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In an effort to keep you up to date on the latest local, statewide, and federal fire issues, OC Firefighters send out monthly news clippings. This newsletter will help inform you about very important fire-related matters.
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Horse rescued after falling 60 feet down ravine in San Juan Capistrano
A horse was rescued after it fell 60 feet down a ravine at Caspers Regional Park in San Juan Capistrano Monday. Video captured the 8-year-old horse, Lola, getting hoisted to safety by a helicopter. The rider says she jumped off after the horse began to buck. The horse then fell about 60 feet down a ravine. Due to tough terrain, the horse couldn't be walked out. After a veterinarian sedated her, an Orange County Fire Authority technical rescue team used its helicopter to hoist the horse to a safe location and reunite her with her owner.
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Helitanker can drop 3,000 gallons of water on a wildfire
Fire authorities showcased on Wednesday, Sept. 30, a water-dropping helicopter with a 3,000-gallon capacity that will be available to combat the ever-growing blazes erupting in the region. “This helitanker is a force multiplier,” Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said at a press conference at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos. “This literally is the largest tanked helicopter in the world.” During Wednesday’s demonstration, the twin-propeller aircraft dropped a massive 2,600-gallon curtain of water to the ground, far exceeding the drop made as comparison from a regular OCFA helicopter, which showered about 250 gallons. Starting Oct. 1, the aircraft will be manned around the clock and be available to regions serviced by Southern California Edison, including Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
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Orange County House Fire Injures Firefighter, $900K In Damages
A house fire in Santa Ana left one firefighter injured and caused $900,000 in damages. A two-story home in the 300 block of Orion Avenue caught fire Thursday evening. Firefighters responded to the scene at 7:30 p.m., the Orange County Fire Authority says. They arrived to find the home completely engulfed in flames. One firefighter injured at the scene went by ambulance to a nearby hospital with an undisclosed injury. His condition is not known as of this report.
Neighbors nearby reported hearing firefighters using saws and heavy equipment to get into the home and battle the blaze, which took about three hours to douse.
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Photo courtesy of the OCFA
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Structural Damage Avoided During Saturday Afternoon Fire in San Juan Capistrano
The Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) contained a vegetation fire in San Juan Capistrano on Saturday, Sept. 12. The brush fire occurred at 6:07 p.m. in the Highland Drive/Windsor Drive area and was 1.2 acres. There were no injuries or structural damage, said public information officer Capt. Greg Barta. Two water towers were imminently threatened, and nearby homes could have been threatened if the fire had spread, said Barta.
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Video courtesy of the OCFA
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Firefighters Save 1930’s Ranger Station on Mt. San Jacinto
Cal Fire shared positive news Tuesday that crews from Garner Valley Fire Station 53 and Orange County Fire Authority Crew 2 cleared brush to help preserve a state ranger station from the 1930’s. The crews took the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up to Mt. San Jacinto State Park and hiked 2.4 miles with their equipment. They cleared around 150 feet of surrounding brush, limbed nearby trees and moved away any other flammable materials. They also wrapped the historical buildings in fire resistant wrap.
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Photo courtesy of CAL FIRE
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Firefighters Tackle Garage Fire In Santa Ana
It took OC Firefighters, joined for fire crews from Orange City Fire, a little over 10 minutes to knock down a garage fire in the 1300 block of Smokewood Dr. in Santa Ana. Aggressive firefighting kept the fire from extending into the rest of the house. No injuries reported and there is no cause at this time.
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Elderly Woman Dies in Westminster House Fire
An 82-year-old woman was found dead inside a Westminster mobile home on Sept. 14 after it was badly damaged by an accidental fire. Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) Capt. Greg Barta told The Epoch Times that the body was discovered as first responders fought to keep the blaze from spreading to nearby homes. Police and firefighters initially responded to reports of a residential structure fire in the 5700 block of Garden Grove Boulevard at 4:24 a.m. “When our crews arrived on the scene, they found a mobile home that was heavily involved with fire, and it was also imminently threatening the adjacent mobile home,” Barta said. “So our firefighters immediately began an aggressive offensive fire attack while also simultaneously searching the home for any potential victims.” The OCFA “dispatch received reports prior to our arrival on scene that there was potentially someone trapped or still inside the home,” Barta said. “And then our firefighters did unfortunately find that one individual that had perished inside.”
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Video courtesy of the OCFA
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OC Firefighters Utilize Jaws of Life During Traffic Collision Response
On the evening of September 30, 2020, OC firefighters utilized their powerful jaws of life to extricate and ultimately remove two separate people involved in a head on collision out of their cars in under five minutes. The clock is always ticking in our firefighters heads to get the injured en-route to the hospital as soon as possible.
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Fast Moving Garage Fire Extends to House in Laguna Niguel
Residents were fortunate to get out without any injury after a fast-moving fire that began in a garage quickly extended into the house. OC Firefighters needed about 40 minutes to get the fire in the 28000 block of Vista Ladera knocked down. Thankfully, no injures were reported.
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Pedestrian Struck During Trump Rally in Yorba Linda
A trump rally was met by counter protests today at a busy intersection in Yorba Linda. At least one person was ran over by a car, possibly a Trump supporter, and transported to a local hospital in unknown condition. Multiple medical resources have been requested to be on standby.
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Family Dog Alerts Family To Garage Fire
On the morning of October 5, 2020, OC Firefighters made an aggressive attack on a garage fire that they arrived at the scene of just before 6:30 a.m. Working hard to quickly douse the flames, crews prevented the fire from spreading into the house, which was located in the 27000 block of Pinuela. Teddy, the family dog, turned out to be the one who alerted his owners to the fire. Fire crews conducted a search of the house and found him hiding inside. The carefully brought him out and reunited him with his family.
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Photo courtesy of the OCFA
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OCFA Crew 1 at the LNU Lightening Complez and El Dorado Fires
Crew 1, your OCFA Santiago Handcrew, has spent the last two weeks assigned to the LNU Lightning Complex and El Dorado Fires. These firefighters have been working extremely hard with over 300 fires burning in our state.
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Photo courtesy of OC Firefighters
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Brush Fire Burns in Camp Pendleton
Emergency crews responded to reports of a brush fire on the Northbound Interstate 5 and Las Pulgas in Camp Pendleton. Upon arrival, they found flames that were running up the hillside towards the interior of the base. Incident commanders called for additional help from neighboring agencies, including a water-dropping helicopter from the Orange County Fire Authority.
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OC Firefighters Depart to Battle Bobcat Fire
Your Orange County Fire Authority have launched a strike team of five fire engines and two battalion chiefs to assist with firefighting efforts at the Bobcat Fire on September 17, 2020. Off duty firefighters have been recalled to ensure fire and paramedic services are uninterrupted to our service areas.
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OCFA Crews and Apparatus Backfill Allied Agency Fire Stations
On September 18, 2020 it was reported that the Orange County Fire Authority had sent 10 engine companies to backfill Los Angeles County Fire Department fire stations due to an increase in fire intensity on the Bobcat Fire. To accomplish this feat and potential more, the OCFA began recalling over 45 personnel to cover Orange County Fire Stations. At the time of that post, OC Firefighters had over 115 firefighters battling fires throughout the state.
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Photo courtesy of OC Firefighters
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Local Fire Stations Handle Challenges Unique to Dana Point
As fire season in California is underway, firefighting agencies across the state are responding to dozens of major fire incidents—some fires burning as much as 122,000 acres. While Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) has offered support to other agencies battling nearby fires, including the Bobcat Fire in Los Angeles County and Valley Fire in San Diego County, local OCFA fire stations face a unique set of challenges aside from fires. Crewmembers for both Stations 29 and 30, in Capistrano Beach and Dana Point, respectively, attest that their most common calls are for medical emergencies. Click HERE to read the full story.
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OCFA Takes Delivery of Two, New Tactical Water Tenders
On September 24, 2020, the OCFA announced the acquisition of two, new tactical water tenders that will help battle wildfires and keep communities safe. Each tender can carry up to 2,000 gallons of water, is capable of mobile pumping on a fire and even has a turret on the front bumper that is controlled from inside the cab.
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Procession Held For Firefighter Who Died Battling El Dorado Fire
The United States Forest Department honored firefighter Charles Morton, who died in California’s El Dorado Fire, with a procession on September 18 – the day after Morton died in the line of duty. Footage uploaded by the Orange County Fire Authority shows a long caravan of vehicles coming down the mountains, with the OCFA releasing a statement with the video that reads, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and fellow firefighters of the fallen firefighter. Orange County Fire Authority Firefighters had the honor of saluting this hero as his body was taken from the El Dorado Fire.”
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Prevention is All About Contamination Reduction
Submitted By Jeff Hughes, OC Firefighters Local 3631 Wellness Agent
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The IAFF held the annual Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial ceremony on Saturday, September 19, 2020. Due to the COVID pandemic, the event was held virtually this year to honor and recognize 245 firefighters who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service for others and whose names have been etched into the black granite memorial wall. 190 of those heroes added to the wall this year died from occupational cancers.
Prevention is all about contamination reduction. Our current activities have seen a huge increase in contamination reduction policies and procedures due to the COVID pandemic. The culture change occurred almost immediately, because COVID is an acute disease (which is to say when you are exposed to the virus you get sick within a very short amount of time). COVID symptoms can start two days to two weeks after initial infection/exposure and you can be contagious as early as 48 hours before you begin to experience any symptoms. This quick onset and the ease in which the virus can be spread is motivation to protect ourselves, our families and the public. Occupational diseases like cancer occur from chronic exposures and can have a latency of over 30 years! And there are other factors that affect one’s susceptibility to getting cancer, for example genetic make-up, exposures accumulated, sleep health, nutrition, and fitness.
In the United States, 16 firefighters have died from complications from COVID-19 and that is a tragedy. Each one of those died from a horrible disease that occurred from a presumed exposure while they were serving the communities that we are sworn to protect. The 190 United States firefighter heroes who died of a presumed occupational cancer and were added to the wall this year died from a horrible disease that occurred from multiple exposures while preforming the duties as a firefighter for the communities they were sworn to protect.
Let’s commit to always move forward and be diligent in reducing the contamination that comes with this profession. Wear your mask when you smell the products of combustion, shower within the hour after a fire, wash your hands before eating in rehab, wipe your skin to remove contamination, don’t transport contaminated gear (even SCBA’s) in the cab, and ensure you have clean PPE every shift. Personal Protective Equipment is not PROTECTING you if it’s contaminated.
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2018 Orange County Firefighters Year In Review
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In 2018, our Firefighters responded to more than 142,000 emergencies throughout the 23 cities and unincorporated communities of Orange County. The Year in Review book serves to illustrate the daily challenges that our First Responders face while serving on the frontlines. Click HERE to view the book.
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OC Firefighters - IAFF Local 3631 | 1342 Bell Avenue, Suite 3A | Tustin | CA | 92870
THIS MESSAGE WAS CREATED BY JIMMY BLACKMAN & ASSOCIATES.
Copyright © 2017 OC Firefighters, all rights reserved.
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