Rio Hondo College News

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3600 Workman Mill Road / Whittier, CA 90601 / 562-692-0921
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Department: Planning and Development
Phone:  (562) 692-0921  Ext. 3412
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Article published: Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Whittier Daily News and San Gabriel Valley Tribune

College's fire crew prepares for dry season
By Pam Wight Staff Writer

WHITTIER - With the official start of fire season still three months away, members of a Rio Hondo College fire crew were surprised when the U.S. Forest Service called them up recently.

"I was taken aback a little when they called us up," said Tracy Rickman, coordinator of the fire technology program at Rio Hondo College in Whittier. "I never got a call this early in the year."

Because of an unseasonable spell of dry, hot weather, which triggered a week-long "red flag" fire warning that ended Monday, Forest Service officials assigned Crew 77 from the college to the Angeles National Forest, Rickman said.

"The Forest Service was nervous because of the record heat we've had in our area. Chatsworth was the hottest place in the country the other day at 91 degrees," he added.

Rickman said the Forest Service sent Crew 77, otherwise known as "The Roadrunners," to Dalton Station in Angeles National Forest, a kind of staging area where the crews are utilized as additional staffing when conditions are ripe for forest fires.

"We do project work, assisting with one of the crews here known as a fuels crew," said Craig Doppmann, a firefighter with Crew 77. "They do work in the forest, thinning the forest, taking away dead trees. Basically we're available for any type of fire in the Angeles National Forest."


-RHC-


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