Sweet Home personnel are among Oregon firefighters sent to Southern California to assist in battling the seven separate wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and buildings and killed at least two dozen people.
Fifteen Oregon strike teams were mobilized by the state last week to help with the wildfires in the Los Angeles area. The fires, fanned by winds of up to 100 mph and which, veteran firefighters told news reporters, were the worst they had ever seen, have burned thousands of acres and as of Monday morning were still largely uncontrolled.
According to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, firefighters were seeing extreme fire behavior, including short- and long-range spotting as the Oregon teams arrived last week. Wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour were expected this week, increasing the dangerous situation.
Sweet Home Fire Chief Nick Tyler is leading a strike team of five water tenders, including Tender 21 from Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District. Battalion Chief Shannon Pettner is leading another strike team of five engines, including Engine 23 from Sweet Home, and Oregon Department of Forestry’s Sweet Home Unit has sent several firefighters to Southern California.
Tyler likened the conditions in SoCal to what Sweet Home and neighboring communities experienced in September of 2020.
“It’s blowing bad right now and it’s only expected to get worse. It doesn’t matter what state you’re in – when you put fire on the ground with real low humidity and high winds, you’re going to have big fires.”
The 300 firefighters and 75 engines from Oregon were assigned to the Palisades Fire burning north of the Los Angeles area, which was the first of the seven to ignite. The firefighters will be deployed for up to 14 days and are protecting homes and other buildings. The teams will be patrolling for hotspots and working alongside CAL Fire and other state and federal agencies.
“We are in contact with our teams, and they are in good spirits. They’ve received their assignments and have started their work,” Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said. “I am honored to work alongside the Oregon fire service who raised their hands to say they will go without question. This shows their commitment to jump into action no matter what, embodying the Oregon spirit.”
Tyler, who arrived late Sunday night with his group of tenders, said the Oregon firefighters have been doing mop-up work around unburned structures “to make sure no embers ignite around unburned structures.” Firefighters have been scouting the unburned neighborhoods, prepping homes that need it as they prepared to defend homes as winds were anticipated to rise again this week.
“It’s very windy,” Tyler said. “In a couple of days we have more red-flag weather coming – low humidity and high winds. If there’s a fire, there will be rapid growth of that fire.”
The Oregon teams’ mission is structure protection, he said, which is why he brought the team of water tenders.
Responding to “false” rumors, including one report that claimed Oregon fire units were “bottled up” in Sacramento because they lacked smog certificates, Tyler said there is “a lot of false information out there.”
Before arriving in Southern California, teams completed a routine safety check with CAL Fire in Sacramento. The inspections are intended to ensure all engines on an emergency scene are equipped, mechanically sound, and able to respond, the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office reported in a statement.
Tyler said his team and others have experienced no hurdles of any kind in reaching the fire zone.
“Any incident has a check-in process,” he said. “When we checked into this incident, it took five minutes to complete the vehicle inspection.”
The Oregon trucks had just traveled 980 miles, he said, including crossing two significant mountain ranges.
“When our trucks had just traveled 1,000 miles, I don’t want my engines to not be functioning properly. I want to make sure our vehicles are safe and ready to go to work. As a fire chief, I appreciate and respect their process.”
He said that as the trucks in his group moved south “from the time we got to Redding, we got nothing but high-fives, waves and honks. California residents are very thankful for our help.”
Another example of an “inaccurate” social media post, cited by CAL FIRE, was a Facebook post circulating Monday morning that invited individuals to join a clean-up crew in areas affected by recent wildfires in Southern California.
“This information is false, and we would like to clarify that there is no such opportunity available,” CAL FIRE posted on its fire incident website. “We kindly ask that you refrain from calling to inquire about this.”
Tyler said that Oregon’s efforts to aid Southern California simply reciprocate the assistance that California has provided during Oregon’s wildfire season during the past couple of years.
“California has come up to help Oregon multiple times,” he said. “We’re very thankful and honored to be able to do that for California as well.”
Another benefit for Oregon firefighters in responding to the current California wildfires is that they get experience that will help them at home, Tyler noted.
“Fighting fire in Southern California, with the Santa Ana winds, is unique,” he said. “This is a fuel model that allows for big fires. From my personal standpoint, coming down here and experiencing that kind of fire behavior, we’re more prepared to deal with fire conditions at home.”
By Sunday night, according to Cal Fire, the Palisades fire had grown to more than 23,713 acres and had damaged or destroyed approximately 5,000 structures, based on aerial surveys.
The severity of the fire damage is “eye-opening,” Tyler said.
“Thankfully, these are few and far between. It seems like every once in a while we turn the news on and see Maui or Paradise. It’s pretty sobering. It puts into perspective what fire is capable of.”
For information specific to the Palisades Fire or other fires in California, visit the CAL Fire Current Emergency Incidents webpage.