The Alameda Fire Department deployed several personnel members and equipment to provide aid to weather-related crisis incidents.

AFD announced recently they deployed a water tender and two Alameda firefighters to the Six Rivers Lightning Complex located on the Six Rivers National Forest near Willow Creek.

According to the Incident Information System, the complex was made of 12 lightning-caused fires in an area spanning 13,968 acres. After the aggressive initial response of a multi-county task force with the Six Rivers National Forest firefighters, there are now only six active fires, as of Friday, August 12.

This wildfire was a result of the multiple thunderstorms moving across the forest, as well as the northern part of the state.

AFD previously announced on August 8 that two single-resource firefighters were deployed to Alpine County as part of the California Mutual Aid System, according to AFD reports. With potential for heavy rainfall forecast in the northern part of the state the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) strategically prepositioned critical resources for swift water rescue teams in Butte and Alpine County.

AFD Captain Geoffrey Gray and Firefighter Jeff Weidler joined the 16-person Swift Water Rescue Team as part of California Task Force Team-4, led by the Oakland Fire Department, in Alpine County, including the Willow Creek area. They will provide aid in the event of potential mudslides and debris flow until the weather event’s conclusion.

Currently, the Six Rivers Lightning Complex wildfire area has established evacuation zones, and heavy smoke is predicted to linger until warmer and drier air filters in from above after high pressure builds in the atmosphere. Planned actions for the fire include cooperating with local fire departments for effective protection plans, conducting firing operations in multiple divisions to strengthen lines, limiting the fires impact to indirect lines, and buffering uphill fire runs. Community defense is also being provided for Willow Creek, Seely Macintosh, Salyer Heights, Trinity Village, Hawkins Bar and other scattered and unincorporated areas.

For more updates and information, please visit: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/8312/70500.

Last month, two AFD members were deployed to two different wildfires. AFD Public Information Officer Kevin Tidwell was assigned to the Dalton Highway Complex Fire in Alaska on July 29.

California sent one of its Interagency Incident Management Teams to Alaska due to drawdown in their state. As a member of the South-Central Interagency Incident Management Team, Tidwell reports to the Incident Commander and is responsible for providing information to the media, as well as the general public, according to AFD reports.

AFD Heavy Equipment Boss Grant Miller was assigned to the Oak Fire, near the community of Mariposa County. Miller was responsible for managing multiple dozers that created an indirect-fireline to contain the fire.

Both members were deployed for 14 days under the California Fire Assistance Agreement (CFAA). The two AFD members are expected to have returned.

CFAA is the negotiated reimbursement mechanism for local government fire agency responses through the California Fire Service and Rescue Emergency Mutual Aid System, in order to recover the costs of local resources such as both AFD members.