Alameda Unveils Cal-OES Engine, Deploys to Southern California Fires

PRESS RELEASE

December 7, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact:

Sarah Henry, Public Information Officer

510-747-4714

 

 

Alameda Unveils Cal-OES Engine, Deploys to Southern California Fires

 

At the Fire Station 3 Open House on Saturday, December 2, Alameda Fire Chief Edmond Rodriguez revealed that the City of Alameda recently received a California Office of Emergency Services (Cal-OES) Type I Fire Engine; one of 133 state-owned fire engines staffed and supported by local government agencies. Engine 296 is a fully equipped fire engine and can be used by the Alameda Fire Department to provide critical fire and emergency medical service (EMS) response to our community. The value to Alameda is estimated at over $400,000 for local use.

 

Chief Rodriguez stated, "The Cal-OES Engine Program greatly benefits our community, in that it provides a free resource from the State we can use, while also contributing to statewide mutual aid requests when our neighbors need it most. This is equal to receiving a free fire engine for Alameda, and comes with incredible training and response equipment benefitting our firefighters. The City of Alameda is safer today with Engine 296 as part of our dedicated emergency response fleet."

 

Once the training of all Alameda Fire Department personnel was complete, Engine 296 was entered into the Cal-OES Region II availability list on December 5, 2017 at 10:00 AM, and was deployed to the Creek Fire in Southern California to assist with structure protection and search for casualties in destroyed neighborhoods. The Creek Fire is 10% contained across 12,500 acres and includes 10 destroyed structures, 10 damaged structures, and 1,686 personnel committed to this fire.

 

Alameda Engine 502 was deployed to the Thomas Fire, which is 5% contained across 96,000 acres, with 91 total destroyed structures and many more damaged. There has been 1 fatality so far, and numerous firefighters injured. A total of 2,509 personnel are committed to this fire.

 

Alameda crews are doing well. The weather predictions place high winds through the weekend, lessening by Monday. Our crews will be committed through this timeframe.