SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Have you ever wondered what it's like for firefighters and hand crews when they're lugging around heavy equipment in the summer heat while fighting wildfires?
CBS 8's Brian White met up with personnel from Cal Fire San Diego in the San Miguel area where crews have been working the Anita Fire and have it almost fully contained. He tried on some of their gear to see how heavy it is to wear.
“So this is our web gear, you can put it on like a backpack,” said Cal Fire Captain Michael Cornette. “And you can see how heavy that is. He also carries this chainsaw.”
Captain Cornette showed CBS 8 the web pack that hand crews carry on their backs. It weighs more than 35 pounds and contains essential items such as fire blankets and other tools. They typically carry a 20-pound chainsaw as well.
"These guys have to hike into the fire, and once they get to the fire and they’re carrying all this heavy gear, they have to use these chainsaws, these Pulaski axes, and all these different tools to cut the fire line down to bare mineral soil so we can contain the spread of that fire,” said Captain Cornette.
“This certain appliance here, this allows us to put water into secondary lines and these packs have everything we need inside of them to advance that hose line," said Captain Cornette while showing CBS 8 a typical 45-pound hose pack that a firefighter would carry.
"Prevention of heat exhaustion is a very important part of our job. We always stress that we want to keep everybody safe, take frequent breaks when possible, stay in the shade when possible," said Captain Cornette. "And that’s not always possible on these fires because it’s fast-moving, potentially structures threatened.”
The Anita Fire broke out Monday near Rancho San Diego, sparking evacuations and shelter-in-place orders in the area. It grew to nearly 20 acres, but firefighters and hand crews working in the heat to create fire breaks have it almost fully contained at this point.
“Hand crews go in with the chainsaws, with the axes, and the scraping tools," said Captain Cornette. "It’s hot. It’s not pleasant conditions. It’s hard to breathe because of the smoke. You’re up usually on steep, rocky terrain and so your footing is always an issue as well. They go in and do all the hard work for the fire."
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