{"id":8712,"date":"2023-05-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=8712"},"modified":"2023-05-04T06:49:37","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T06:49:37","slug":"cal-guard-cal-fire-team-up-for-wildland-firefighting-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=8712","title":{"rendered":"Cal Guard, CAL FIRE Team up for Wildland Firefighting Training"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jacob Sorensen, crew chief, Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 211th General Support Aviation Battalion, Utah National Guard, on an HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter during annual wildland firefighting training in Sacramento, Calif., April 22, 2023. California, Utah, Nevada and Wisconsin National Guard members participated in the training with CAL FIRE.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California National Guard members participated in annual wildland firefighting training alongside the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection near Ione April 23.<\/p>\n

The training, composed of collaborative aerial wildland firefighting tactics and procedures, is part of a longstanding partnership between the California Military Department and CAL FIRE to jointly, safely and effectively combat fires.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really rely on the Cal Guard to step up and fill in the gaps in a surge capacity for fighting fires in California,\u201d said CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Tim Shiffer, training event cadre lead.<\/p>\n

Shiffer said during fire season, CAL FIRE calls on its trusted interagency partner, the Cal Guard, when CAL FIRE\u2019s helicopters and other aerial firefighting equipment are exhausted.<\/p>\n

During the training, Cal Guard and CAL FIRE crews practiced hoisting buckets to fill and dump water on designated drop sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe training, once complete, allows the Cal National Guard to take firefighters, or military helicopter managers, on their aircrafts as crew members and integrate our military aircrafts into firefighting operations,\u201d explained U.S. Army Lt. Col. Daniel Anderson, the state aviation deputy officer.<\/p>\n

Across the state, CAL FIRE uses the Cal Guard\u2019s CH-47 Chinook, UH-60 Black Hawk and HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters to help drop water over complex fires and employ air rescue medical evacuation capabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started in 1987, and we\u2019ve been evolving this training ever since,\u201d Shiffer said. \u201cIt works really well as we both understand our departments\u2019 differences and similarities and are able to coordinate our two styles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The training also qualifies various other positions, such as liaisons and other crucial military personnel, to operate within the fire system and support their civilian emergency service counterparts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout this training, we wouldn\u2019t know what the stakes, capabilities, or readiness are, or have those networks and relationships established,\u201d said Anderson, who serves in a dual capacity as a CAL FIRE pilot.<\/p>\n

This year, National Guard service members from Utah, Wisconsin and Nevada also participated in the exercise to strengthen their interoperability ahead of California\u2019s fire season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always have the need for resources, so we took that relationship that we have with the other states and invited them to do the training ahead of time to get the qualifications,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n

In recent years, the respective states helped fight California\u2019s complex fires.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all do it for the sake of service and making sure that we as agencies and individuals are here, able and ready to support the needs of the citizens of California,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n

For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jacob Sorensen, crew chief, Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 211th General Support Aviation Battalion, Utah National Guard, on an HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter during annual wildland firefighting training in Sacramento, Calif., April 22, 2023. California, Utah, Nevada and Wisconsin National Guard members participated in the training with CAL FIRE. (Photo Credit: Pfc. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8714,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8712"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8715,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8712\/revisions\/8715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}