Brother Firefighters killed in action today

[Divinus Arma]

Three firefighters killed, two injured battling Calif. wildfire

(Cabazon, CA-AP) October 26, 2006 - A fire that's forced hundreds of people from their homes in southern California has now turned deadly.

The US Forest Service says three firefighters were killed and two were critically injured Thursday while fighting the fire in the community of Cabazon, near Palm Springs - about 90 miles east of Los Angeles.

A spokesman says the firefighters were trying to protect a home when they became trapped in their fire engines. The high winds had suddenly pushed the flames over them.

In response to the tragedy, the spokesman says all US Forest Service personnel have been pulled off the fire to let them "gather their thoughts" and "say their prayers."

The fire has quickly burned more than four-thousand acres, and it's destroyed at least three homes since it began overnight. At least one civilian has been injured.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.as...94393&nav=0RaP

This is a type of fire that I could have easily been on. I can't believe it. What the hell happened out there? We know our 10 fire orders and 18 watch out situations. Were they placed wrong in relation to the fire?

My God. I am totally blown away. This just isn't supposed to happen. It's aviodable. Where was their escape route? Where was their safety zone? Why didn't they deploy fire shelters? Damn damn damn!

Three guys in an engine. A Captain, an Engineer, and a Firefighter. An engine company gone. This could have easily been me or people from my department.

Damn I wish I was there. Stupid. I should be out on that fire not sitting home scratching my nuts. These poor fire families. I'm almost in tears. Son of a bitch...

[rory_20_uk]

IMO they forgot themselves, as they were so focused on saving the dwelling. And it seems that when the true untenable nature of their position was made evident they were killed moments later.

Aviodable yes, but I imagine that Firefighters are very reluctant to cut and run and will from time to time fall foul of a situation.

[Tribesman]

It goes with the territory DA .
A tragedy , but since fire and weather can be very unpredictable it is one of the risks that goes with the job .

[Tribesman]

Sad update , make that 4 .
the 5th is still hanging on in a very critical condition with 95% burns .

A reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the arsonists .

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Whoah!

[Prince of the Poodles]

I wonder if the owners of the house they were trying to save had insurance. That would make it all the worse.

[Csargo]

Sad.

[rory_20_uk]

95% burns? He's dead. Just a matter of time. If it can burn its way through his gear the heat must have been extreme.

[macsen rufus]

Hey DA -- heard this on the news this morning, and you instantly came to mind, I know you're not in California, but even so.... (Does this mean I'm spending too much time at the org?)

Maybe it does "come come with the territory", but I guess you've probably had other situations in your previous service where you've had to stop and think about another colleague taking a bullet while you came through okay. I can't call any odds from so far away, you'll have your own insights to guide you, and your own way to keep things straight in your mind.

I'm just appalled to think anyone could start these fires in the first place, regardless of the threat to residents, firefighters, or the natural world. I'm not a fan of capital punishment, but burning at the stake seems appropriate for these arsonists...

[Devastatin Dave]

. I'm not a fan of capital punishment, but burning at the stake seems appropriate for these arsonists...

agreed

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Whoah!

Looks like a Clound from Hell

yes, Very Sad, feel sorry for them

[doc_bean]

Where does it say it was started by people ?

[Tribesman]

Where does it say it was started by people ?

In the news.
Like here for example.......
http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...News-newsOne-6

[doc_bean]

Don't all California fires get 'blamed' on arsonists while most of the time they're a natural phenomena ?

At least that's the (probably distorted) picture I got from various media coverage over the years.

[lars573]

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.as...94393&nav=0RaP

This is a type of fire that I could have easily been on. I can't believe it. What the hell happened out there? We know our 10 fire orders and 18 watch out situations. Were they placed wrong in relation to the fire?

My God. I am totally blown away. This just isn't supposed to happen. It's aviodable. Where was their escape route? Where was their safety zone? Why didn't they deploy fire shelters? Damn damn damn!

Three guys in an engine. A Captain, an Engineer, and a Firefighter. An engine company gone. This could have easily been me or people from my department.

Damn I wish I was there. Stupid. I should be out on that fire not sitting home scratching my nuts. These poor fire families. I'm almost in tears. Son of a bitch...

It very wll could have been you, but it wasn't. The deaths could have been prevented, but they weren't. The type of thinking your expressing will only stress you out. Fire is unpredicable and unforgiving.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Yea DA, very unforgiving/unpredicable. But you have a Wife and a new Kid to take care of m8, and they are more important right now.

[Papewaio]

Sad, very sad.

I remember the bush fires ringing Sydney and the ash clouds hanging over the city for weeks. You could look directly at the sun and just see a dull red globe hanging above you (and I wasn't even in the Cross).

[KukriKhan]

Looks like we've got an arrested firebug.

Total area burnt 160 sqKm, just a few click shy of the size of London.

I expect they'll have trouble finding an un-biased jury down here, and will have to ship him up north for trial.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Yea, About time they found that SOB. They might find a few people who proably will be un-bias, but most will want him to be excuted though,down south anyhow.

[Divinus Arma]

As angry as I am, I want this guy to have a fair trial. I would be far more pissed if we arrested a firebug A-hole who had nothing to do with this while the real culprit gets away with it. I hate media trials. Let's just hope we have the right guy and the prosecution is putting together a good case with solid evidence.