DID YOU KNOW: County Fire hand crews recently participated in the annual Bautista drill (an annual drill to certify the type of inmate hand crew under FIRESCOPE’s guidelines). Glen Helen 1 and 2 inmate crews far surpassed the minimum qualifications to meet the type one inmate crew standard. The Bautista drill consisted of five timed evaluation stations: 1- Tool out from the buggy in under three minutes 2- Complete a three mile hike in under 75 minutes 3- Construct a minimum of 300 feet of line within 60 minutes 4- The entire crew must fully deploy and occupy their shelters in less than one minute 5- Perform a 1500 feet hose lay with in-line tees every 200 feet within 15 minutes Glen Helen 2, led by FF/PMs Durk Carlisle and Scott Albright, led all crews at the drill with 830 feet of completed line. The group also finished the hike in 69 minutes. A type one certification indicates the crew meets all the standards set under #FIRESCOPE. This is the standard in California and should not be confused with interagency hand crew qualifications. It certifies County Fire crews to perform direct attack (hotline) and conduct burning operations, among other duties. Type two inmate crews cannot do these tasks. Proper ICS typing allows the incident commander to know exactly what is coming when an order is placed—number of personnel, production rates for particular fuel types, minimum equipment carried and 24-hour sustainability. Typically, type one crews are ordered first. GH crews have also responded to multiple recent vegetation, commercial, and residential fires, allowing the initial attack engine crews to be cut loose earlier in the mop-up phase. The crews are involved in multiple community service projects including, but not limited to, curb side chipping in the communities of #MountainHomeVillage, #ForestFalls, #AngelesOaks, #Crestline, and a weeklong community involved program in #Wrightwood. The crews are also assisting fire station crews with other needs, including the construction of a new gym in the back apparatus bay at Fontana’s Station 72. Requests for crews to assist with station projects can be filed using the request form on Firenet. The request then needs to be forwarded to your battalion chief for approval. The crew attempts to schedule projects one month in advance, but can accommodate some short-notice requests. The crews possess many different skills, including framing and drywall, texturing and paint, tile work, cement jobs and much more. Fire camp is scheduled to be fully open July 1. Formally known as Verdemont Ranch or Glen Helen North, the camp is located east of #RosenaRanch on the same road as Glen Helen motocross track. Currently the facility houses workshops (saw shop), classrooms, offices, and crew-only sleeping quarters. Crews 40 and 41 are also using the grounds. July 1 is the tentative date the inmates will repopulate the old dorm barracks onsite. In the future, Glen Helen 3 will begin their training and Glen Helen 4 will be a few months behind with a full build out of five to six crews. The move to the fire camp will help create a more seamless operation with this fire/sheriff cooperative effort. With the rapid growth of the program more resources are needed. Six new crew carriers have been ordered with the first three scheduled to arrive in August. Along with the crew carriers, new foreman trucks have also been ordered to start replacing the aged fleet. The County Fire Handcrew program is managed by #Local935 members. Author: Crew Boss Durk Carlisle
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 03:58:45 +0000
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