In state blazes, local agencies feel the heat

Chad Costa had a long day last Thursday. The Petaluma Fire captain assigned to a strike team, spent a 24-hour shift on the front lines of the Garza Fire, which has burned nearly 50,000 acres so far near Fresno.

The 37-year-old firefighter has been away from his wife and two kids for nearly two weeks now, having been first called to the Wall Fire near Oroville at the beginning of the month. For Costa, the summertime wildfire work means being part of a larger effort of firefighters who come together to fight the state’s largest blazes.

“Basically, you never know how long you’re going to be there,” he said during an off day spent in a camp for firefighters near the fire line. “For me, this is a different challenge. Wildland fires are not small compared with what we deal with in Petaluma. I try and get out as much as I can as long as there is coverage back at the station.”

With wildfires raging across California, Petaluma-area fire agencies are sending personnel and equipment to far flung corners of the state in a time honored tradition of mutual aid that taxes local agencies, but is increasingly necessary during particularly harsh fires seasons.

As of last week, there were more than 400 engines, 48 aircraft and more than 7,000 personnel working on a dozen wildfires that have already burned as much as 159,000 acres statewide, according to the state Office of Emergency Services.

For most of this month, the Petaluma Fire Department has had one engine and seven firefighters and paramedics on teams battling the big blazes. Rancho Adobe Fire has an additional three firefighters and an engine that has rotated between large fires in different parts of the state.

Petaluma Fire sent an engine assigned to the county Office of Emergency Services and four personnel to the Alamo Fire, a nearly 30,000-acre wildfire in San Luis Obispo. An additional firefighter and two paramedics were assigned to so-called overhead teams at the Wall Fire, which burned 6,000 acres in Butte County.

Zack Brown and Matt Patterson, fire line medics, went to the Wall Fire, and Costa served as strike team leader on the fire before moving to the Garza Fire in Kings County. The engine sent to the Alamo Fire included Captain Gary Giusti, Engineer Mac Thompson, Firefighter Dan Connelly and Firefighter/Paramedic Jason Engh.

Battalion Chief Dave Kahn said that the department’s first responsibility is to protect Petaluma, but the agency will answer the call for mutual aid if it has the resources to spare.

“Nobody has enough resources to take care of everything,” he said. “We all have to pitch in and take care of each other when big events happen.”

He said that the state will reimburse Petaluma for costs associated with fighting outside fires. This year has been particularly brutal for wildfires. A four year drought created lots of dead, flammable material. Heavy, drought-busting winter rains caused an explosion of new growth, which has turned brown as the summer heats up.

Rancho Adobe sent an engine as part of a strike team, along with Captain Jimmy Bernal, Engineer Tim Henry and Engineer Chris Foss. They originally deployed to the Wall Fire on July 8, but then got called to the Garza Fire, according to Captain Tim Caldwell.

He said that the crews can work 12 to 24 hour shifts, and it is demanding physical labor, often times involving long treks into hilly terrain and cutting fire lines by hand.

“It’s very taxing on the crews,” he said. “They are in a very hot area that burns rapidly.”

With local agencies stretched thin, Caldwell said other area fire departments stand ready to help their neighbors. Local agencies also cover for CalFire stations when the state firefighters are away battling blazes.

“That’s mutual aid,” he said. “We’ll assist as long as we can.”

(Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com.)