CAL FIRE Director Ken Pimlott visiting the Southern Region

From left to right:

Janet Barentson, Matthew Kirkhart, Shelly Redden, Ken Pimlott, Dean Kowalski, Travis Wylie, Tony Favro

Dog rescued from concrete slurry

On Sunday, April 15, at 4:45 p.m., Highland Fire Department units Medic Engine 541 and Engine 3577 responded to a reported animal rescue at Robertson’s Ready Mix in Highland, California.

Fire department units worked with a representative from Robertson’s, who spotted the struggling animal. Firefighters arrived to find a golden retriever approximately 150 feet into the middle of the clay slurry settling pond (byproduct of concrete process) which is usually very firm but due to recent weather had turned to a very thick glue.

Read the Story here.

Working Together Saves Lives!

Letter of Appreciation for a Multi-Agency Incident

San Bernardino City Fire, San Bernardino County Fire, California Highway Patrol, CAL FIRE and anyothers that assisted on this incident...JOB WELL DONE!

Firefighters, Spark of Love, KFRG Radio and Angel Cars collect toys for Christmas

CAL FIRE, the ABC7 Firefighters Spark of Love campaign, the Angel Cars from Fueled by the Fallen and KFRG Radio combined their efforts to collect toys for less advantaged children in the cities of Highland and Yucaipa. The events were held on Saturday, December 17th.

The day began at 9:00 to 11:00 A.M. on the grounds of Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland, California. The donated toys were given to the Highland Police Department (San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department) who already had a toy program in place. It was an honor to collect toys for their program. CAL FIRE and the ABC7 Firefighters Spark of Love program are deeply appreciative of Immanuel Baptist Church's support of the community and the Police and Fire Departments.

In the afternoon, the focus switched to the City of Yucaipa where the Firefighters in Yucaipa joined with the ABC7 Firefighters Spark of Love program and the Angel Cars to collect toys for the less advantaged children in that community. AJ Bariles Chicago Pizza stepped up to provide the event location. Located on Yucaipa boulevard, there were visitors throughout the event which ran from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M.

Everyone who saw the Angel Cars in Highland and Yucaipa said that they were a magnificent disply and remembrance of the victims who were killed on the first day of the War on Terror, September 11, 2001. When you see these beautiful cars lined up in a row, it create a very solemn wall of remembrance and sacrifice.

You can see more photos from the two events at our Flickr site.

Spark of Love Events in Highland and Yucaipa

Firefighters in the cities of Highland and Yucaipa are joining together with the ABC7 Firefighters Spark of Love Christmas Toy campaign, KFRG FM radio and the Angel cars from Fueled by the Fallen to collect toys for less advantaged children. This is the 19th year of the Spark of Love Christmas toy campaign which collects toys for the less advantaged children of southern California. With Spark of Love, the toys collected remain in the community where they were donated.

The five “Angel” cars were created by Fueled by the Fallen which was founded by Kevyn Major Howard, known as “Rafterman” from Stanley Kubrick’s blockbuster film Full Metal Jacket. In 2007 Kevyn said “I was watching the nightly news as they announced that 12 died this day and 7 that day”, Kevyn said. “I woke up one morning and challenged myself to name just one person who has died for my freedom”, he continued. “I couldn’t.” So Kevyn decided to do something about it. He started Fueled By The Fallen, a 501(c)3 non-profit. To honor the fallen victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Fueled by the Fallen created the “Angel” cars. At first glance, the five Chevy Camaros lined along a street look like a muscle car show, but a closer look shows the cars are strong support for the families of 9/11 victims. "Inscribed onto these cars are those that fell on that particular day," Kevyn Major Howard, founder of the "Fueled by the Fallen” organization, said. Howard and his organization placed the names of each victim of 9/11 on the five cars to remember those that died and the sacrifices their families have made since the attack ten years ago.

Both events will be held this Saturday, December 17, 2011. The first event is located in the City of Highland at Immanuel Baptist Church, 28355 East Baseline. KFRG FM radio a Spark of Love supporter from the very beginning will be doing a live remote during the event which runs from 9:00 to 11:00 A.M. Immanuel Baptist Church is easy to find and very accessible from either the 5th street off ramp or the Baseline off ramp of the 210 Freeway. Get off on either and go east to Webster. From 5th street turn north and from Baseline turn south.

The Yucaipa City Spark of Love event will be held at AJ Barile’s Chicago Pizza from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M. Located at 32693 Yucaipa Avenue, the Chicago Pizza Factory is right across the street from the Crafton Hills Fire Station and is very easy to find.

While toys of all kinds are truly appreciated, please think about the older children and young teens as well and Please remember to be fire safe during the holidays.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

The men and women of the CAL FIRE San Bernardino Unit wishes everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday. As we move towards Christmas, we are always reminded of those, particularly children who might not have a Christmas. In this, CAL FIRE and the cities of Highland and Yucaipa are once again participating in the ABC7 Firefighter Spark of Love toy campaign. This is the 19th year of the program that collects toys for disadvantaged children throughout southern California. The toys collected stay in the communities where they are donated.

also helping the cause, the CAL FIRE San Bernardino Unit is partnering with "Fueled by the Fallen" to not only remember tnhose who gave their lives on September 11, 2001, but to showcase their beautiful vehicles.

Look for dates and times when CAL FIRE and Fueled by the Fallen will be available for you to see and drop of a toy for a disadvantaged child in your community.

">

CAL FIRE Unit Chief Presents JAC Certificates

CAL FIRE San Bernardino Unit Chief Doug McKain presented two Joint Apprenticeship Committee (JAC) certificates Wednesday, March 16, 2011. The presentations were made to Fire Apparatus Engineer/Paramedic Grant Malinowski and Firefighter/Paramedic Ryan Acevedo. The afternoon ceremony was conducted at Highland Fire Station #3.

Pictured below are FAE/Paramedic Grant Malinowski and FF/Paramedic Ryan Acevedo with Chief McKain

The apprenticeship training program consists of academy training followed by specific instruction that relates to and supplements what was taught in the academy. The program provides true-life experiences through on the job training. CAL FIRE has three year apprenticeship programs for the classifications of Fire Fighter II and Fire Apparatus Engineer.

CIvics Day

Yesterday, November 16th was "Civics Day" in the City of Highland, California. This annual event allows high school students to shadow people in areas of civil service that they aspire to. CAL FIRE hosted two high school seniors from Orangewood High School in the City of Redlands.

Ricardo Gomez and Chad Kurr both want to go into the fire service. For their visit, they were taken to a Highland fire station where they received a tour and learned about the daily routine that firefighters go through. Later in the morning, the two teens and their fire engines met up in a parking lot to participate in a training hose lay.

Ricardo Gomez gets the feel of working the nozzle. Ricardo says that when he was young, he went to a local fire station on a field trip. Once there, he says that he feel in love with the big red truck and decided that he wanted to become a firefighter. After high school he plans to become a volunteer firefighters while he attends the fire academy.

Senior Chad Kurr also had his opportunity to work the nozzle as the teens were shown how to attack a structure fire. Chad also wants to become a firefighter and plans to attend a fire academy and apply to become a season firefighters for the United States Forest Service.

Teens Arrested for Arson

CAL FIRE/Highland City firefighters responded yesterday, October 14, 2010 to a structure fire at 6987 Elmwood Drive in Highland, California. While firefighters quickly extinguished the small blaze, witnesses informed Highland City Sheriff’s Deputies that two teenagers had been seen entering and leaving the vacant house around the time of the fire. Deputies quickly searched the surrounding area, located and detained the two teens reported by the witnesses.

CAL FIRE/San Bernardino Unit Fire Investigators Battalion Chief Bart Chambers and Fire Captain Specialist Jack Markle responded and took custody of the teens. During their investigation, Chambers and Markle determined there was enough evidence to arrest the two teens . It was also determined that the two teens had started a small vegetation fire inside the city limits of San Bernardino, California. The fires reportedly happened within an hour of each other. The two teens, brother and sister ages 13 and 15 had been reported as runaways on Wednesday, October 13th.

The two were charged with two counts of 451(c) of the California Penal Code; willfully and maliciously setting a fire which is a felony crime. The teens were cited and released to their parents. No injuries were reported and damage to the structure and contents was less than $5,000 dollars.

Fire in Highland Meat Plant

CAL FIRE firefighters from Highland and Yucaipa were involved in fighting an early morning blaze at a sausage manufacturing plant in the City of Highland. The fire was reported at 6:56 AM at Far West Meats located at 7759 Victoria Avenue. Firefighters arrived at 7:03 AM and determined that there was a fire in the ceiling/roof area of the center of the building. A request for a second alram response was made which brought in assisting engines from CAL FIRE, San Manuel Reservation, Redlands, San Bernardino City and San Bernardino County. A third alarm request brought in additional engines and trucks. The cities of Rialto and Colton also sent engines to the fire. The third alarm was requested to bring fresh firefighters into the effort.

The plant's first shift had just begun their work day at 6:00 Am when smoke was detected around 6:30 AM. All of the more than 30 employees were safely evacuated from the building. Initial attempts by company personnel to extinguish the fire proved unsuccessful. The fire investigation was a joint effort by CAL FIRE and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department ArsonBomb Unit. The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental and caused by elecrtical equipment. Loss to the fire was estimated at $1,000,000 with an estimated save of $3,000,000 of property and contents.

Twelve engines, four trucks, two breathing supports, and 10 Overhead personnel fought the fire, knocking down the flames at 9:00 AM. The fire is expected to be fully controlled by 6:00 PM tonight. No injuries were reported to civilians or firefighters.

The ability of the different fire departments, their firefighters, and chief officers to come together in fighting this fire really showed how efficiently different fire departments can operate in a common effort. The Incident Commander was from CAL FIRE, but the Operations Chief on the fire was from the City of Redlands, the Safety Officer was from the City of San Bernardino, and several of the operational division chiefs were from San Manuel, City of San Bernardino and CAL FIRE. The ability to work together quickly and efficiently played a major role in stopping the fire as soon as they did.