65+ Fire Engines Responding to a Massive Wildfire!

[@wannabetowasabe]

Notice that what is shown, with one exception, a group of 5 similar engines (Type 1 Structural Engines) accompanied by someone in a battalion chief type vehicle. This is called a "strike team," which is a group of resources of the same type, with a strike team leader in charge. They are assembled this way in order to maintain the proper chain of command. No one individual should be in charge of more than 3-7 resources at one time, this being accomplished with a careful delegation of authority. With strike teams, you can have 5 engines on a division (the first level of geographic delegation of authority) and only have one person to deal with. Also notice the varied agency engines on one strike team. Also impressive is the strike team of California Office of Emergency Services engines assembled into a strike team. All the strike teams seem to be checking in at what appears to be a staging area and then getting their assignments to a division where a division supervisor will assign them tactically by way of the strike team leader. Notice that many of the engines have white paint (similar to shoe polish) in the upper corner of the passenger side of the vehicle. It has 4 numbers (assigned in a manner that most of us could understand) followed by a letter that indicates the type of resource in the team. A stands for Type I structural engines, B stands for Type 2 engines, C for Type 3 wildland engines all the way to Type 7 (patrols) engines. Everyone with a little experience understands all of this, given their training and practice in the incident management system I speak of below. California likely has the best system of mutual aid in the country, this due to the practice they get. This system is born of the mother of invention resulting from the myriad of incidents that occur in the most populated state in the U.S. The Incident Command System was born in southern California as a result of congressional and presidential direction to improve the way incidents are managed. ICS has changed the character of the emergency services. I was assigned to over 120 wildland fires and dozens of other incidents such as fatalities, visiting "mucky mucks" (presidents, foreign dignitaries, senators), floods, crowd control, etc. in my career with the U.S. Forest Service. My first fire assignment was in 1973 and I saw the ICS develop and become mandatory in the mid 1980's. ICS improved everything in the emergency services, as well as public services such as state, county and city public works departments, coordination with gas and electric utilities, and much more. I once left a "fire camp" where 3 military fire crews (platoons of 23 people, plus civilian crew bosses such as me) were working for a week. Then our branch (a group of multiple divisions usually 5) got the support it needed. We worked a 16 hour shift and returned to see a fully developed fire camp for 2,000 people that was built in our absence. This during the 1988 Yellowstone fires.

[@abhinavshah5722]

Wow that's a lot lemme read it

[@abhinavshah5722]

Cool thx for info

[@wannabetowasabe]

The most prominent strike team, the one you can see the strike team number assigned, is Strike Team 1801A. It is impressive to see strike teams from southern California (Culver City was easy to spot and Ventura County with their yellow engines with blue striping) as well as northern California such as the one from Chester, a small town located at the northern terminus of the Sierra Nevada next to Lake Almanor. The impressive part of ICS is to see how well it all integrates when the real work is done. Sometimes it doesn't work as well as designed, but keep in mind the very dynamic situation being dealt with in an area of high property values. Not to mention the high level of hazard and risk. I didn't like putting a band or shroud over my badge, but did so out of empathy and respect for those meeting deadly circumstances.

[@noahgrove2046]

It's a shame the CA gets so much shade thrown on it in regards to fires. We do have the best of the best in California, and I'm forever grateful to these firefighters, engineers, paramedics, local PD, Sherrif Departments, pilots, the CHP and any other first responders I failed to mention!

[@Maizefire]

@@noahgrove2046 I'm a true California born and raise and I'll tell are true heroes are these men and women not politics.

[@Battalion7FireResponses]

That's a staggering amount of equipment and manpower.

[@barrettson1028]

I cant stop listening to the sound of their diesel motors roaring, its sounds so good.

[@jeremiahedwards2073]

San Gabriel, Alhambra, Burbank- these are all about 400 miles away.

[@Fausto_Fauquer]

What you are all seeing is a combination of city fire trucks, county fire trucks, California Office of Emergency Services fire trucks(OES bright greenish/yellowish engines) and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection also known as Cal Fire fire trucks responding to a major state wildfire.

[@julioguzman6898]

Woodlake fire deparment minute 3:33 my town proud of them, shout out to the prterville fire deparment who just lost one of their own and one missing in a library fire. Thanks to the fresno county, kings county and all the agencies who helped thlare county fd and porterville

[@Monrovia1]

00:45 is Verdugo Strike Team XLC 1201A I have a video of them leaving for the Tick Fire.

[@darrentoy6359]

A lot of these fire engines are from so cal

[@RandyCarpadus]

He caught a lot of Type 1 strike teams and they have a lot

[@someguy3746]

NorCal is way understaffed.

[@someguy3746]

calls in my Sonoma county town went from 2,500 in the 1980s when they had 2 ambulances staffed to 6000+ calls today, 60 percent of which are medical calls per year. The city has a plan for a fire suppression officer per 1k people, and at that basis is short 9 firefighters when the population is only 61k.

[@someguy3746]

The ambulances haven’t got new staffing. The more understaffed, the less mutual aid available from local agencies.

[@RandyCarpadus]

@@someguy3746 That's not the reason here. Mutual aid actually is a money maker and these rigs are usually staffed by OT (if a paid department). Also your issue is a cheap city counsel that isn't willing to fund your fire department.

[@matthewtucker1605]

That is a ridiculous amount of trucks responding that must of been a jackpot for you

[@RandyCarpadus]

It's shift change. These are all heading out to the line to replace the folks there (or are heading out for new assignments). You will see this every money on any major fire here. This is how we roll ;-)

[@matthewtucker1605]

Oh okay thank you because I live in the north east and I’m not use to seeing brush trucks in action

[@RandyCarpadus]

@@matthewtucker1605 We have these major fires a dozen times a year or more so have had a system of mutual aid here since the 70s. In addition to a state wildland fire department (Cal Fire) and a state Office of Emergency Services (OES or Cal EMA. Those all-green engines) sort of like Civil Defense) that has engines on loan to departments across the state, we have a system whereby OES can request help from each county in the state to send strike teams of engines, either structural or wildland (5 engines of same type and a leader) a fire somewhere in the state. Most counties can send at least 2 strike teams if needed and counties with large cities in them such as Los Angles or Contra Costa can send a lot more. I've been on fires where the IC has ordered up 25 strike teams of engines (125 engines) as an early resource order. Also on large fires they can be on either 12 hour shifts (federal fires) or 24hr shifts (state fires) and will do a complete swap-out at that time (usually 8am).

[@matthewtucker1605]

Okay

[@matthewtucker1605]

Randy Carpadus sorry I made you type all this

[@steelswarfs]

I’d like to see the Power Arc lights on the OES engines in operation :-)

[@faithingod9554]

Me too!

[@0524cami]

Glad to see all Westside cities responded. Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Culver City.

[@abatalyvaladez2150]

Gotta give it up to arcadia, burbank, alhambra, glendale, and pasadena, and kern county fire deparment i seen the reposnd to the tick fire, riverside fires, san bernardino and los angeles and they also went up north to help at the kinkade fire. And minute 3:31 Woodlake fire district in tulare county my town im proud of them

[@peterpluim7912]

Firefighter engines: the cleanest vehicles on earth.

[@wannabetowasabe]

That even includes those from wildland fire agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, BLM, NPS, USFWS and Cal Fire. They are, as a group, the engines that get the dirtiest. Keeping an engine clean is but one of the characteristics of how well the tools and equipment are maintained on the engine, how well trained the firefighters are and how dedicated nearly every one of them is. When I drove Type 6 and Type 7 patrol engines for the Forest Service, I had to wash my vehicle very frequently as I drove 100-250 miles in one day, primarily on dirt roads. I kept my live reel hose and the additional cotton jacket hose very clean. It was a good job the first 4 years of my career, before I moved on the recreation and lands (special use permit admin, land exchanges and purchases) as a professional forester.

[@ph11p3540]

The meat wagon drivers bag to differ.

[@bajamedic]

It’s impressive to see a single department put together a type 1 strike team like Ventura county did.

[@DFW_04]

Especially since it's a 400mi drive for most of VCFD to the Santa Rosa area it was very surprising to see Ventura County Fire show out like they did. The only other single agency I saw come close with a type 1 strike team was Burbank FD which is from northern LA County and even they had maybe 2 engines per team.

[@richardcorey4644]

I'm from CA home town is Downey but moved to riverside. Now living in show low AZ for the last 16 years and all I can say I miss home lol and love seen all the fire trucks

[@redheadeddude6863]

Dude im from phx moved to shumway az 6 years ago. Its cool to hear the hum from the diesel motors.

[@johnroberts9560]

Hi Santa Cruz , it looks like enough firetrucks to put out all the fires in California , WOW !!! 👍😊🚒

[@FB1ResponseVideos]

that's super cool, glad you got some of the rigs from down here up there! sweet video

[@malcolmcossar6447]

WOW!Impressive to say the least!Fantastic Catches of all of the rigs!👍

[@goog1967]

Great to see!!! Hope they all stay safe!!!

[@mykemcc1]

Great as always. Can you include the agencies that they are. The 6 yellow/green trucks all i could read was "urban search and rescue"

[@CyclingSasquatch]

Those green ones are California OES (Office of Emergency Services) rigs. They're loaned out to departments across the state in exchange for staffing during large-scale deployments like this.

[@Maizefire]

If I'm correct those are office of emergency services rigs their manly signed to fire stations throughout California

[@julioguzman6898]

Most of them are from southen california and central california including fresno, kingsburg woodlake tulare county

[@perrytaylor10]

Nice coverage of this incident as well as this entire season! Any footage of Oregon strike teams? My buddies and I would love to see if you caught any of our friends down there

[@SantaCruzFilms]

Didn’t see any Oregon units, but here are some units from Washington and Colorado: twitter.com/santacruzyt/status/1189043939396816897?s=21

[@urbanrallyracer]

I’ve been seeing a lot of the Oregon teams returning home since Sunday morning. So it was probably just a timing thing.

[@supraphonic88]

Aww, even little Del Mar is up here helping out. Great to see!

[@davidweston6653]

They deserve some fun too 🚒💨

[@natewilliams3211]

What a outstanding video. Nice looking trucks.

[@usablemarker1173]

Had this issue happened with coppers in the air 3 days ago.

[@liamweaver2944]

That rig from Burbank is nice

[@bubbadiecast2019]

Dang that’s a bunch of fire trucks

[@АнтонПреображенский-ю3и]

Ikr

[@StormFanatic210]

My entire family was effected by the Kincade Fire. Luckily they were all able to return to homes that are still standing. I’ll tell you that watching from the other side of the country where I live, that was nerve racking.

[@usablemarker1173]

I got luck in the Adkins Ave fire not to long ago.

[@abhinavshah5722]

Nice catches

[@BenzieFirePhotography]

Some people get all the luck... Nice catches!

[@nothingtoluz8418]

Around the 8:20 mark, it seemed like the trucks were riding over curbs. Were they and if so, why? Also, I saw signs, including one that said “incident something”. What all signs were there? Nice vid btw

[@bosshoss14]

were any LAFD firefighters helping out? I didn't see any LAFD trucks

[@Mustang6971]

I'm sure LAFD sent some out but they also have to continue to serve Los Angels, I know the LA county fire department has been fighting alot of the wildfires that keep happening.

[@jerrybuit6318]

great coverage..thanks for sharing...

[@refusetrucksofo.c.3266]

Did anyone see oes 415 If so tell me when in the video

[@Keaton0801]

Is it actually a nighttime video, or is the smoke that thick that it blocks out the sun?

[@0524cami]

Night Time

[@trashmanthomas9033]

nice to see alhambra and arcadia there and pasadena

[@ph11p3540]

That wild fire is no joke and down right terrifying in how fast it moves. Like every tree is filled with gasoline and hand grenades. My prayers or with you down there.

[@paulsmallriver6066]

beautiful machines

[@firealarm8]

Why are they all going code 1?

[@jordanafinnegangriffiths9282]

probably because other engines are handling the fire so they just drive their

[@RandyCarpadus]

Shift change. Not emergency response.

[@javorisscott4288]

They are driving a long distance, plus it’s night time

[@112VideoZaanstad]

Great video!

[@thatzombieplace]

Crazy all the guys from the sgv and and sfv

[@Interstate107]

Sweet catchin

[@youtubemouthwash]

Dispatch from Command requesting 65 engines for mutual aid , this fire out of control. Also have all units respond non-emergency...no hurry. lol.

[@sanddabz5635]

"Yes, Virginia, even fire trucks use their turn signal"

[@luschmiedt1071]

Is it just me or are a lot of those trucks quite old?

[@randomized4266]

lu schmiedt alot of the seagraves and the HMEs look old🤷🏻‍♂️

[@maxhallman1036]

@@randomized4266 all seagraves and hmes look old even the new ones

[@Nebraska68134]

It's funny how none of the command vehicles used thier turning signals. But, all except like 4 engines used thier.

[@redheadeddude6863]

@Santa Cruz Films. If you see a timber Mesa Fire Medical district. Or a Pinetop fire Department az trucks or Even A Taylor Snowflake Fire truck those are from my area. Say hi to them. yes Snowflake is a town.

[@jeffwallace5447]

mighta been cool to send these to Paradise last year???

[@RandyCarpadus]

They did. There were these and more. It take time to get all of these rigs together and across the state.

[@someguy3746]

This fire has space to grow before it impacted populated areas allowing more time for resources to flow in

[@johnswircek5330]

I love fire trucks

[@kettlekorn471]

San Gabriel Valley cities representin'!

[@brennancrumb835]

there were some central states in there love them bummed they are out of business

[@MD21037]

Strike Teams deploying to assignments

[@Nates707]

My home town

[@Thomas1980]

wow...nice! Thumbs up!

[@АнтонПреображенский-ю3и]

That's crazy

[@HannTheftAudio]

I'm confused. 65+ trucks heading to a fire, and almost none of them in any form of hurry to get there?? not one of them had sirens, and only a select few even bothered to turn the lights on.... it looks more like a massive dinner date to me.

[@javorisscott4288]

They’re driving a long distance, plus it’s night time

[@milannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn]

vcfd rigs are sexy

[@sango_wilko851]

Badass! Really cool to see FDNY there.

[@worldrenowned]

wtf?

[@Mustang6971]

When did you see a FDNY engine I didn't see one.

[@RandyCarpadus]

You must have been high! lol

[@tylercorbin8073]

sango_wango You didn’t get your diploma did you.

[@help3102]

high

[@franciscoayala1996]

They need to activate the lights and siren because there is a fire

[@leemayhan4501]

Oes stike team

[@newthirstaddictionministry]

A strike team and a half holy crap