Redwood City Firefighters Spend 14 Days Helping With SoCal Fires

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — After spending 14 days on the line in the Southern California firestorm, several firefighters from the Bay Area are home. In total, 14 engines, 3 command vehicles and 62 personnel from San Mateo County fire agencies were deployed to the devastating Creek and Thomas fires, Menlo Park Fire Protection District Chief Harold Schapelhouman said. The two strike teams returned late Tuesday.

“It’s been a long couple of weeks and the firefighters are looking forward to getting home to their families," Southern Strike Team Leader Battalion Chief Ben Marra said.

Marra is with the Menlo Park Fire Protection District — just one of the many local departments that headed south. Personnel from the Central and San Mateo County Fire, Redwood City Fire, Woodside Fire, Foster City Fire and San Mateo City Fire departments were also deployed.

"These guys worked hard to help save people’s homes in crazy fire conditions and they also never complained when we were asked to do cleanup work under less than glamorous and rotten conditions," Marra said.
"We were all proud and humbled to have been called upon to do our small part during this massive firefighting effort."

To date, the Thomas Fire has burned 272,800 acres and destroyed more than 1,300 structures, according to Cal Fire. The Creek Fire burned more than 15,000 acres and destroyed more than 120 structures, many of them homes.

The above photos were provided to Patch with the following descriptions:

Photo 1 – From the Fire Line, the Central San Mateo County Task Force consisting of 4 Fire Engines and personnel from Central County Fire, Foster City Fire, Menlo Park Fire District and San Mateo City Fire try to lighten the mood with some Christmas cheer in the form of Santa’s Helper Caps. The Task Force was assigned to night time structure protection its last shift in a neighborhood above the City of Santa Barbara.

Photo 2 – Prior to leaving the Angeles Forest for the Thomas Fire in Ventura County, the San Mateo County South Zone Strike Team consisting 5 Fire Engines and personnel from the Central and San Mateo County Fire Agencies along with the Redwood City Fire Department and the Menlo Park and Woodside Fire District’s, stopped to pay their respects to a Fire Service Memorial that honors the memory and lessons learned at the 1966 Loop Fire Tragedy in Pacoima Canyon that killed 10 Forest Service Firefighters and severely injured 19 more in a burn over event.

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Images via the Menlo Park Fire Protection District courtesy San Mateo County Firefighters