Everyone benefits when public agencies work together. That includes a rare opportunity this month for Orange County Fire Authority firefighters to practice line-clearing at Syphon Reservoir, where IRWD is kicking off a major improvement project.
Brush along the banks of the reservoir needed to be cleared for construction. Both agencies saw that as an ideal occasion for OCFA to put its heavy equipment and ground crews through true-to-life training that is seldom available here.
Maneuvering a massive, 78,000-pound Caterpillar D7 bulldozer is a challenge in any situation, but especially on slopes. Firefighters appreciate the opportunity to put their equipment and hand crews to the test: clearing wide swaths of brush along the steep embankments, felling trees, and responding to shifting scenarios that require nimble, real-time responses.
Line-clearing — sometimes called cutting a firebreak — is the firefighting technique of clearing a strip of land down to the soil, removing all grass, brush, trees and debris. Because fire needs fuel to burn, a firebreak can starve a wildfire and help crews contain it or put it out.
“Being in Orange County, we don’t often have the opportunity to utilize our heavy equipment at this scale – unless it’s on a real fire,” said OCFA Wildland Resource Planner Scott Hatch. “Opportunities are also limited when it comes to cutting trees.”
Similar training opportunities are also being considered for the future.
Standing next to the D7’s 15-foot-wide blade, OCFA firefighter/paramedic Jason Trevino said the mechanical behemoth has a lot of muscle, but it’s the smaller, nimbler D6 dozers he likes best. They can turn on a dime and cut paths on steep slopes, which makes them extremely effective in hard-to-reach spaces.
“In real life, nothing’s ever flat,” Trevino said. “Here in Orange County, we have some of the hardest terrain for fighting fires with a dozer.”
The training exercises are a win-win for both organizations, providing hillside terrain for drills while making quick work of brush removal that was already planned as part of the Syphon Reservoir Improvement Project.
“IRWD works closely with all public agencies to keep the lines of communication open for collaboration like this whenever possible,” said IRWD General Manager Paul Cook. “We do this to promote quick and appropriate response and coordination in times of need, and that ultimately benefits the communities we serve.”
