Three firefighters from the Douglas Fire Department have returned home after being deployed to assist with the Cedar Fire in Kern County, California.
On August 17 the Douglas Fire Department received a request from the Tucson Dispatch Center for a crew to assist with a large wildland fire.
Douglas Fire sent three personnel, its wildland engine and a support vehicle.
Firefighter and Engineer Chris Escarcega, Wildland Engine Boss and Firefighter Michael Starr, and Firefighter Andres Chavez spent 17 days working in California.
While deployed, the three were living out of the trucks and working 12 hour shifts.
As the Douglas Fire crew arrived, they learned they were going to be working with 3 other crews, one from Corona de Tucson, Ponderosa Fire near Flagstaff and a federal fire crew from Oregon.
Douglas Fire's group was not assigned to the Cedar Fire directly, but was in charge of fighting additional fires that broke out in Kernville and the surrounding area.
One resident affected by the Havilah Fire publicly commended the Douglas Fire and Corona de Tucson crews from saving his home.
“We believe that if it was not for the efforts of the good and brave men of the Douglas Fire Department and other agencies, our home and business would have been lost to the fire,” wrote home owner Mark Muntz in a Facebook review. “Thank You.”
