Stopping California's Wildfires | Dozer Training | Cal Fire
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- Опубликовано: 7 июл 2024
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For the second year in a row, we stopped by the Cal Fire Fire Dozer Training in Southern California. Cal Fire partners with the Marine Corp's base at Camp Pendleton where the training is held. Cal Fire and surrounding agencies meet on the base each year to train fire dozer operators in real-world scenarios by pushing and maintaining fire breaks on the massive base that is Camp Pendleton.
Fire breaks are lines that are cut into the earth where the vegetation is cleared. They work by starving fires of fuel - grasses, weeds, trees, brush, etc. In theory, once the fire reaches the fire break it will stop spreading, helping firefighters to contain wildfires. #wildfire #californiawildfires #calfire
Thanks to Mike (@35.mike on IG) for inviting us out!
35mikefirephoto.com
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-VIDEO CHAPTERS-
0:00 - Intro
0:36 - Aaron Explains Cal Fire Dozer Training
2:22 - More Details On Fire Dozer Training
2:57 - Cal Fire Training
4:25 - More Cal Fire Training
6:05 - Dozer Action
6:50 - Aaron Shows the Fire Break
7:37 - More Dozer Action
7:56 - Outro 
Авто/Мото
It is pretty awesome how the dozers and the ground crew and the aircraft work side by side to slow or stop the fire. The only time it doesn't work is when the winds are howling and there is no stopping the fire! Keep up the good work you all!
it's really amazing stuff!
This is awesome because I used to be stationed at Camp Pendleton and used to ride those fire breaks on my 4 wheeler🤘🏼
Semper Fi Gyrene
Heck yea
Great Video! Can't say how much we love when there is a well trained dozer operator on a fire, helps us Charlie strike teams from having to cut hand line as much... we just punch in hose lays along dozer lines... and sometimes get them to haul hose for us too when we are putting in a 5000-10000'+ hose line
I register my equipment every year as a vendor for Cal fire 🔥 some of the best experiences you will ever have
Hey Noel, once you've registered your equipment how does the dispatch process work?
@@TheBigdaddy0925 depending on what equipment you have and your location, when they need equipment they just start calling down a list. Its based of of closest resource to the incident location.
@@TheBigdaddy0925 Pretty much what Thomas said. It is usually done by region for the most part and based on a list and they just go down the list. If a region is already stripped of iron, they will reach out to other areas until they fill the needs of the request from the incident. I'm on the local government side, that works very similar and is all based on incident needs. But there are many many categories that range from porta-potties to heavy equipment used for lines, but also road rehab/ construction and also after containment rehab.
@@danielcarney6193 push food , showerss, medical. Fire bosses sets up a portable city.
@@churlburt8485 I'm very familiar with base camp and spike camps, been fighting wildland fires for more than a decade and very much appreciate the contract equipment that supports us, most incidents I am on are fed by the inmate crews though. We don't go to to many Fed fires.
Camp fire survivor here and I just wanna say thanks for all the hard work and training you do. You guys are heros.
Awesome Video, need to see more of these Dozers. These Guys and the machines don’t get the credit they deserve. Keep it up Aaron! 👍👍👍
I was a dozer op for 26 years on wild fire back up / contractor help. I was on many fires. Good training class
Thanks for the wonderful service that you're doing. 🙏
Those SOB’s are nuts. It’s a very dangerous job. Usually they are alone as they climb hillsides steeper than you can walk.
Sac Metro’s Dozer looks so nice! The color matched rails are beautiful!!
Thank you for coming out again! This came out great!
Thanks for having us!
Great information
Excellent video!
Register for the Dirt World Summit NOW! dirtworld.com/dirt-world-summit
What do you know about California wildfires and the "Cal Fire Task Force" outside of what you see on the news?
I’ve followed cal fire dozer guys for years and years, im a dozer/excavator operator in the union and I sure appreciate the video man hell of a job👍👍
i do emergency power refueling and have a ton of fire related experience! we would love to help cal fire out!!
I walk past my neighbors cal fire truck that sits in his driveway 24/7 usually and just wonder how much tax dollars cal fire wastes. It’s like that dozer blade shot, how much tax dollars was spent paying for that cal fire etching on the blade? I walk past my neighbors cal fire dodge pickup and it has all these pointless custom cal fire grill inserts and fancy over the top design schemes that serve no function other then looking cool. I won’t even get into the fact the guy literally never leaves his house but somehow has a cal fire truck for personal use at home. I think it’s financially beneficial for cal fire for California to have the fires it does. I’m sorry but I see a lot of tax payer waste that probably could be going more towards prevention then waiting for the problems to arise.
If they're wearing orange, they're prison slave-labor
Rhabdo on the Red Salmon complex…
It’s no joke, man I’d love a shot at runnin a dozer for them boys💪 that’s the big time for dozer operators
I wish I was out there helping out. Type 3 crew boss here. Not much but enough to hold a line 😎
Where's wranglerstar?
I’m a huge fan of what’s going on out here 😂🙌 same !
In Nevada we contract with a giant construction company that has all kinds of equipment like this. They are trained on these kinds of maneuvers and are incorporated into the response plans for fires because the state can’t afford to buy and maintain and train enough operators and equipment so instead they just kick some funds and training to this company and make use of their fleet and skill.
Electric guitars, dozens, and hard working men. Glad some of the world is still sane
Aaron cool video
Contra Costa fire dist. came to Lake County during the Valley Fire and the Rocky fire! I knew that name sounded familiar!
I wonder about clearing an area for the fire to go past. Or pushing up berms around the dozer if you have a few minutes before fire overtakes the dozer .
You’re severely underestimating the size of these fires.
So cool! Our owner was a fire fighter.
Revving the engine to drive heat away from the cab is such a smart idea
Right up till a hydraulic hose burns through, then you’ve got hot oil under there with you, (You’re trained to get under the cat if trapped). I was never too sure it was a good idea
Really? You think so? Have you every tried "Blowing" out a fire, the increased oxygen makes the fire hotter. Now, if you said blowing out smoke, make.... but not heat or fire.
@@rocketssss6 I dooooooo because they the ducking expert with training.
@@timandres6410 i think they might have steel braided lines instead of rubber like they do for hot work equipment
LA county has dozens. They are all 2 seaters. Driver and swamper sit side by side.
Just curious but during my career in NC we used fire plows when possible. Sometimes terrain did not allow for that but I never see them in the west. Seems like they could be used in some of these areas and would be faster than a bladed line.
More wind in the west and roots go shallower. They need a wide firebreak because a plow trail will be easily jumped by embers in even low wind conditions.
What is a "rock alarm"? They mentioned turning on the Rock alarm when they were going through other safety features, e.g. strobe, A.C. etc.
it's really just a loud alarm that lets people know where you are since visibility is often low in fires
For decades MCBCP had miles and miles of firebreaks. Not sure if that has been continued
We have approximately 165 miles of actively cleared Fire breaks each year.
Cutting my grass with this in mind
Did you know that prison inmates are also a tremendous resource for the cal fire department for wildfires? Sadly they aren't able to get a job with the fire department once they get released due to their criminal records, but it's still a neat program.
Yea Cant be a felon and be a state/federal employee. They can still work on a contract hand crew and make almost the same amount of money
Lol guy asked good question and instructor says I don’t know. We’ll who tf does know.
I wouldn't mind doing that part time.
Some fire breaks are so wide, they refer to them as International Airports! 20 Dozer blades wide.
How does one get into this academy? I’m currently in training for equipment operator with my fire agency. And they want me to find some sort of heavy equipment training to help me.
Where are you located out of?
I get why they asked about people under the dozer. And in a emergency situation for them like being overtaken by fire someone under the dozer has a higher chance of surviving under the dozer in their shelter than out in the open in their shelter does. The tracks shield them from radiant heat along with the mound of dirt and the blade and because the rear of the dozer will be lowered some it to will help protect them. Is it unsafe to be under the dozer like that? Yes but if the dozer operator is aware someone is under it its unlikely something would happen but I think I would have to take the risk if it improved my odds of surviving.
Correct me if I’m wrong, A ripper shank on the rear would be very handy in a fire emergency out in the field. You can easily hide a line of guys in seconds under or away from the dozer. Does anyone know why they wouldn’t outfit a few with shanks? I get that the PTO is needed for the winch.
How would shanks do anything for protecting them?
@@FishFind3000 Think he's talking about using the ripper shank to dig a hasty trench for guys on the ground to hide in. Not sure though.
@@Hawkeye308
Yeahhhhhhh that’d take wayyyy too long to get trench deep enough.
@@outrun7455 probably true. I was just trying to explain what he meant.
The winch is more useful to help with pulling Fire Engines and other Dozer out of areas during a fire. Ripper shanks would take too much time to try and dig that deep. The dozers most of the time are way ahead of and away from the actual Fire Fighters on the ground.
Where do i apply it so hard to get into this
It’s all about hours. At least for CALFIRE. We have a dozer stationed at our HQ and I talked to one of the dozer op in trying to become one. He told me if I was serious, I would have to quit the department and work for a construction company to get hours.
There is a lot more to operating a fire cat than meets the eye
Everything you watched them do
Imagine them doing that with fire around them with 50ft flame lengths on uneven ground or on a hillside at night
The hours they work the time they spend away from their families and the dangers they face
The past few years has seen a few LODD's
(line of duty death)
Involving fire cat operator's
Here in California
The question of what about your swamper
In Los Angeles County
Their dozers the cab has two seats
If you look at a LA. County Fire cat you'll notice the cab is larger than most fire cats
You don’t need to press enter every sentence
@@-i6313 and your point is
It's how I write I don't push enter what does it even matter anyway how I write
@@leeshaver7825 little pressed?
@@leeshaver7825 maybe don’t make your stupidity so obvious
@@-i6313 miffed
They jump pretty easy lol look up the difference in jump slop an roll over on fire brakes
@7:09 looks like the reaper
Or recon ridge
We are on the south side. Those aren’t part of the ones that get completed in this class.
Do they have to run emissions compliant machines?
Yes they do
@@michaelfila2857 oh the irony. I’d be pretty upset having my dozer derate because if emissions while a while fire is at my blade. Oh the irony. You’re machine must burn clean in this wild fire.
Hats off to the guys and girls doing this work. I’m sure it makes a real difference fighting fires.
oh yeah take a look at how new those machines are and if they werent theyd have to be repowered im sure they all have some sort of dpf system
@@lucasmurph I believe they have the ability to override the regen since it can be a life safety issue.
It's Cali. Everything has to meet emissions. On and off road. No ifs and or buts.
What a Cool Job..👍🪓🌲
What happened to all of your podcasts?
They're over on the Dirt Talk channel now! ruclips.net/channel/UCYitEwdGbJm7Z_dWxh4LzXQvideos
I have a D11 im up for the fire line
You don’t have a D11
@@dlogan3004 hey bud Hatch is a pretty big last name. I wouldn't doubt it lmao
Every time man tries to tame the earth, we f it up.
Power Bulldozer
Where fire fighters go to learn to be hero worshipped!
I hope these agencies get a discount on their dozers.
I’m sure the government would rather pay a little money for heavy equipment rather than pay for destroyed land and houses
@@queasyislander0274 well I don't think they'd paid for the houses and people's private property. But even as crooked the government is, for things like this they should get a discount.
Government entities do not pay sales tax. So that’s a good chunk of cash on a dozer that size. I wouldn’t be surprised if cat donates so many each year for the cause.
They do not, they also order all of the bells and whistles.
purchases will be put out to state bid.
Probably super obvious; do the operators wear helmets & jumpsuits?
🤣 you folks have been standing down and 1000's of videos from last few years have tons of people seeing this reality.
Why can't they armor these dozens? I know it would be heavier, and im sure there's a reason, but that would seem like their best bet. Put a bigger motor in it it need be, ya know?
Don't get me wrong but i have heard that Dirt roads on hills like where your talking can also be used as a fire break Because Fire Does not burn on Dirt roads. So all it takes is grass and trees as fuel to as well as wind to get the fire going and running. But also there will be times that the wind will push the fire back and burn in the black and slow it down, That a good thing at many fires because it gives crew a better hand to quickly contain it. Trust me i had family/Friends that were wildland fire fighters and that all i heard them talking. Stay ahead of the fire and know where the wind going and pushing the fire.
Cal fire needs to release the $$$ they hold for fire prevention!! Millions never spent on prevention just new equipment and OT.
South OC has over 300k ace needing to be grazed to Prevent fires.
There is much more to it than that. There are many prevention projects that thin and burn, but they is a lot of red tape that goes along with those projects that have them stalled out or stopped. It's not CalFire that is the issue, it is the special interest groups like the sierra club and other eco extremist groups that halt these projects and prevent projects that would actually lead to a healthier forest from happening
@@danielcarney6193
Do you currently try to graze any land in orange county? I/we do and we hit the same hurdles every time the mayor’s and Cal fire, whoever controls Cal fire weather it be the special interest or the sierra club the $$ still is held with Cal fire.
I’m tired of hearing the excuse of Sierra club and special interest Cal fire ultimately is the one that votes on it along with the city mayors.
If you have any additional insight or suggestions I am all ears,
@@chrislarocque5793 yeah, my insight is get your facts and then move forward... Calfire has been fighting for years to do more prevention projects in various areas, they have been successful in some and not in others... Take a look at the Tahoe area, where they do a lot of prescribed burns, because the people push back. There are many other areas where they don't get push back from groups like the sierra club and other environmental extremist groups...
It isn't Calfire, they fight the same fight you are. Also most of the land that is up for grazing is BLM or FS land and they put a end to gazing leases and permits a long time ago in many placed throughout CA...
I have worked very closely with CalFire for more than a decade on fires and talked to many, and they all share the same sentiment that prevention is the goal. The state also wiped them out at the knees when they released many inmate firefighters that did these prevention projects during the offseason.
Apparently practice does not make perfect. I think recently like 30 mansions just burned down.
Well they built there home in a fire prone area so that’s there fault.
@@FishFind3000 Point exactly and California residents cash in on FEMA bailouts.
I don't see you or me out there trying to build fire perimeters with fire rushing at you with speeds around 10 mph. Besides fuck em, if they want to invest a stupid amount of money into an area of the country that is getting more and more inhospitable its their fault if it burns up in their face. Maybe talking shit about the only people stopping fires from burning down half a state isn't a bright idea when there is several reasons for why such as being understaffed.
You don't know anything about wildland fires, do you?
What really sucks. 3 years ago I was part of a team doing research on wildlife area right near my house. Myself and 22 others suggested to put old log roads back in and clean it up.
Local leaders. Tree huggers etc. said no
2 years ago fire. And it would of burned 1 Dam house if it would of been done.
Newsom is a joke to this state and cut funding. But hey I know 30 million EV cars with 10 times more power in the lines.
Sadly true
@@cameronshapley7454
It really is sad.
You can keep the trees and flowers and places for animals and still live in the area. Keeping log roads open etc protect people and animals.
I was in the big fire in ca 2017. 4500 plus houses gone.
One area firefighters no water. Why. Because city didn’t keep tank filled with water. 1 million gallons abs it was 95% empty.
Other areas they couldn’t even get to areas.
2019 fire reports showed a fire could of been headed off but no access due to overgrown crap.
Unreal
@@mikek3951 paradise?
@@cameronshapley7454
Sonoma ca. Oct 8th. 2017
Technically there was way more then 4500 burned. I think it ended at 8000
That night I looked at the hill and said hmm that’s odd. I drove up and people were coming at me 50-60-70 mph. With trailers and I was like huh. I crested the next hill and figured it out. Lol
I got back home and the fire had already went 15 miles.
I don’t even know how to explain that night or the days after.
All because of power lines at a private property not PGE though.
Has anyone ever though about the Chemtrails having to do something with droughts or rapid fire growth?
Chem trails are a terrible conspiracy. Drought is natural but exasperated by a changing climate. Fire growth in the last 20 years is due as much to drought as it is the bad management of the last 100 years. These forests and scrublands need to burn regularly and they haven’t been allowed to for years and years.
SHHHHH, that kind of talk is not allowed here. THEY are watching.
"chemtrails" are only one part in a more global issue, they are just plane exhaust AKA greenhouse gasses. Or maybe you are talking about the super secret stuff they shoot out to control the population by turning everything gay.
@@Teh_Duck the chemtrail I’m talking about is the ones that cover the sky and turn into hazy clouds,etc
@@sergiothegrower Yeah, man. Those hazy clouds everywhere that cool things down and make fires less intense.....uhhhh.........wait a minute!
>government prevents logging to remove dead trees
> Government promotes for profit firefighting
I was in the camp fire and if the fire can jump from canyon to canyon those breaks are minimal at best I do appreciate those guys but seems like we need to use tax money to hire crews to have half mile breaks around fire proud towns
It's far more complicated than that. With that logic, It would be more cost-effective to just not live in dense forestry rather than maintain massive no-mans land between towns and forestry; destroying ecosystems in the process. Even then, with large breaks, embers would still allow the fire to "jump". As far as I'm aware, the purpose of a firebreak is only to stop a fire from spreading easily. Then resources can be allocated to fighting spot fires caused by embers on the other side of the fire break. Making them wider doesn't eliminate the possibility of a fire jumping. Embers and firebrands can travel over a mile and spark spot fires well beyond even the most obscenely large firebreaks.
And don't think me being callous - I lived in fire country for years. I understand how wicked the santa-anas are.
I wonder if it should be like tornado country where everyone has a shelter built in
@@AW-yv9sq when I lived out there, we had house sprinklers (to keep fire brands from lighting the roof on fire) and did our best to maintain our property of dry brush - we would watch the fires burn by. But the weather was definitely a lot tamer then. A safe shelter would definitely be an excellent idea. Most fires burn through pretty quickly and a concrete shelter would definitely keep people safe until it burns over.
It's just that a lot of the built up areas have done jack all to facilitate firefighting, even helping fires burn longer. Houses are too close together, the materials we use are perfect tinder. For the older areas that have more space between houses, a lot of folks don't think about making a good fire break around their home and make their landscaping lush fire fuel, making fires worse.
There isn't a simple solution to preventing fires outside of doing (reasonable) maintenance efforts such as brush clearing, and controlled burns prior to fire season - but as our climate continues to metamorphise into what we're seeing now, the only reasonable consideration would be to build an emergency fire shelter just like a tornado shelter.
For what it's worth - most homes in the south (in tornado country) don't have tornado shelters or basements. We're a peculiar species aren't we?
@@EyebrowsMahoney lmao the Sierra Nevadas is a fire regenerative forest.. there is no justification for not doing forest maintenance around towns other than a bunch of bullshit bureaucracy and mislead green activists. The forests are going to burn regardless. The damage is manageable though.
They spend all this money fighting fires, maybe they should be spending it on prevention like fencing to allow livestock to graze the fuel away
If they spent the money on managing the forests properly, then the politicians couldn't steal it.
Just let it burn.
Haha, I agree.
Put the damn Starbucks coffee cup down at least
Now they just need to buy bigger cats and get rid of those toy cats
There are all sorts of reasons why they don't do that including moving them to an incident. Cal Fire knows what they are doing.
It’s a desert. Nobody but Californias give a shit. You take water from other states and live in a desert. Figure it out.
Put the coffee cup down
a 963 CAT loader w/ 4 in1 bucket would be more effective. dozers are too one dimensional.
If they worked better we’d be using them. You keyboard warriors with no experience are so fucking clueless but think you know better than the people actually in the trenches doing the work. 😂😂😂😂🤡
Ok huge fan of cal fire. Guardians of of cal forests. Suggest the commentator loose the coffee cup and promote a more professional extension. This is serious not Starbucks.
But I like Starbucks
You are mob, while using the inmates,
There is some false information in this video. Dozer breaks just like any other fuel break can and will have fires cross them. They are not a 100% effective means of stopping a wildfire. Their usefulness and effectiveness is determined by the fire behavior and fuel load.
Great way to take taxpayer dollars and still let the fires burn the state.
Is this the only whites program?
What?
It’s a qualification’s based program. You get what you earn by getting an education to get in this job.
I have been a volunteer fire fighter for 20+ years. I have seen the least amount of "Diversity" in all areas of my volunteer career. We accept applications every day and on the job training. You are more than welcome to break the trend that your "ancestors" have created. That is from a CNN study, too. Only 19% of 13% of the population volunteers. While 25% of 60% of the "other" volunteers. Put you money where you mouth is, show up, train, and let's break this trend. We can do this!