Valley fire crews pushed to the extreme under state ‘lockdown’

As fires continue to break out across California, valley firefighters aren’t able to catch a much-needed break.

“We have some folks that have been on duty for 10, 14 even 21 days straight. Those folk have not gone home,” said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Oakley.

Thousands of fire crews have been pulled from their home stations to help battle flames raging to the north. Among those crews is a four-member strike team from Cathedral City Fire, currently working the Fork Complex blaze between Eureka and Redding.

“They’ve been gone now for 19 days straight,” said Cathedral City Fire Chief Paul Wilson. “We’re having voluntary and mandatory overtime while our firefighters are deployed.”

All over the valley firefighters are stepping up to help fill in the gaps.

Oakley just came off an 18-day shift. He has four kids and four grandkids and says it’s hard to be away from his family for that long.

“It seems to be the fireman’s curse, as soon as we leave the house something goes wrong and we receive the call something happened and we’re not there to take care of our own family,” Oakley said.

With calls that come in 24 hours a day seven days a week, it’s a priority to make sure crews get enough rest while on duty.

“911 doesn’t stop so these folks are running calls day and night day after day. We want to do a good job but if they’re exhausted or overtaxed we monitor them and have to make sure they’re safe and successful,” Oakley said.

“They have periods of non-emergency activity where they can rehab and get ready for the next call,” Wilson said.

Despite the draining workload, you won’t see these guys complaining. They expected a rough fire season because of the drought and say it’s a privilege to help their communities and fellow firefighters when they’re most in need.

“If you see a fireman say hi and thank you. They’ve been away from their families for days and days and a thank you, appreciation, we really like that,” Oakley said.