YFD fire captain shares deployment experience as new team departs

Brandon Case talks about days battling the Dixie Fire - 13 On Your Side's April Hettinger reports

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - A strike team of four Yuma firefighters just left, while another team of four firefighters just returned from the Dixie Fire in northern California.

Captain and paramedic Brandon Case of the Yuma Fire Department (YFD) spent just over two weeks helping more than 5,000 firefighters protect cities surrounding the Dixie Fire.

"All the towns we protected, the fire had not gotten there yet," Captain Case said. "A lot of what we did was all the preventative stuff, cleaning things up, making sure that if the fire had got there, that it would save as many structures as possible."

He says it was a positive experience being able to support the other departments and most importantly, the community. Captain Case adds that it feels great to be home after long days in hot and humid weather.

"Our actual duty days were 24 hour shifts," Captain Case explained. "We would start at 7 in the morning, and by the time the other oncoming crew would come in, it would be about 8:00 the next morning."

Captain Case says it feels great to be home, but now a new team has made the 800-mile trek to battle the blaze.

"The last we heard, they had arrived, and they're in the area of Weaverville, California, and from there, they're going out to their assignments," said Mike Erfert, public information officer with YFD.

And, Captain Case is sending well wishes.

"I wish those guys the greatest luck. I hope that everything goes well for them and nobody gets hurt. It's dangerous," Captain Case stated. Those guys are a little farther away than where we actually were, and that fire is growing as we speak."

The team of firefighters deployed to the Monument Fire will be there for roughly two weeks.