On Monday 08/12/2024, at noon, the YFD engine and 4 Firefighters sent to the Park Fire returned to Yuma. The YFD personnel that had been part of the strike team were Captain Ryan Johnson, Engineer David Beltran, Firefighter Jeff Endres, and Firefighter Noe Bermudez. The team had multiple assignments as part of the response to the Park Fire. YFD is happy to have our fire family back home and safe.

ORIGINAL RELEASE:

On Friday, July 26, 2024, at about 2:00 pm, the Yuma Fire Department received a mutual aid request from California authorities regarding a Strike Team deployment to the Park Fire burning near Chico, CA. The fire is zero percent contained right now and has already burned over 239,000 acres. An Engine and 4 YFD personnel left Yuma at 3:00 am this morning, to meet in Imperial County, CA with other members of the Imperial Valley Strike Team.

A Strike Team consists of several firefighting apparatus with personnel and a team leader drawn from various departments.  A team will normally stay together through their deployment. Due to the equipment and training of our personnel, they are usually assigned to structure protection duties in neighborhoods. Although deployed personnel are prepared to be gone for up to 2 weeks, we hope that they will not be needed for that long.

Additional information will be provided as it becomes available. The last time YFD personnel were deployed with a strike team or task force was in July of 2023 to the “Rabbit Fire” in Riverside County, CA.

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