In the early morning hours of October 26th, the tones went off in the station housing USFS (San Bernardino National Forest) Engine 57, dispatching them to a brush fire. I'm sure they knew that there was potential for something big; it was a red flag http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_flag_warning day and the Santa Anas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_winds were blowing. Driven by winds of up to 40 mph, the fire quickly grew in strength and voracity and resources were called in from all over California, including San Diego County. While attempting to save a citizen's home, the crew of Engine 57 was overrun by fire. Tragically, the entire crew was killed. The cause of the fire was determined to be arson. In the end, 40,200 acres were blackened and 34 homes were destroyed. Also shattered were the lives of family, friends and coworkers of Engine 57's crew.

A diagram from the Los Angeles Times shows the fire’s progression over two days

This type of tragedy is just not supposed to happen. As firefighters, we do everything we can to reduce our risk. We take classes, we constantly train, we analyze "close call" reports from other fire departments, we learn from our mistakes. Just last month I attended a Fire Command class that focused on fires in the urban-wildland interface- the I Zone. A large portion of that course involved studying previous fires where firefighters died; the Mann Gulch Fire the South Canyon Fire, the Yellowstone Fire and the Cedar Fire.

But, hindsight is 20/20 and reading the written summary of a fire is a lot different than responding to 50-foot flame lengths in the middle of the night in rugged terrain with 40 mph winds and 5% humidity. There are no do-overs on the fire line. Situations are dynamic and they change quickly. And, apparently Engine 57's circumstances deteriorated rapidly.

USFS Engine 57 sometime before the Esperanza Fire

A charred Engine 57 sits next to where its crewmembers were burned

This crew was not green. Their Captain, Mark Loutzenhiser, was a 21-year veteran with extensive wildland firefighting experience. Mark was married, had five kids and was very involved in the community and youth athletics.

The crew's engineer, Jess McLean, had been with the fire service for seven years, including three years with the Vista Grande Hotshots, a highly trained team of elite wildland firefighters.

Assistant Engine Operator, Jason McKay, had been with USFS for five years and had worked as a volunteer firefighter in Adalanto for four years previously.

Firefighter Daniel Hoover-Najera was just 20 years old, but this was his second season fighting fires with the USFS.

Firefighter Pablo Cerda was on his second season with USFS and hoped to work for a large city fire department one day.

These brave men left behind grieving children, spouses, fiancés, parents, siblings and extended family members. Their absence will leave a huge hole in the fabric of the lives of their families, close friends and coworkers. Just as San Diegans will always remember the name of fallen firefighter Steve Rucker, who died fighting the Cedar Fire, Riverside County residents will always remember the names of these five brave firefighters. And next year, when a different set of firefighters attend their Fire Command classes, they will most certainly study the circumstances that led to the worst single wildland firefighter fatality episode in California (since 1979)- the Esperanza Fire of 2006.

http://www.engine57memorial.org/thecrew.html

Take a moment to visit the above link. If you can, make a donation to support the families. The Wildland Firefighter Foundation has established a fund and is providing assistance for these families as has the California Fire Foundation.