An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | Oct. 24, 2007

Military Personnel, Assets Help to Battle California Fires

By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON - Military personnel and assets are helping out in the most serious outbreak of wildfires in California in years.

California National Guard and California-based active duty personnel are providing some of the muscle needed to contain the fires, which have driven more than 300,000 people from their homes in 12 counties.

Officials at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, are working with representatives from U.S. Northern Command to coordinate requests for Defense Department personnel and assets. Northern Command also has personnel working in Southern California directly with local authorities.

With 11 fires burning out of control from Los Angeles to the Mexican border, some Defense installations are themselves in danger from the wildfires. Camp Pendleton, the San Diego Marine Recruit Depot and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station are among the installations asking only essential personnel to come in.

A total of 17,031 California National Guardsmen are available for employment if the situation calls for it, said officials at U.S. Northern Command. Some 33 active duty, 79 Defense civilian personnel and 1,500 California National Guardsmen are actively engaged or directly supporting firefighting response, security and relief operations.

Another 550 Marines from Camp Pendleton have volunteered to help local authorities fight the fires in San Diego County.

California authorities have requested and the Defense Department has sent significant firefighting assets to the area. Helicopters are the most effective airborne asset, as the Santa Ana winds, which are driving the fire, make flying fixed-wing aircraft dangerous. California Guardsmen are flying a CH-47 and five UH-60 helicopters in the effort.

Navy pilots are flying two MH-60 aircraft in support of local firefighting efforts. The Marines have a CH-46 and three CH-53 helicopters on standby at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, and one additional helicopter on standby at Camp Pendleton. All of the choppers can drop water using buckets.

Yesterday, the National Interagency Fire Center requested six C-130 Hercules aircraft fitted with modular air firefighting systems.

The Air National Guard will deploy four of these aircraft to Naval Air Station Point Magu, Calif. They should arrive today. In addition, two C-130s from the 153rd Airlift Wing of the Wyoming Air National Guard, and two from the 145th Airlift Wing, North Carolina Air National Guard, are on alert.

Two C-130s from the Air Force Reserve's 302nd Airlift Wing Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., also will arrive at Point Magu today.

On the ground, the Marine Corps and Navy have deployed six fire trucks each to support local fire fighting efforts. The Navy also has provided a brush truck. All these moves are under mutual aid agreements signed with local authorities.

San Diego is a huge Navy town, and an Aegis cruiser, a guided-missile destroyer and two fast frigates will remain in port to support evacuation and movement of family members if necessary.

Officials also have set up the Naval Base San Diego gymnasium as an evacuation center, with room for about 500 people. Sailors also are setting up a 500-person tent city at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, and space for 442 persons is being prepared at Naval Air Station El Centro.

Commanders have issued orders that all sailors ashore in barracks will move aboard ships to provide room for evacuees. The Navy also is providing 500 cots for a shelter at Qualcomm Stadium, home of the National Football League's San Diego Chargers.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has asked the Defense Department to identify a military installation in Southern California to be the forward staging area for supplies flowing south from the FEMA logistics center at Moffitt Field, Calif.

The California National Guard is doing heavy lifting in the effort. The 40th Special Troops Battalion, 40th Brigade Support Battalion and a military police battalion headquarters are providing command and control and logistics support at the Qualcomm Stadium shelter.

The 40th Infantry Brigade Combat Team has alerted two 500-person rapid reaction battalions and two 100-person quick reaction companies. About 100 National Guard medical personnel are augmenting the staff at the San Diego Veterans Center, which is experiencing critical staffing shortfalls resulting from voluntary and mandatory evacuation.

 

 

Related Articles
U.S. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...