LAFD Fights Fires On Land And Sea

California wildfires again riveted the nation'sstations and a Los Angeles population of just
attention during a roughly two-week period50,000 to become one of the country's largest
beginning in mid-October 2007. When wildfiresfirefighting services. Today's force levels top out
strike the Golden State, overall responsibility forat slightly more than 3,600 uniformed firefighters,
fighting the blazes is in the hands of CAL FIRE,who man more than a hundred fire stations. More
the California Department of Forestry and Firethan 4 million L.A. residents currently rely on the
Protection. However, a number of local counties,LAFD for fire prevention, fire fighting, EMC
ranging from Marin, Kern and Santa Barbara toservices, hazmat mitigation and disaster response.
Ventura, Orange and Los Angeles County, areAn important but often overlooked part of the
paid by CAL FIRE to provide wildfire servicesthe force comprises the five fire boats that
nominally considered the State's responsibility.protect the Port of Los Angeles. Perched on the
While most of the damage caused by theshores of San Pedro Bay, about thirty kilometers
October 2007 wildfires was in San Diego County,due south of downtown Los Angeles, the Port of
firefighters from the Los Angeles FireLos Angeles is the busiest container port in the
Department (LAFD) nevertheless responded toUnited States with a container volume of 7.4
several wildfires in Los Angeles County. Accordingmillion TEUs in 2004, the last year for which
to the LAFD website, firefighters from the city'sfigures of this kind are available. The Port also has
fire department rolled out to both the so-calledthe West Coast's largest cruise ship facility, which
Buckweed Fire near Agua Dulce, about twelvehandles in excess of one million cruise ship
miles north of Los Angeles, and the so-calledpassengers annually.
Canyon Fire, a brush fire about eight miles westFive fire boats guard the Port of Los Angeles
of Los Angeles near Malibu, California. Overall, thefrom fires that have the potential to be just as
LAFD deployed five Strike Teams comprisingdevastating as the California wildfires of 2007. The
some 150 firefighters during the October wildfirelatest of these, the Warner Lawrence, is a
crisis.105-foot powerhouse with the ability to pump
The Los Angeles Fire Department is considered38,000 gallons of water per minute at heights of
well-equipped to serve the fire-prevention andup to 400 feet. The Warner Lawrence replaced
fire-fighting needs of America's second biggestthe LAFD's oldest fire boat, the 78-year-old Ralph
city. Launched formally in 1886 through theJ. Scott, in April 2003. Matt Paolini is a senior
amalgamation of several volunteer fire companiesresearcher for CityBook, the family-safe Online
founded as early as the 1870s, the LAFD hasYellow Pages, which carries an extensive directory
grown from its original complement of four fireon Los Angeles civil law.