1533: Following the 360-degree assessment, ME25 updated its radio
report, describing a well-established fire in the apartment. They now had
the two members of MA26 on scene and were able to begin a fire attack
from the charlie/delta corner exterior stairwell leading to the apartment.
1538: The two-member crew from ME26 arrived on scene; Captain Craig
Williams assumed Crest IC.
Given the building’s construction and the weather, the limited suppression
personnel on scene were unable to initiate a comprehensive attack on the
fire. Further, firefighter safety at this time was at least partially compromised,
as not enough personnel were yet on scene to construct a fully-staffed
Rapid Intervention Crew in the event of firefighter entrapment or inj ury.
STAFFING CHALLENGES FACED BY 935
By Brenton Baum and Ryan Beckers with a contribution from Doug Simpson
Editor’s note: Typically this publication’s incident
case studies highlight emerging command/
mitigation techniques or showcase our agency’s
performance. In the case of the Crest Fire,
however, a well-established fire led to an early
command decision to remove firefighters from
the interior of the building, leading to a fairly
straightforward “defensive operation” two-alarm
fire attack.
What is significant about this incident was how
crews were limited by operating with a twoperson engine company, displaying a problem
that Local 935, San Bernardino County Fire and
the Crest Forest community have been working
diligently to solve. It was the “what-if” scenario
that perplexed the district when it was forced
to reduce staffing in 2013 below the level of
SBCoFD standard model, and now it had come
to pass.
Fortunately, this scenario will likely not play
out again. Thanks to coordinated lobbying from
SBCoFD management and the local, and to
the community’s commitment to efficient and
sustainable fire protection, County Fire’s engine
crews in Crestline will soon return to threemember staffing. Taking advantage of savings
achieved via 2015’s Crest Forest Fire Protection
District dissolution and annexation to County
Fire, ME25 as well as ME26 from Twin Peaks will
again be rolling three-deep in the near future.
The commentary in this article is not meant to
serve as an “I told you so.” Rather, it is meant to
describe in detail what happens when firefighters
are forced to mitigate an incident with two
person engine companies; thus a hypothetical
situation that is often-described when staffing
discussions take place here played out in reality.
26
FIREWIRE • Winter 2016
INCIDENT OVERVIEW
On the afternoon of November 17, San Bernardino County Fire units from Division 4 were dispatched to a
reported commercial structure fire in the “Top Town” area of Crestline. Employees at an auto garage across the
street had called 911, describing black smoke coming from a second-floor apartment window to the rear of
the structure. The location was the intersection of Crest Forest Drive and Highway 138—approximately one tenth
of a mile from Fire Station 25.
The fire building was a well-known local business and landmark, comprising a multi-use commercial and
residential structure which housed Rim of the World Bar, the second floor apartment, Pazzo’s Italian and Pizza
Restaurant and even an attached apartment/house on the north side of the structure.
The original portion of the building, which housed the pizza restaurant, was built in 1929 using conventional
construction techniques and materials. The bar, apartments and house were built in later years and were of
conventional wood frame construction with a common attic. Of interest, the bar housed Evil Knievel’s vintage
Harley Davidson XR750 motorcycle and a 1900 concert baby grand piano, both of which were ultimately
destroyed by the fire.
Weather conditions at dispatch included a temperature of approximately 50 degrees, with strong gusting winds
and no precipitation.
Following is a timeline of the incident, along with a discussion of the difficulties presented by
limited staffing resources on such a fire.
1523 hours: Initial dispatch—ME25, ME26, ME94, ME91, MA25, MA26, BC133
The U.S. Forest Service and CalFire sent an initial response also for potential vegetation and forest exposure.
FIRE ATTACK INITIATED
1526: ME25 arrived on scene with a report of smoke and flames from the rear apartment. A large crowd of
onlookers had gathered, the two members staffing MA25 were transporting a patient and the next due engine,
ME26, was still over 10 minutes away.
During this time Captain Doug Simpson, commanding the two-member crew on ME25, initiated his 360-degree
evaluation of the incident and began to set up a plan of attack. As an experienced company officer used to
working on three- or four-member crews during his years in Fontana and Lake Arrowhead, he soon became
frustrated by his limitations.
“We’ve got this group of citizens gathering around,” Simpson says. “And they are expecting us to do something
to put out the fire. But we’re so limited, all I could do, really, was pull hose. As a company officer I’m looking to
delegate that task and work on getting a handle on tactics.”
1539: Crest IC reported a fully involved upstairs apartment in a large
commercial building with a common attic. The fire’s flow path was toward
the alpha/bravo portion of the building, via the attic. A second alarm was
requested.
1540: Second alarm dispatch included: MT203, E50, ME241, ME75,
BC803
1541: BC133 (Battalion Chief Marc Peebles) and the three-member engine
crews of ME91 and ME94 arrived on scene. Peebles noted active fire in the
ground floor below the fire attack crew with heavy fire and smoke from the
upstairs apartment; he then transitioned into Crest IC.
Initial assignments for an offensive strategy were given; however, the
IC quickly reversed that decision due to the rapid fire spread, a low
survivability profile of the upstairs apartment and the deteriorating building
stability. Thus a defensive strategy was assumed, and the following incident
objectives established: 1) Hold fire to the building of origin, and 2) Prevent
fire spread to adjacent structures and vegetation/forest.
The incident assignments were as follows:
Incident Commander: BC133
Operations Chief: BC803
Division Alpha: ME91, ME75, MT203
Division Bravo: ME94
Division Charlie/Delta: ME25 ME26 MA25 MA26
Exposure group: CalFire and USFS units
At this point, enough personnel were now on scene for crews to engage
fire suppression tactics as taught and trained. Consequently the defensive
objectives of the incident were met, despite a very stubborn fire in a
building that was difficult to access fully.
The fire continued to spread through the attic and second floor until a
multiple large-diameter fire streams were able to achieve knockdown.
Ultimately the entire roof collapsed, causing near complete d estruction of
the building. The ground floor of the bar and restaurant also sustained major
damage. The lower garage area beneath the restaurant sustained minimal
damage only, and no injury to the public or firefighters was reported.
1713: Crest IC reported 80 percent knockdown with 20 percent of the
building remaining involved with fire on charlie/delta corner
“We want to be able to perform our jobs like we’ve been trained,” he says. “And we
know we have to adapt to different scenarios, but with just two guys it’s difficult
to get it done. Knowing we’re being watched while you’re unable to make things
happen is tough.”
A special thank to the cooperating agencies who assisted with the containment
of this incident!
2046: All units released except BC133 and ME25
Given all the conditions, it’s quite possible that even with engine companies
fully staffed to the three-member County Fire minimum, this fire could have
ultimately consumed the structure. However, Captain Simpson believes his
crew could have been much more effective just with the one extra member.
Brenton Baum and Ryan Beckers are FIREWIRE editors. Both responded to the Crest
incident; Baum was assigned to ME91 from Lake Arrowhead, while Beckers was
assigned to ME75 from Muscoy and arrived as part of the second-alarm response.
Winter 2016 • FIREWIRE
27