YFD strike team returns from 15-day Kincade fire deployment

On October 23, four Yuma Fire Department ( YFD ) firemen left Yuma in their newest engine to meet up with an Imperial County strike team in Westmoreland, CA.

They were assigned to stay in Beaumont for 3-days as part of a pre-mobilization assignment.

Once mutual aid was requested to battle the Kincade fire, the task force was ready to respond within six hours.

On November 5, the YFD firemen were finally cleared to return home, after a 15-day deployment.

Over those 15-days, the YFD strike team was deployed to the Santa Rosa area of Sonoma County, CA.

Strike team TF6110 was assigned to 24-hour shifts every other day.

YFD Captain Donald Humphrey said, ” It was four of us on an engine. So two of them would sleep a couple of hours and take turns. It’s not really easy to sleep on a fire engine. ”

From sun up to sundown, the sleep-deprived men hiked through rural lands, protecting homes, and overhauling hidden fires.

” All we really use is hand tools on the strike team assignment; shovels, axes, ” Humphrey said.

While they axed through overgrown vegetation and shoveled away combustibles, the Kincade fire blazed about 15-miles in the distance.

The captain described the scene, ” Up there the smoke was very thick. There was a definite haze in the air. But once the sunset, there was a glow on the horizon. ”

The last time Capt. Humphrey was deployed on a strike team was 16-years ago.

It was for the 2003 Paradise fire in Escondido, CA that burned down 56,000 acres.

Humphrey remembered, ” We saw a lot more fire at that time. We were nearby the fire and it was face-paced. ”

He says what stood out most about his deployment in Sonoma County for the Kincade fire was the overwhelming support from the public.

” Everyone had a mandatory evacuation from the areas that were affected. They were staying at the fairgrounds in hammocks. It was just amazing [seeing] the cardboard signs saying thank you for your help. ”

He added, ” In the big cities, people were really honking and waving thank you. It was just neat driving a City of Yuma, Arizona apparatus through California. ”

Humphrey said he’ll do it again in a heartbeat.

The Kincade fire was active for 13-days until it was 100% contained.

The fire blazed through over 77,000 acres of land.