San Diego County Fire

CAL FIRE SUSPENDS OUTDOOR BURN PERMITS

East County News Service

June 25, 2023 (San Diego’s East County) — Cal Fire/San Diego County Fire will suspend all outdoor residential burning within the State Responsibility Areas of San Diego and Imperial counties, effective Monday, June 26, 2023, at 8 a.m.


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THIRD RAMONA AMBULANCE AND CREW ARE BUSY HELPING RESIDENTS

By Chuck Westerheide, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo:  Medic 282 Paramedic Ambulance and Crew

April 21, 2023 (La Mesa) -- A new ambulance with its crew and services added by the San Diego County Fire Protection District and CAL FIRE is seeing a great deal of use. County Fire accepted the transfer of responsibility for fire protection and emergency medical services in Ramona last August. The change brought a third fire department paramedic ambulance and additional firefighter staffing enhancements to the Ramona service area. 

The new paramedic ambulance has been dispatched 315 times and has taken 148 patients to area hospitals. Assigned to Fire Station 82, on Dye Road, the paramedic ambulance has full-time staffing with two firefighter paramedics 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Due to residential and business development along with population growth, there have been steady increases in 911 emergencies.  


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COUNTY FIRE STARTS NEW YEAR WITH NEW NAME

By Donnie RyanCounty of San Diego Communications Office

December 30, 2020 (San Diego) - The year 2021 will mean a new name for the San Diego County Fire Authority as the organization has been recently renamed the San Diego County Fire Protection District.


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NEW PROGRAM OFFERS PLAN B FOR REACHING RESIDENTS IN DISTRESS

By Michele Clock, San Diego County Fire
 
December 23, 2020 (San Diego) -- Imagine you’re having chest pains, or you’ve taken a serious fall inside your home. What if no one could get to the front door to let in firefighters?
 
A new program is offering a back-up plan, to ensure your front door doesn’t stand in the way of getting help.
 
San Diego County Fire’s Residential KnoxBox Program is now providing free lock boxes that will hold a spare copy of your house key. County Fire will install the box just outside the front door for quick fire department access. The boxes can only be opened by local firefighters responding to life-threatening emergencies. Fire personnel will be able to reach residents more quickly when seconds count.  

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DRIVE-UP COVID-19 TESTING COMES TO POTRERO SEPT. 21 -- FREE

East County New Service
 
September 17, 2020 (Potrero) -- On September 21st, free drive-up COVID-19 testing will be held at the Potrero Community Center, 24550 Highway 94, from 9:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. Appointments are required. Call 2-1-1 to schedule.
 
This is offered by CalFire / San Diego County Fire in Cooperation with San Diego County HHSA.

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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

DRONES (UAV) PROHIBITED FROM FIRE AREA

Source: CAL FIRE

Logos belong respectively to U.S. Forest Service, CAL FIRE and San Diego County Fire

The “If You Fly, We Can’t” safety awareness campaign is designed to keep drone pilots away from airspace used by firefighters.

September 12, 2020 (San Diego's East County) -- Federal, state, and local wildland fire management agencies and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) urge members of the public not to fly “Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAV)” or drones over or near wildfires. Unauthorized drone flights pose serious risks to firefighter and public safety and the effectiveness of wildfire suppression operations.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

SAN DIEGO COUNTY FIRE INCREASES STAFFING FOR EXPECTED RAINS

 

Source: CAL FIRE

February 16, 2017 (San Diego's East County) - With the arrival of another powerful winter storm on Friday February 17TH San Diego County Fire (SDCF) is once again taking steps to ensure an aggressive response to weather related incidents.  Although rain is the focus of this week’s storm, high winds are also expected and could potentially bring the threat of downed trees.  


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

RURAL FIRE STATIONS GET FOUR NEW QUICK-ATTACK VEHICLES

 

By Yvette Urrea Moe, County of San Diego Communications Office

June 15, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) -- San Diego County Fire can now dispatch up to four new quick-attack vehicles to assist CAL FIRE operations when a brush fire breaks out in a hard-to-reach part of the backcountry.


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CAL FIRE, MILITARY STAND BY IN READINESS FOR LIGHTINING FIRES

 

By Miriam Raftery

File photo by Jim Pelley: Vallecitos Lightning Fire

June 26, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – CAL FIRE Captain Kendal Bortisser and County Fire Chief Tony Mecham advise that a plan is in place to ensure additional fire protection for the San Diego region in anticipation of dry thunderstorms and lightning predicted to move through Southern California this weekend.


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WHY ARE SHELTERS CLOSING DURING EVACUATIONS? LYONS VALLEY FIRE REVEALS DISTURBING PATTERN

 

By Nadin Abbott; editor Miriam Raftery also contributed to this report

Photo credti: UCSD's HPWren webcam atop Lyon's Peak

An advisory evacuation clearly means that authorities believe those homes are at risk of burning.  But by not opening shelters-- or closing shelters unannounced in the middle of an emergency--officials are sending a disturbing signal: If you leave now, you’re on your own.

September 10, 2013 (San Diego) East County Magazine has encountered disturbing issues with emergency shelters found closed during three major evacuations in the past two months alone. How many other times has this have occurred—and what can be done to better protect residents during disasters? Today, we brought the issue to the County Board of Supervisors at a public hearing.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.