Nineteen firefighters from the regional fire protection districts and departments in the Mother Lode were deployed by the state as Task Force 4209 to assist with fire suppression efforts for the Camp Fire in Butte County. A half-dozen other Mother Lode firefighters from regional departments were also deployed to the area outside of Task Force 4209.
Task Force 4209:
Bill Becker, Battalion Chief and Task Force Leader, Turlock Fire Department
Brittan Gregory, Task Force Leader Trainee, Sonora Fire Department
Daniel Wegner, Firefighter, Columbia Fire Department
Chris Mojica, Captain, Columbia Fire Department
Michael Weiland, Engineer, Columbia Fire Department
Neil Gamez, Captain, Twain Harte Fire Department
Terron Tidaback, Intern Operator, Twain Harte Fire Department
James Walker, Intern Operator, Twain Harte Fire Department
Patrick McCaleb, Intern Firefighter, Twain Harte Fire Department
James Klyn, Captain, Mi-Wuk Sugar Pine Fire Protection District
David Straub, Firefighter, Mi-Wuk Sugar Pine Fire Protection District
Ben Garcia, Firefighter, Mi-Wuk Sugar Pine Fire Protection District
Jeff Santi, Captain, Tuolumne Fire Protection District
Brandon Ohler, Firefighter, Tuolumne Fire Protection District
Patrick Cohen, Engineer, Tuolumne Fire Protection District
Riley Derichsweiler, Firefighter, Tuolumne Fire Protection District
Ryan Carpenter, Engineer, Central Calaveras Fire and Rescue Protection District
Brandon Contreras, Engineer, Central Calaveras Fire and Rescue Protection District
John Schwitalla, Engineer, Central Calaveras Fire and Rescue Protection District
Additional Resources:
Joel Lafayette, Fire Line EMT, Mi-Wuk Sugar Pine Fire Protection District
Chris Tedder, Engineer, Central Calaveras Fire and Rescue Protection District
Kioni Sodaria, Firefighter, Central Calaveras Fire and Rescue Protection District
Michael Halligan, Firefighter, Central Calaveras Fire and Rescue Protection District
Lance Nomil, Firefighter, Central Calaveras Fire and Rescue Protection District
Jerry Zellers, Firefighter, Central Calaveras Fire and Rescue Protection District
You can check out the entire Union Democrat article via the link below. The article is very interesting, enlightening and heartbreaking.
Our three firefighters, Klyn, Garcia and Straub, returned home on Wednesday afternoon; Joel Lafayette, on the EMT in Strike Team 4061C, remains in Butte County.
Thank you James, Ben, David and Joel and ALL of the other firefighters who have faced this devastating disaster. There are no words.
