COUNTY FIRE

Latest news and bulletin updates

July 2022 — Issue #3

Fire Chief's Message

Please click the video below for a message from Fire Chief Tim Cordero.

Medic 49 “Brown’s Out” prompting movement of Medic 28.

Diamond Springs Fire Department (DSP) had notified the JPA that beginning July 1, 2022 they would be unable to continue operating Medic 49 due to staffing shortages. It is still unknown if this inability to staff will be a temporary brown out or a permanent decision by DSP. In anticipation of this reduction in units, the JPA Board took action to temporarily relocate Medic 28 to Station 48. This action is meant to provide additional coverage in the “core”, which is the highest call volume area in the County. The JPA is monitoring the system on a daily basis regarding call volume and Unit Hour Utilization (UHU) to determine if additional changes to the system need to be made. The restoration of Medic 49, whether by DSP or the JPA, is still pending.

Chief Williams and the crews from Station 28 have been working to ensure that Station 48 has all of the necessary resources to provide our crews on Medic 28 a functional and comfortable facility. To assist in the transition and provide a “County Fire” presence for our personnel, Chief Dutch will also be working out of Station 48, ensuring the needs of our crews are met.

Cal Fire hosted a VMP / Live Fire Training for local firefighters.

Local Crews participate in Cal Fire’s Lyon Ranch VMP Cal Fire held a Vegetation Management Program (VMP) at the Lyon Ranch in Cool during June. The VMP / Training Burn was opened up to fire agencies within the surrounding area. During the 2 days of training, crews successfully burned 81.2 acres as part of Lyon Ranch VMP Fuel Break. County Fire was provided the opportunity to participate in multiple days of live fire training at the Lyon Ranch VMP. Engine 372 attended 2 days, gaining valuable wildland fire training, while working side by side with Cal Fire and our partners from the area. The crews on Engine 372 worked hard and performed well upholding our standards and representing County Fire as expected.

This live fire training provided an opportunity for crews to train on areas such as, mobile attack, firing operations, hand tools and backpack pumps.

“This live fire training event provided a unique opportunity to train our firefighters and to work with various agencies we would work alongside on a real wildland fire. This is invaluable training that can’t be replicated any other way.” Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Brunton.

Moving into fire season, having the opportunity for these multi-agency trainings are vital in ensuring firefighter safety and efficient operations at wildland fires. Thank you, Cal Fire, for hosting this event.

County Fire Hosts Instructor of Live Fire Training

In May the El Dorado County Fire District Training Division hosted the Instructor of Live Fire training class at Stations 23 & 28. This is a required Class to certify instructors for Fire Control 3. County Fire had 6 members Complete this training class, moving our training cadre one step closer to Certified Fire Control 3 Instructors.  

Apparatus Committee Meets to Discuss New Ladder Truck

Chief Lohan and the apparatus committee recently met to begin preliminary discussions regarding the purchase of a new ladder truck. We are able to purchase through Pierce under our current contract, keeping this piece of equipment in alignment with our current fleet.

The committee spent a couple hours reviewing various types of ladder trucks, pros and cons and the needs of our district. There are several contacts and nearby agencies that can also provide valuable insight to our committee. The committee continues to work towards providing this piece of equipment that will meet our needs for years, decades.