California Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 3 Nathan Champion, a UH-72 Lakota pilot with 3rd Battalion, 140th Aviation Regiment out of Stockton, Calif., points out the different emergency exit features on the aircraft to firefighters from Santa Rosa at the Rocky Fire Helibase near Clear Lake, Calif., Aug. 1. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Nadine White/ released)
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. - For more than 20 years, Scott Watson, a retired battalion chief with CAL FIRE, has worked with the California National Guard during the wildfire season. He has seen the collaboration evolve over the years into the well-oiled machine it is today.
“The program has gotten more sophisticated and we’ve become much more dynamic,” he said. “We now have the ability to expand the operation as large as we need to.”
The firefighting mission in California is much larger than it’s ever been, especially in recent years.
“We have a lot more frequency of deployments every year than we’ve ever had in history,” he said. “It is no longer a periodical event; it’s an annual expectation. It’s not once or twice a year either, but many times throughout the season.”
For the past two years, CAL FIRE has augmented their crews with retired firefighters. Walker said the program is similar to the National Guard’s State Military Reserve. The retirees participate in every facet of the mission: From training, to fighting the fires, to running the helibase and operations.
The retirees bring a wealth of knowledge and years of experience to the fight.
Additionally, the California National Guard provides assets that CAL FIRE would not otherwise have access to, such as night vision goggles, medical evacuation helicopters, personal flotation devices, and Type-1 helicopters which are capable of carrying heavier loads and larger “Bambi buckets” used to drop water on fires.
“We’ve been training together for such a long time and it has evolved to a point where it’s fluid and its part of the routine now,” he said. “We’ve been loaning equipment back and forth for years because the Guard already has the equipment and training, so it saves the state thousands and thousands of tax dollars.”
Watson said these assets further expand CAL FIRE’s capabilities and allows for much higher levels of performance and proficiency.
“California is the only state that works this way,” he said. “Other states wish they worked this way and they come out here to see how we operate.”
