Alaska: Firefighting Water Tenders freeze up

Tactical Water Tenders freeze up as Fire destroys vacant Hillside home

A vacant Hillside home was destroyed early Saturday in a fire that is under investigation.
With temperatures dropping to minus 30, crews had to battle the cold as well as the flames, said Tom Preston, an Anchorage Fire Department battalion chief.

The first 911 calls came in around midnight, and the fire was largely under control by around 2:30 a.m., when some of the crews from other parts of town were sent back to their home stations, he said. But firefighters were still doing cleanup work after 6 a.m.
Fire destroys vacant Hillside home

The area off Birch and O'Malley roads has no fire hydrants. Two of the three tender trucks, or tankers, that hauled water to the home at 5623 Dalzell Circle froze up, Preston said. He wasn't at the fire, but read the reports.

Firefighters had to work in shifts because of the extreme cold, Preston said. The Red Cross brought food. A neighbor brought doughnuts.

Officials said it's too early to say if the fire is suspicious. Anchorage online property records list the owner of the Dalzell Circle home as Josefina Isla, but investigators weren't able to immediately determine whether the ownership status has changed.

Anyone with information can call fire investigators at 267-4900
Source: adn.com - Link

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 "