Vandenberg firefighters battle blazes

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rebecca Danét
  • 30th Space Wing Public Affairs
Thirty-eight firefighters here have battled blazes in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties since Oct. 27.

Eight firefighters are still in Los Angeles working to contain the Simi and Piru fires.

“It’s like a war zone down here,” said Greg Leptich, a fire engineer here who was on-scene at the Simi Valley fire. “I’ve been to a lot of fires but nothing like this.”

As of Oct. 30, the fires in Southern California were raging through 750,000 acres.

There were 20 fatalities including one firefighter. More than 2,600 structures were lost, and the firefighting costs were into the billions of dollars.

“By the time this is over, this will be the most extreme and most expensive fire in the history of the state of California,” said J. J. Gallagher, assistant fire chief here. Gallagher has more than 30 years experience fighting fires here and throughout the country.

Four Vandenberg firefighters and a fire engine are at the Simi Fire. Simi Valley is about 130 miles south of Vandenberg. Four other firefighters are nearby on the Piru Fire. Piru is just 27 miles north of Simi Valley.

The firefighters there include three fire-line medics and one geographic information systems specialist. Joey DeHoyos, the GIS specialist, is plotting and mapping the entire Southern California fire.

Twenty-eight firefighters responded to a local fire at Cat Canyon near Santa Ynez on Oct. 27. Sixteen specialized “Hot Shots” and a task force of 12 firefighters provided initial attack on the fire that broke.

Working with other county firefighters, crews were able to contain the blaze at 150 acres. (Courtesy of Air Force Space Command News Service)