Resources

U.S. Forest Service handcrews, which typically consist of 20 men and women, serve as the infantry of wildland firefighters. There are five types of handcrews: Type 1 Interagency Hotshot Crews (IHC), Type 1, Type 2 – Initial Attack (IA), Type 2, and Type 3.   

Working side by side, the crews’ main responsibilities are to construct “firelines” – which look a lot like trails – around wildfires to contain and control them by removing fuel that wildfires need to spread. To do this, handcrews use tools like Pulaskis, shovels, and chainsaws to clear flammable materials and scrape or dig to mineral soil. Hand crews also burn-out fire areas, and mop up after fires. When the crews are not fighting fire, they spend time training and working on forest projects such as hazard tree removal, thinning and facilities maintenance. 

We have 3 (10 person) Type 2IA Hand Crew modules on the Eldorado National Forest:

• Crew 23 (Duty Location: Georgetown, CA)
• Crew 25 (Duty Location: Pollock Pines, CA)
• Crew 26 (Duty Location: Grizzly Flats, CA) 

Interagency Hotshot Crews (IHCs) are the most highly trained, skilled, and experienced type of handcrews. Hotshot crews were first established in Southern California in the late 1940s on the Cleveland and Angeles National Forests. They were called “Hotshot” crews because they worked on the hottest part of wildfires. The U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, state and county agencies sponsor more than 100 Interagency Hotshots Crews, with most located in the western United States. 

The primary mission of IHCs is to provide a safe, professional, mobile and highly skilled hand crew for all phases of fire management and incident operations. IHCs are staffed, conditioned, equipped and qualified to meet a variety of strategic and tactical wildland fire assignments. The organizational structure allows IHCs to form into small modules or squads and accomplish independent assignments. IHCs may be prepositioned for initial attack or perform ready reserve duties as required by national planning level requirements.

Within the limits of their experience and qualifications, IHCs are capable of providing a disciplined, self –contained and adaptable workforce to meet the needs of incident managers in a variety of situations and during all hazard assignments. All IHCs must meet the same stringent standards for physical fitness, training, leadership, qualifications, and operational procedures, as outlined in the Standards for Interagency Hotshot Crew Operations.

When not committed to fire assignments, IHCs can provide a workforce to accomplish a variety of resource management objectives while maintaining availability for incident mobilization.

We have 1 Hotshot Crew (20 person) on the Eldorado National Forest:

• Crew 6 Eldorado Interagency Hotshot Crew (Duty Location: Sly Park, CA)
• The Hotshots | California Wildfires: The New Normal, Episode 4 (ABC10 story on You Tube)

On the Eldorado National Forest, we utilize Type III wildland fire engines that are typically staffed with five to seven firefighters. These specialized engines carry equipment to spray water (500 gallons) and foam and are equipped to respond to a variety of incidents. Engine crews also perform a variety of other wildland fire tasks, including: serving as initial attack forces, patrolling the Forest, responding to all risk incidents, and assisting with fuels management projects. 

We have 10 Engine modules on the Eldorado National Forest:

• Georgetown Ranger District (Wentworth Springs road)
  • Engine 334 (Duty Location: Quintette, CA)
  • Engine 333 (Duty Location: Georgetown, CA)
• Pacific Ranger District (Crystal Basin)
  • Engine 353 (Duty Location: Pollock Pines, CA)
  • Engine 354 (Duty Location: Crystal Basin, CA)
• Placerville Ranger District (Highway 50 south)​
  • Engine 364 (Duty Location: Kyburz, CA)
  • Engine 365 (Duty Location: Sly Park, CA)
  • Engine 366 (Duty Location: Sly Park, CA)
• Amador Ranger District (Highway 88)
  • Engine 363 (Duty Location: Grizzly Flat, CA)
  • Engine 313 (Duty Location: Dew Drop, CA)
  • Engine 314 (Duty Location: Lumberyard, CA)

Water Tender Operators are responsible for driving and operating water tender vehicles on initial and extended attack fire suppression operations and fuels management activities. This includes operating the pump for drafting and ejecting water, setting up portable tanks, shuttling water on fires, completing dust abatement, etc.  Water Tender Operators often work in conjunction with Engine modules. Type 2 tactical water tenders carry 1500 gallons of water. A "tactical" water tender are designed to be able to travel on the typical narrow, windy roads found in a forest.

We currently have 2 Water Tender modules on the Eldorado National Forest:

• Water Tender 235 (Duty Location: Georgetown, CA)
• Water Tender 21 (Duty Location: Lumberyard, CA) 

Heavy Equipment Operators operate one or more types of heavy equipment, such as graders, tractors with bulldozer or angle dozer blades, and large industrial tractors while completing work on all sorts of terrain. In addition to providing support during fire operations (such as building fireline and safety zones) they also drive a transport vehicle and assist with maintaining forest roads and compounds.  They often support other natural resource management and engineering projects (i.e. maintaining ditches, improving roads, clearing brush, removing tree stumps and rocks, etc.).

We currently have 1 Dozer module on the Eldorado National Forest:

• Dozer 3 (Duty Location: Camino, CA)

Fire lookouts work in remote towers where they watch for and report wildfires. They use specialized equipment to observe, plot, and report the locations of new fires. Fire lookouts can spend days, weeks, or months by themselves in some of the wildest, most remote places in the country. Life is rustic in a fire tower, but fire lookouts have provided an invaluable service in wildfire management for 100 years.

We currently have 3 Lookouts on the Eldorado National Forest:  

• Bald Mountain (Georgetown, CA)
• Big Hill (Crystal Basin, CA)
• Leek Springs (Pioneer, CA) 

Helitack crews are teams of firefighters who are transported by helicopter to wildfires. Helicopters provide rapid transport, enabling helitack crews to quickly respond and assess a wildfire situation, particularly during initial attack. Helitack crews may land near a wildfire or, if equipped and trained, rappel from a hovering helicopter. Once on the ground, crews build firelines using hand tools, chainsaws, and other firefighting tools. Helicopter crew members may also perform other duties such as tree falling, firing operations, delivering people and equipment, and managing helibases.

We currently have 2 Helitack modules on the Eldorado National Forest:

• H-516 (Pollock Pines, CA) Type 2
• H-5TN (Placerville Airport, CA) Type 1 - goes by the last 3 digits of its tail number.

Planes and helicopters are critical tools in managing wildland fire. Although aircraft are often used to fight wildfires, aircraft alone cannot put them out. The Forest Service uses planes of all types and sizes—not just airtankers— to manage wildland fire. For example, specially-equipped planes gather infrared imagery to help map fires. Fire managers in planes conduct “aerial supervision” and reconnaissance over fires to safely guide and direct other aircraft responding to the fire. Airtankers are fitted with tanks that carry large volumes of fire retardant to drop on a fire, which helps firefighters on the ground by laying a line of retardant along the sides of a wildfire. The retardant temporarily cools the fire and slows it down, giving firefighters time to construct a fireline to contain the fire.

• The closest Air Attack Base is operated by CalFire and is located at the Grass Valley Airport. The next closest would be Columbia Airport.
• The FS staffs permanent air attacks and air tankers in Redding and in Riverside, they fly where ever the need is. In the event of an emerging and/or large fire, they will activate McClellan, Stockton, or Fresno Air Tanker bases, for the larger air tankers. 

Fire Prevention Technicians detect and suppress fires while patrolling an assigned unit, often interfacing with Forest users to provide education and information on fire prevention. They provide technical expertise on fire protection and prevention issues, including information and guidance on special use permits, service contracts and procedures involved in wildland fire prevention. Technicians also engage children and young people at school events, fairs and special community activities. 

The Eldorado National Forest has 7 prevention personnel on the Forest.

• Prevention Battalion 53 (Duty Station: Pollock Pines, CA)
• Patrol 15 (Duty Station: Pioneer, CA)
• Patrol 34 (Duty Station: Georgetown, CA)
• Patrol 53 (Duty Station: Pollock Pines, CA)
• Patrol 54 (Duty Station: Pollock Pines, CA)
• Patrol 64 (Duty Station: Camino, CA)
• Patrol 65 (Duty Station: Camino, CA)

Smokejumping was first proposed in 1934 by T.V. Pearson, the U.S. Forest Service Intermountain Regional Forester, as a means to quickly provide initial attack on forest fires. By parachuting in, self-sufficient firefighters could arrive fresh and ready for the strenuous work of fighting fires in rugged terrain. The smokejumper program began in 1939 as an experiment in the Pacific Northwest Region, and the first fire jump was made in 1940 on Idaho’s Nez Perce National Forest in the Northern Region. In 1981, the first woman smokejumper in the nation successfully completed the training program at the McCall Smokejumper Base in Idaho.

Today, Smokejumpers are a national resource. Jumpers travel all over the country, including Alaska, to provide highly-trained, experienced firefighters and leadership for quick initial attack on wildland fires in remote areas. Fire fighting tools, food and water are dropped by parachute to the firefighters after they land near the fire, making them self-sufficient for the first 48 hours. Most smokejumpers work from late spring through early fall.

The U.S. Forest Service has about 320 smokejumpers that work from seven bases located in McCall and Grangeville, Idaho; Redding, California; West Yellowstone and Missoula, Montana; Winthrop, Washington; and Redmond, Oregon. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) also has smokejumpers at two bases, one in Boise, Idaho and the other in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The Eldorado National Forest does not host a Smokejumper crew.

• Learn more about Smokejumping