LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Close to 70 firefighters spent part of Saturday sharpening their skills in preparation for what officials believe could be another busy fire season.
“Operation Get Ready” was held off of Riata Road near Lower Lake from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Cal Fire spearheaded the practice event, with Northshore Fire, Kelseyville Fire, South Lake County Fire and Lake County Fire Protection participating.
In addition to practicing ground firefighting techniques skills while burning several acres of vegetation, Cal Fire's Copter 104 and a Cal Fire dozer also were on hand.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Greg Bertelli said that the practice required more than six months to set up.
That time, Bertelli said, was necessary in order to carry out a California Environmental Quality Act study of the burn area – which was conducted on private property – with an endangered species specialist and an archaeologist also surveying the area. Those extra steps were required because of Cal Fire's involvement.
The breakdown of firefighters who took part in the training exercise was about half volunteers, half paid, said Bertelli.
Volunteer firefighters have as high a requirement for training as those who are paid for the work. Bertelli said the volunteers were there on their own time to get the training they needed.
On Saturday, the weather cooled and a cloud cover came in, giving the firefighters better conditions for the exercise and raising humidity enough so that, at one point, some of the vegetation wouldn't burn.
But that isn't expected to be an issue this year, when grass and other fuels are so dry, Bertelli said.
“They're burning now like they do in late August,” he said.
Winds also were light on Saturday. The wind, Bertelli said, “is the wild card,” for firefighters.
Fuel, weather and topography are three factors that firefighters always have to monitor, and they make each fire incident unique, Bertelli said.
That, said Bertelli, makes firefighting as much a science as an art.
Lake County Animal Care and Control Director Bill Davidson also came out to the event to do a practice animal evacuation.
Davidson heads up the Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection group – of which Bertelli and his wife, Lynnette, are founding members – which responds to assist with removing animals from harm's way during critical incidents.
Bertelli said any firefighter can activate LEAP, which was the case when the group was called to action during the Wye and Walker fires in August 2012.
Following the fire exercise, Bertelli and other chiefs on the scene – including Jim Wright of Cal Fire and Willie Sapeta of Lake County Fire – held a debriefing with the firefighters, going over tips to improve skills and advice on taking care of themselves in order to prevent injury during incidents.
The firefighters then heard a brief talk from a crew member of Copter 104, the Vietnam-era UH-1H Bell Huey that is based at the Boggs Mountain Helitack.
Copter 104 is often seen on Lake County fire incidents, dropping water as part of an aggressive air attack or taking part in rescue operations.
Cal Fire said Copter 104 responds to an average of 250 calls per year ranging from fires to rescues. The Boggs Mountain Helitack base's coverage area includes Colusa, Yolo, Solano, Lake, Napa, Sonoma and parts of Marin and Mendocino counties.
Firefighters were given basic precautions about approaching the copter safely – including, not coming toward it from the back – and allowed to take a look inside.
The group then heard a talk from Mike “Wally” Walton, a longtime Cal Fire dozer operator who also has a background in logging.
Walton advised the group of the importance of being constantly aware when working around dozers, and offered as an illustration a grim story about a man killed in a logging accident by a dozer driven by his father-in-law.
Walton told Lake County News that it's important for veteran firefighters to share their experiences with the next generation coming up, as most of that information isn't written down and could be lost.
Bertelli said the plans are to continue to hold Operation Get Ready annually.
“We want to make this thing better every year,” said Bertelli.
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