The photos below are reduced-size or cropped thumbnails. Click any photo to see the full-sized image.
Bay Area Wildand Mutual Response Drill, 30 June 1998
This two day event involved over 50 vehicles and 200 firefighters from over 20 Bay Area fire departments, from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. Taking place in the hills to the southeast of San Jose, the intent of this drill is to allow departments to practice inter-departmental coordination while fighting large wildfires.
Firefighters learned how to coordinate in strike teams, advance hoselines in relays, suppress fires, and use emergency shelters.
Other photos from this event can be found illustrating other pages of this website here and here.
Two alarm fire, Monta Vista's area.
Two alarm fire, Monta Vista's area. First alarm response: Engine 7, Battalion 7, Engine 1, Truck 1, Engine 16 and HazMat 2. Second alarm response: Battalion 3, Truck 14, Rescue 3 and Engine 2. 25 Dec 1997
Drill
One of the less glamourous aspects of the job: FF/E/P (now Captain) Jeff Schwerdtfeger and another firefighter taking up the 5" hose after a practice evolution at the drill tower, and loading it all back onto Reserve Engine 102. Still to go is the red 2-1/2" hose as well. The pyramidal structure to the left of the firefighters is a "rooftop" with replacable plywood panels, used to train firefighters on how to ventilate a roof by cutting and chopping holes into it. By training close to the ground, the hazard of falling off of a real roof is reduced. Sep 1999.
Live-burn training. Date unknown.
Two photos of Captain Dino Tracy catching a faceful of flame as he opens the door of a garage on fire. Date and incident unknown.
Mutual Aid, Oakland Hills Fire, 1991
County Fire battalion 2 and Engine 6 staging at the 1991 Oakland Hills fire.
Firefighter Tim Jew advancing a line. Date and incident unknown.
Training Burn, c.1991-2
With onlookers watching, Captain Joe Parker radios in while unidentified firefighters don their SCBAs. Moments later, in the second photo of the sequence, Captain Parker confers with San Jose battalion Chief Manny Alarcon. Alarcon later went on to become the Chief of the San Jose Fire Department, resigning in 2003. These photos were taken circa 1991-2; the helmets are the current style but the air packs are an older type. The engine was a reserve rig at the time.
This was a multi-department controlled burn (training exercise), at the Hamilton Elementary School on Hamilton Av in Campbell. The school was burned, allowing the firefighters to get some realistic training in firefighting and interagency coordination, prior to demolition for what is now Home Depot.
Oakridge Fire, in Dunne Hill's area, Date unknown.
The top photo was taken by Engine 12, showing South County's Engine 1 responding to the fire.
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