Amador County – Mike Roots, Superintendent of the Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp, announced in a release last week that wards at the camp recently participated in the Spring Fire Readiness Exercise, to prepare for warmer weather.
CYA Lieutenant Wayland in the report said “all Correctional Fire Crews are required to participate in, and successfully complete, a fire readiness exercise prior to the start of the fire season. This year, Pine Grove Camp, along with Washington Ridge and Growlersberg Camps, held a joint exercise on the Bacchi Ranch in Coloma.” The first activity was a “tool-up,” he said, simulating “what occurs upon arrival at a fire.” Within seconds the crew exited the back of a vehicle, “called out their position on the crew, and received their tool, then lined up in crew order awaiting further directions.”
Senior Cal Fire officers “conducted an equipment inspection of each fire fighter and quizzed them, testing their understanding of fire line safety.”
The crew “then moved to another location where their fire shelter deployment skills were evaluated,” Wayland wrote. “Following a briefing and demonstration, the crew simulated deployment under emergency conditions. Captain Chris Waters had devoted hours practicing this life-saving skill and, as a result, everyone was fully deployed within 26 seconds.” Soon after, the crew “struck out on a four-mile hike with full packs, canteens, and sufficient supplies to work on the fire line for 24 hours. Although the temperature was warm and the terrain rolling to hilly, they completed it on time and with considerable ease,” which Wayland said was “a testament to Captain Water’s belief in physical conditioning and constant practice.”
Following a short rest and a snack, the crew “was ready for its biggest and most difficult challenge of the day,” that being “cutting a fire line uphill through dense vegetation.” Wayland said that “line cutting is the most important task for a wildland fire hand crew and is the true test of a crew’s individual fitness and team cohesiveness.”
Wayland said there “are no stars on a hand crew; each member has a specific task which must be performed in sequence and without delay.” While exhausting work, “the firefighters also found it satisfying to look down a 300-foot pathway, cleared down to bare soil, which was choked with brush and trees just minutes before and realize what they had accomplished.”
Even though the crew passed the exercise and is now ready for the 2011 fire season, there was no rest and relaxation. Wayland said the next day, “the crew was back at work, practicing and honing their hiking and firefighting skills.” Wayland said Waters and the other Pine Grove captains “understand that skills practiced during training and daily work are what keep everyone safe on the fire line.”
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