San Diego County Firefighters Recognize San Marcos Community Cooperation During Wildfires.
The event was attended by San Marcos Fire, Cal Fire, Elfin Forest Fire, San Diego County Sheriff, Daisy Troop 1326, San Marcos City officials and The City Council. The event was held at San Elijo Hills Fire station on Monday May 19th. Chief Nick Schuler of Cal Fire and Brett Van Way of San Marcos Fire thanked the community for evacuating quickly, preparing property with defensible space and the help from Velocitos Water, The Marines, The San Diego County Sheriff.
A couple things we learned from attending. 100% containment of the Cocos fire should come this week. Containment means a line around the entire fire with hand crews and bulldozers. Cal Fire will turn over incident command after full containment to San Marcos City Fire. In the days after the Cocos fire; Cal Fire used aircraft equipped with infrared to look for hot spots and provide maps for the crews on the ground to mop up. The DC-10 is not owned by Cal Fire and was a rented piece of equipment. They will further explore the opportunities to use the DC-10 more often in the future.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The winds were not as strong as the 2007 Coronado Hills Fire in San Marcos. Community education and workshops will take place in the future weeks/months to educate the community to be better prepared.
We asked Chief Brett Van Wey of San Marcos Fire Department how San Elijo Hills can show their appreciation. He was humble and asked that we support the City of San Marcos event currently being planned. The City will make a formal announcement on this event soon. They are working on the location and date. The fire fighters appreciate the simple thanks! Many expressed that they do the job because it’s a calling for them. This is what they are born to do. They asked that we listen in times of crisis, be prepared for such emergencies and they love defensible space.
If you would like to thank Cal Fire for their incredible help; we recommend sending thank you letters, that can be sent to Sacramento, that show how effective a job they did in an urban and brush setting. Send letters to Chief Nick Schuler of Cal Fire San Diego Unit 8709 Circle R Drive, Escondido, CA 92026
The San Elijo Hills Foundation, The San Elijo Hills Association, SEH groups and clubs are also working collaboratively on ways to honer the fire departments, 1st responders, and help victims.
