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Loop fire survivor talks
Loop Fire, November 1, 1966 The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center has published the video below featuring Gerald Smith, a survivor of the 1966 Loop Fire on the Angeles National Forest in southern...
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Firefighters on Falls fire observe anniversary of Decker Fire
Firefighters on the Falls Fire at Lake Elsinore, California today are wrapping up the incident. It is in the same location as the Decker Fire exactly 54 years ago today that killed six firefighters....
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El Cariso Hotshots disbanded
El Cariso’s logo, a Ruptured Duck The El Cariso Interagency Hotshots have been disbanded. It pains me as an alumni to write that. My first job as a firefighter was on the crew. El Cariso was one of the...
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Ron Campbell, 1942 – 2013
We recently found out that a former U.S. Forest Service district Fire Management Officer and Superintendent of the El Cariso Hotshots passed away in April. Ron Campbell for the last 13 years had been...
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One of the first times a fire shelter was used
A former member of the El Cariso Hotshots, a southern California crew based on the Cleveland National Forest, sent us a copy of a newspaper article from August 9, 1964 that described a “new three-pound...
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Wildland firefighters called “tactical athletes”
“Tactical athletes”, also known as the 1972 version of the El Cariso Hotshots (missing Superintendent Ron Campbell, and Bill Gabbert who was behind the camera). Click to enlarge. Charles Palmer, who...
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The Laguna Fire, 45 years ago today
Map of the 1970 Laguna Fire. USFS. At 6:15 a.m. PT on September 26, 1970 the Laguna Fire started on Mt. Laguna east of San Diego near the intersection of Kitchen Creek Road and the Sunrise Highway. By...
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Mississippi men still meet to relive their firefighting days in California
From the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal has a well written article about a group of nine men from Mississippi that in the early 1960s traveled west to work...
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Another look at the fatal Decker Fire of 1959
An illustration from the 1959 official report on the Decker Fire. The Decker Fire of 1959, where six firefighters were killed near the U.S. Forest Service El Cariso fire station west of Lake Elsinore,...
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Service planned to commemorate 50th anniversary of Loop Fire
Map Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Rich.
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50th anniversary of the Loop Fire commemorated
Above: Hundreds of firefighters from municipal and wildland departments attended the 50th anniversary memorial for the Loop Fire tragedy in Sylmar Tuesday. Present were the Los Angeles County Fire...
View ArticleTBT: working for Ron Campbell
For Throwback Thursday, we are revisiting an article I wrote October 11, 2013 shortly after finding out about the death of Ron Campbell. It was titled, “Ron Campbell, 1942 – 2013”. We recently found...
View ArticleTom Sadowski, El Cariso Hotshots, 1969-1972
A former El Cariso Hotshot passed away unexpectedly on June 16. Tom Sadowski was on the crew from 1969 through 1972. Tom was unique — if you spent much time with him you would remember him. He was one...
View Article1959 Decker Fire memories
We got a note today from Anna Dailey about the 1959 Decker Fire, which Bill Gabbert wrote about back in 2013. Three of the six firefighters killed on the Decker were El Cariso Hotshots — Bill Gabbert’s...
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One of the first times a fire shelter was used
A former member of the El Cariso Hotshots, a southern California crew based on the Cleveland National Forest, sent us a copy of a newspaper article from August 9, 1964 that described a “new three-pound...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wildland firefighters called “tactical athletes”
“Tactical athletes”, also known as the 1972 version of the El Cariso Hotshots (missing Superintendent Ron Campbell, and Bill Gabbert who was behind the camera). Click to enlarge. Charles Palmer, who...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Laguna Fire, 45 years ago today
Map of the 1970 Laguna Fire. USFS. At 6:15 a.m. PT on September 26, 1970 the Laguna Fire started on Mt. Laguna east of San Diego near the intersection of Kitchen Creek Road and the Sunrise Highway. By...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mississippi men still meet to relive their firefighting days in California
From the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal has a well written article about a group of nine men from Mississippi that in the early 1960s traveled west to work...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Another look at the fatal Decker Fire of 1959
An illustration from the 1959 official report on the Decker Fire. The Decker Fire of 1959, where six firefighters were killed near the U.S. Forest Service El Cariso fire station west of Lake Elsinore,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Service planned to commemorate 50th anniversary of Loop Fire
Map Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Rich.
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