BARSTOW, Calif. -- The disastrous California wildfires have grabbed national media attention, and Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California, has lent personnel and equipment to its neighbors to the north. The base’s Medic Engine 401A and a four-person crew were dispatched to offer mutual aid on the Butte Fire in the Sierra Nevada foothills southeast of Sacramento, Sept. 11-19.
The crew consists of Albert Rickwalt, captain; Luke Reynolds, driver operator; Noah Glaza, paramedic and firefighter; and Brad Watson, firefighter. They are part of a Type 1 Strike Team from the High Desert that consists of five engines total, said Paul Purdy, fire chief aboard MCLB Barstow. This Strike Team adds to the other 3,041 personnel assigned to the fire, to include 190 fire engines, three helicopters, 94 bulldozers and 21 water tenders reported on the incident Sept. 22 by the State of California, Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE).
The mutual aid response is in accordance with the California Fire Assistance Agreement entered into by five federal and two state agencies. Currently, the team is assigned to base camp in Jackson, California, located in Amador County, said Purdy.
As a Type 1 fire engine crew, they are assigned to structure protection. Type I incidents are the most complex, requiring national resources to help local agencies manage them. With more than 475 residences lost, as well as 343 outbuildings and 42 other structures damaged, as reported by CAL FIRE Sept. 23, firefighters continue to work to protect another 6,400 structures still threatened by this fire.
On major fire incidents, firefighters often serve two weeks at a time, but can be extended to three weeks if resources are spread thin, as they are now with other active fires such as the Valley Fire northwest of Sacramento. The Valley Fire has consumed nearly 2,000 structures and claimed at least three lives.
The Butte Fire has burned approximately 71,000 acres and is 84 percent contained as of Sept. 23. There have been two civilian fatalities reported during this incident. The circumstances, as well as the cause of the fire, are under investigation.