It was an amazing sight: 
Over 100 firefighters from agencies all over the county of Mariposa were gathered at the Mariposa County High School Saturday October, 28 2006, to train.  Firefighters from Mariposa County Fire Department, Mariposa Public Utility District Fire Department, Grizzly Fire ROP Program, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, USDA Forest Service and National Park Service (Yosemite) all came together to hone their skills and enhance their ability to fight one common enemy—Fire. 

Again and again, the process of fighting a fire—in a house or on a hillside—has been compared to the process of fighting a war, and, indeed, it is a war!  Fighting a fire is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, and our enemy—fire—is always seeking out ways to destroy, injure, and….kill.  The way to defeat that foe is to train, drill, attend classes, and hone skills that someday will save property and lives.

This training day event was organized by the Training Advisory Committee (TAC) that consists of volunteer firefighters throughout Mariposa County. On Saturday, October 28, 2006, all the hard work and extensive preparations came together at Mariposa County High School for the first ever “Structure Fire Training Day” event.

Instructors from Mariposa County Fire Department, Mariposa Public Utility Department, Mariposa County Sheriff’s Department, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and California Highway Patrol taught classes in subjects such as Pumping Operations, Radio Operations, Chain Saw Safety, Traffic Control, and Identifying Clandestine Methamphetamine “Labs”

Classes to enhance the firefighter’s ability to attack a structure fire included Scene Size-Up, Report on Conditions, and Tactics & Strategies.

The all-important subject of being safe on this most dangerous job was the focus of a class on RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) this team stands-by, ready to go into the structure fire when “something goes wrong” and the firefighters themselves need to be rescued. 

Next Spring will bring about another multi-agency training day event.  It will be geared toward Wildland Firefighting; it will be the class that our firefighters can use to ready themselves for the upcoming fire season.

Karen Wilson

Lieutenant Mariposa County Fire Department