Two Southern California counties are sending firefighters to Orange County after eight firefighters were injured in a crash along State Route 241. Most of them remain hospitalized.
About three dozen firefighters from Ventura and Santa Barbara will be going to Orange County to help fight the fire. the airport firethe devastating fire that destroyed homes and injured several people as it tore through Orange and Riverside Counties. OC firefighters came back from a 12 hour shift busy fighting the forest fire when the crash occurred on Thursday evening.
The fire truck swerved to avoid a ladder in the middle of the freeway, then struck a guardrail and rolled over, the California Highway Patrol said. One of the firefighters was airlifted and the rest were rushed to nearby trauma centers.
As of Friday morning, six of them remained in the hospital, OCFA Chief Brian Hennessey said, with one still in critical condition. “A lot of the injured will remain in the hospital for a while,” he said.
While the injured firefighters were being treated overnight, Hennessey met with their families and spoke with their fellow firefighters.
“When I spoke to the crews last night, it was clear that they’re in bad shape right now,” he said. “We’ve gotten them off the fire line. They’re getting time with their families. They’re getting time to visit with other firefighters. They’re getting the time that they need.”
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All of the men injured in the crash are members of the Orange County Fire Authority’s Santiago Handcrew, which has a total of 20 firefighters who typically work 10-hour days but sometimes 24 hours a day. They are tasked with clearing highly flammable brush and other terrain that can fuel and feed wildfires, going into “extremely steep, extremely inaccessible terrain” that even machinery like bulldozers can’t get to, Fennessey said. “It’s extremely tough work,” he said.
Now, Ventura County and Santa Barbara County fire departments are sending their own firefighters.
“I want to thank the fire departments of Ventura County and Santa Barbara County who have relocated their fire departments to Orange County to replace the fire departments that are not currently in service,” Fennessey said Friday.
Scott Safechuck, spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, said his agency will send a crew of about 16 people and the Ventura County Fire Department will send a crew of about 20 people.
According to Fennessey, the Santiago Handcrew has been working the Airport Fire since the fire broke out on Sept. 9. The wildfire is one of three massive fires that have raged through four Southern California counties this month, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes and burning more than 250,000 acres of land in less than a week.
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Fifteen people, including thirteen firefighters, were injured in the fire at the airport, which left a trail of destruction. more than 80 homes to the ground.
But firefighters have made significant progress in recent days, with the wildfire now more than 50 percent contained, a major gain in which hand crews have played a critical role. They work through rugged terrain to construct and secure a fire line that prevents the fire from spreading further, as it is a perimeter where flames cannot pass. OCFA has two hand crews.
According to Fennessey, the members of these crews are “often younger, extremely fit and very well trained.”
“You’re probably not going to see someone my age on a hand crew,” he said. “It’s a job where the crew has to be extremely physically fit. They’re exposed to extraordinary temperatures and conditions. They train very, very hard.”
Fennessey said the Santiago Handcrew firefighters are hard at work as wildfires have burned more than 240,000 acres this year. They are also working to reach areas outside of Orange County.
“We’re very proud of them and they’ve been busy all year, all over the state of California,” he said.
