San Bernardino and Highland all responded to the crash scene, where rescue crews finally extricated the truck driver about 8:30 p.m., Curtis said.

Paramedics airlifted the victim to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, she said.

--Mary Bender

mbender@pe.com