Published on December 21, 2017

After over 14 days on the Fire line in Los Angeles County at the Creek Fire and in Ventura and Santa Barbara at the Thomas Fire, the 14 Fire Engines, 3 Command Vehicles and 62 personnel from Fire Agencies across San Mateo County configured into two Strike Teams (5 Fire Engines each) and a Task Force (4 Fire Engines) returned home late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning to rainy conditions in the Bay Area.

Southern Strike Team Leader Battalion Chief Ben Marra with the Menlo Park Fire District said “it’s been a long couple of weeks and the firefighters are looking forward to getting home to their families. These guys worked hard to help save people’s homes in crazy fire conditions and they also never complained when we were asked to do cleanup work under less than glamorous and rotten conditions. We were all proud and humbled to have been called upon to do our small part during this massive firefighting effort”.

Please credit San Mateo County Firefighters for the attached photographs:

Prior to leaving the Angeles Forest for the Thomas Fire in Ventura County, the San Mateo County South Zone Strike Team consisting 5 Fire Engines and personnel from the Central and San Mateo County Fire Agencies along with the Redwood City Fire Department and the Menlo Park and Woodside Fire District’s, stopped to pay their respects to a Fire Service Memorial that honors the memory and lessons learned at the 1966 Loop Fire Tragedy in Pacoima Canyon that killed 10 Forest Service Firefighters and severely injured 19 more in a burn over event.

From the Fire Line, the Central San Mateo County Task Force consisting of 4 Fire Engines and personnel from Central County Fire, Foster City Fire, Menlo Park Fire District and San Mateo City Fire try to lighten the mood with some Christmas cheer in the form of Santa’s Helper Caps. The Task Force was assigned to night time structure protection its last shift in a neighborhood above the City of Santa Barbara.