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TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – At 4:56 p.m. Aug. 10, a call came into the Fairfield, California Fire Department about a fast-moving fire near Interstate 80 between Nelson and Cherry Glenn Roads.
Within minutes after arriving on scene, Larry Palmer, a battalion chief with the Fairfield Fire Department and the incident commander for the Nelson Fire, said he knew more resources would be needed to extinguish the blaze.
“The fire was growing rapidly for several reasons,” said Palmer. “It was grass fed and grass fires accelerate quickly because grass is highly flammable. The fire also started at the base of a large hill, which wasn’t good because fire travels faster uphill. The wind also didn’t help.”
The fire quickly grew to 1,000 acres and threatened homes in the Paradise Valley and Gold Ridge neighborhoods in Fairfield, as well as the Foxboro community in Vacaville, California. The fire also burned power poles along Peabody Road in Vacaville, which knocked out power to more than 2,800 homes. This prompted the closure of Peabody Road between Chuck Hammond Drive and Foxboro Parkway, as well as the evacuation of 75 homes and hundreds of people.
“Ensuring public safety, as well as the safety of our firefighters is our top priority,” said Palmer. “Incident stabilization and stopping forward progress of the fire is also one of our main priorities. We have a robust mutual aid system in California where we can request multiple resources. This system enables us to exercise mutual aid agreements within our jurisdiction and once those resources are exhausted, helps us request support from outside Solano County quickly.”
Palmer requested support from Solano County, as well as Contra Costa County and Yolo County. Early in the response, officials at Travis Air Force Base, California, offered to provide resources to aid in firefighting efforts.
“I told Travis to send whatever they could,” said Palmer.
The base dispatched 12 firefighters, two fire engines and one water tender capable of holding 5,000 gallons of water.
“Our team supported structural protection efforts along with the overall firefighting effort,” said Master Sgt. Kevin Wasiewski, 60th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Emergency Services superintendent of operations.
“The fire came pretty close to several homes, so one area our Airmen were focused on was preventing the fire from spreading to those homes,” said Wasiewski. “They put themselves between the fire and the homes and put out spot fires.”
Resources from Travis were utilized until the early afternoon of Aug. 11, providing nearly 20 hours of support.
“Our tender truck didn’t return until Saturday afternoon around 2 p.m.,” said Wasiewski. “It was used to refill several trucks with water numerous times.”
The Nelson Fire grew to 2,162 acres, destroyed one home and resulted in one injury before it was extinguished. It took a team of approximately 200 firefighters, 70 engines and four aircraft working together for three hours before the fire was contained and several more hours before the fire was out.
Palmer said he’s thankful for the support his team received, especially from Travis AFB.
“It’s important to know we can rely on Travis to respond quickly when we need them,” he said. “They’re always willing to provide whatever support we need and they have the capability to respond quickly.”
Wasiewski credits how well his firefighters worked with their civilian counterparts to the relationship Travis has established with Solano County.
“We engage monthly with our counterparts across Solano County,” he said. “We participate in joint training, attend monthly meetings and often work together in response to emergencies.”
“These relationships enable us to form a team quickly, implement a plan and be successful,” he said. “If we didn’t have those relationships established, coming together the way we did would be difficult. When called to respond to an emergency, we don’t have time to worry about how we are going to communicate or how we are going to integrate. We just have to step up and do it.”
Residents in Fairfield and Vacaville appreciated the effort to put out the fire and save their homes.
“Shout out to our first responders for getting the Nelson Fire so quickly contained,” said Deann Baker, a Fairfield resident, in a social media post. “So grateful for your diligence and hard work. We appreciate you.”
“Thanks for keeping us safe,” said Gigi Newland Warshawsky of Vacaville. “It doesn’t go unappreciated.” |