Nevada County firefighters provide statewide support, including saving unlikely animal duo
Local News | August 2, 2018
The Union Staff
This cat and chicken were found huddled together under the porch of this Redding home after the Carr Fire burned through the neighborhood. The unlikely duo had survived one of the most destructive fires in California history and had no problem sharing a kennel when rescued by members of the Grass Valley fire department OES Engine 334 dispatched as a part of OES Strike Team 4806A.
Courtesy Grass Valley Fire Department | Courtesy Grass Valley Fire Depar
Nevada County Consolidated firefighters have been busy this fire season sending out 30 firefighters and five fire engines to fires that have sparked in San Diego, Redding and Mendocino, according to Nevada County Consolidated Fire District Director Dave Hanson.
"We have a strike team, we also have the OES engines out of Grass Valley that's responded and been on the road almost two months," Hanson said Thursday morning at an Economic Resources Council meeting.
"Our guys go out for 10 days — strike teams — and we switch them out, they're working 24 (hours) on, 24 (hours) off. This is unprecedented for us."
According to Hanson, resources are being brought into the state from as far as Maine and Florida. While local fire stations are still being manned despite providing out of area support, Hanson said it wouldn't hurt to get more help.
"All of our stations here in the county are manned. But if it gets any worse, we don't know where we're going to go for more resources," he said. "Of course we have the military involved so just be really aware, this is something we've never seen before."
As of Thursday afternoon, the Carr Fire near Redding reached more than 125,000 acres and was 35 percent contained, according to the Cal Fire website. The Ranch Fire in the Mendocino Complex was nearing 75,000 acres on Thursday afternoon with 33 percent containment while the River Fire, just south of the Ranch Fire, had reached 35,000 acres and was 50 percent contained.
Meanwhile, those Grass Valley Firefighters assigned to the Carr Fire in Shasta, according to a Grass Valley Fire Department press release, spent 24 hours providing structure defense against the fire, which has devastated the Redding area.
During the second day of deployment to the line, firefighters helped to mop up and patrol around structures impacted by the fire.
Grass Valley crews came upon the doorway to a home where a pair of animals, a cat and chicken, were impacted by the fire. The pair each had burns that would require treatment.
Grass Valley firefighters provided the animals with fresh water. After some reassurance, firefighters managed to coax the cat and chicken into a carrier where they would be together and safe as they awaited pickup by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Both the cat and chicken are expected to make full recoveries from their injuries.