A special thank you to the courageous crews that battled North Bay fires
Our Sonoma County fire crews, joined by hundreds of agencies from across the state and country, came together to battle a firestorm that evolved into three major blazes, burning over 19 days and raging across 114,000Â acres. Fed by hot, dry winds with gusts topping 100Â mph, the Tubbs fire - the most destructive blaze - raced 12 miles from its starting point near Calistoga into Santa Rosa in just over four hours.
In all, the firefighting force peaked at 6,700 personnel from 382 fire agencies, along with 82 law enforcement agencies from throughout the state. Deputies, police and highway patrol officers evacuated tens of thousands of residents, patrolled for looters and supervised the return home. The effort also included nearly 800 National Guard troops and 4,300 PG&E workers. Hundreds of additional volunteers, private agencies and organizations came forward, including prisoners from the California Conservation camps who worked the fire lines. The list in the pages to come are Cal Fire’s best accounting of the scope of assistance.
The bravery required of those who put themselves in harm’s way is seldom witnessed: it lives in the intensity of moments when others have fled, or are deep in work battling the flames themselves. Press Democrat reporters and photographers arrived quickly to the fires and stayed, shadowing embattled fire crews as the conflagration spread from Knights Valley to the north to Kenwood in the south. The captured images on the pages that follow show first responders at work during those critical first hours and days of the inferno, and the courage they summoned when nearly all seemed lost.
Fire teams
Aberdeen, Washington, Fire Department
Alameda County Fire Department
Alameda Fire Department
Alaska Fire Service Resources
Alpine Fire Protection Department
Altaville-Melones Fire Protection District
Amador Fire Protection District
Anderson Fire Protection District
Angels Camp Fire Department
Aptos/La Selva Beach Fire Protection District
Arizona Fire District - Phoenix
Arizona Fire District - Tucson
Arizona State Forestry - Northwest District
Arizona State Forestry Division - State Office
Atascadero City Fire Department
Atwater Fire Department
Auburn Volunteer Fire Department
Avra Valley Fire District, Arizona
Bakersfield Fire Department
Barona Mission Indians Fire Department
Bear Valley Fire Department
Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire District
Belmont Fire Department
Bennett Valley Fire Protection District
Berkeley Fire Department
Bitterroot National Forest, Montana and Idaho
Black Hills National Forest
Bodega Bay Fire Protection District
Boise National Forest, Idaho
Branciforte Fire Protection District
Brea Fire Department
Bullhead City Fire Department, Arizona
Burbank Fire Department
Burbank-Paradise Fire District
Burney Fire Protection District
Bureau of Land Management, Vale District
Burns Fire Department, Oregon
Calaveras Consolidated Fire Authority
Calaveras Operational Area
California City Fire Department
California Conservation Corps
California Desert District
California Highway Patrol
California Office of Emergency Services
California Office of Emergency Services - Region 1
California Office of Emergency Services - Region 5
California Office of Emergency Services - Region 6
California State Parks
Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base
Camp Roberts Fire Department
Carlsbad Fire Department
Carmel Highlands Fire Protection Department
Carpinteria/Summerland Fire Protection Department
Cathedral City Fire Department
Cazadero Community Services District
Central Arizona Fire and Medical Authority
Central Calaveras Fire and Rescue Protection District
Central California District
Central County Fire Department
Central Fire Protection District of Santa Cruz County
Central Land Office, Montana
Chester Fire Protection District
Chico Fire Department
Chino Valley Indian Fire Protection Department
Chula Vista Fire Department
City of Modesto Fire Department
Clements Rural Fire Protection District
Cleveland National Forest
Cloverdale Fire Protection District
Clovis Fire Department
Colton Fire Department
Columbia Fire Protection Department
Colusa Fire Department
Compton Fire Department
Contra Costa County Fire Protection District
Contra Costa County Operational Area
Copperopolis Fire Protection Department
Coronado National Forest
Corte Madera Fire Department
Costa Mesa Fire Department
Cosumnes Community Services District
Cottonwood Fire Protection District
Crockett-Carquinez Fire Protection District
Custer Gallatin National Forest, Montana
Downey Fire Department
Dry Creek Band
Eastern Plumas Rural Fire Protection District
Ebbetts Pass Fire Protection Department
El Cerrito Fire Department
El Dorado County Fire Protection District
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