All eight South County Fire firefighters returned safely to Snohomish County on Saturday, January 25, after being deployed for two weeks assisting with the Los Angeles wildfires.
The crew were deployed in early January, separated into two teams of four, and both assigned to the Palisades Fire. All eight of the fire fighters volunteered for the deployment and maintained Red Card certification, qualifying them to work in wildland fire operations.
South County Fire currently has 18 firefighters on its Wildland Team who can assist with local, state and regional requests for support.
For the crew’s first shift, they arrived at the Incident Command Post at Zuma Beach Park around 9:00 p.m. after traveling down to Southern California all day. Despite the long travel time they were immediately assigned to the fire line that night, encountering the most significant fire behavior during this shift, which lasted until about 6:00 p.m. the following day.
“The destruction was like nothing I have ever seen or will likely ever see again in my career,” said South County Fire Captain Justin Pickens. “We drove several miles with the majority of the houses on the beach just gone. When we arrived at neighborhoods in the Palisades, it was worse. Schools, banks, restaurants, churches, stores gone – the fire did not discriminate. It is devastating to think of the families who lost their homes, cars, animals and possessions. Some, of course, lost their lives or their loved ones. It was gut wrenching.”
The crew was assigned to structure protection during this shift and did not lose a single structure in the neighborhoods they were working in, Captain Pickens told the Lynnwood Times.
The following day the South County fire fighters began their shift at 7:00 a.m., working 24 hours on and 24 hours off – though they would often work for more than 30 hours straight.
Firefighting methods used were both direct—using a hose line to extinguish fire—and indirect—digging a fire line around the perimeter. Air support was also provided with helicopters and tankers. Costs associated with deploying apparatus and personnel were reimbursed to South County Fire.
Some South County Fire crews were assigned hotels in Los Angeles during nights off, while others were assigned to a mobile sleeping trailer. Leaving the city meant fire fighters had to be on the road by 5:00 a.m. in order to attend their 7:00 a.m. briefing for their next shift.
“People were extremely grateful for all of the firefighting efforts. Some were surprised to hear that we had traveled from north of Seattle to assist,” said Pickens.
Thoughmany of thedeployed South County fire fighters responded to the OSO landslide in 2014, they said the fires in California were the most significant fire they have ever been a part of in their career.
“We are extremely humbled and grateful to have the opportunity to respond to our neighboring states, to be even a small part of the overall effort. We are thankful that our fire department leadership and fire commissioners recognize the value of participating in mutual aid with other states,” said Pickens. “Our thoughts and condolences are with the many people who experienced loss. Our thoughts are also with the Los Angeles city and county firefighters on the initial response, who likely saw things that many of us cannot comprehend.”
South County Fire joined crews from other Snohomish County agencies in assisting with the Los Angeles fires. The other local agencies included:
- Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue
- Tulalip Bay Fire (Snohomish County Fire District 15)
- Getchell Fire (Snohomish County Fire District 22)
- Arlington Rural Fire (Snohomish County Fire District 21)
- Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue
- Camano Island Fire and Rescue
“We are grateful for these firefighters who volunteered to help with this extremely challenging response,” said Fire Chief Bob Eastman.
South County Fire provides fire and emergency medical services to nearly 300,000 residents of Brier, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mill Creek, Mountlake Terrace and unincorporated southwest Snohomish County.
Fueled by strong winds and dry conditions the Los Angeles wildfires broke out on January 7, killing at least 29 people—including fire fighters—and burning more than 23,400 acres (36 square miles), including homes and businesses in Pacific Palisades and the Pacific Highway. It is now completely contained. More than 16,000 structures were destroyed.
The fires displaced more than 80,000 people and many known entertainment celebrities lost the houses they have called home for decades. Just some of these celebrities include Haley Joel Osment, supermodel Tyra Banks, Chad Lowe, Sarah Wright Olsen, CNBC anchor Nicole Lapin, John C. Reilly, Paris Hilton, Anthony Hopkins, Ricki Lake, Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Mel Gibson, Billy Crystal, Anna Faris, Eugene Levy, Mandy Moore, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
According to the weather data company AccuWeather the estimated cost of damages from the fire ranges from $250 billion to $275 billion, though a Goldman Sachs report said it could be much higher.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
