| | Published August 14th, 2024
| MOFD firefighters help out across the state and beyond
| | | By Sora O'Doherty |  | | David Mazaika Presenting at the morning briefing at the Pioneer Fire, Lake Chelan, Washington. Photo Dennis Rein |
2024 has proven to be a massive year for California fires, with over 811,388 acres burned to date, as compared the 112,855 acres burned last year. The Cal Fire website gives 227,987 acres as the five year average, putting this year nearly four times higher than average so far.
The Moraga Orinda Fire District (MOFD), while prioritizing maintaining sufficient resources to address anything that might arise within the district, has been sending firefighters to assist with the big wildfires elsewhere in California, as well as in Washington state. Generally MOFD firefighters go out for 14 days at a time. In the event of a fire here, personnel from other agencies would assist MOFD.
MOFD Chief Dave Winnacker, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Dennis Rein and Engineer Steve Rogness were all at the Borel fire in Kern County for a couple of weeks. Their team was prepositioned in Sacramento for four days, then went down to the Sequoia lightening fire, and then, according to Rein, they `kind of inherited' the Borel fire.
Rein worked as a liaison officer, interfacing between fire agencies and all the assisting organizations, including utilities, sheriffs, ranchers, and tribal nations if reservation property is involved. The Chief works in fire operations, and was in charge of the Borel fire night shift, managing all resources and trying to keep that fire in the box overnight.
MOFD Engine 345 returned on Aug. 7 from a two-week assignment on the Park fire in Butte County. The huge Park fire, now 37% contained, has already burned 429,188 acres across four counties. The engine was staffed by Captain Mike Marquardt, Engineer Anthony Grgurevic and two Probationary Firefighter/ Paramedics, Kyle Byrd and Eddie Epperson, who graduated earlier this year from the Academy.
MOFD Engineer Rogness is currently assigned to the Retreat/Rimrock fires, acting as Geographic Information Systems Specialist in Washington with the California Complex Incident Management Team 14. This active fire is 64% contained and has burned around 45,000 acres. An evacuation order is currently in place.
Two other fire incidents in Washington -- the Pioneer and the Easy incidents -- are being managed by California Complex Incident Management team 15. MOFD Engineer David Mazaika is assigned to the Pioneer incident as a Medical Unit Leader.
MOFD Wildfire Mitigation Manager Gorden Graham is assigned as a Radio Operator to the Pioneer fire, and MOFD Captain Jared Costanza has been deployed to the Easy Fire as an assigned Line Safety Officer Trainee. Wildfire Mitigation Specialist Frank Mahallon is assigned as a Radio Operator to the Pioneer fire.
Captain Jon Bensley is currently awaiting his assignment orders to be assigned to the Crozier Incident as a Line Safety Officer in El Dorado County.
Currently, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has declared states of emergency in three fires across a number of counties. The Borel Fire is in Kern County, the Thompson Fire is in Butte County, and the Gold Complex and Park Fires are affecting Butte, Plumas, and Tehama Counties.
MOFD Battalion Chief Lucas Lambert, who provided information for this story in addition to Dennis Rein, noted, "We have a long fire season ahead of us."
Insurance Commissioner takes steps to preserve insurance for those in active fire areas
On Aug. 8 Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies to preserve residential insurance coverage for more than 185,000 policyholders affected by the Park, Borel, and Gold Complex fires. The Commissioner's Bulletin shields those living within the perimeters or adjoining ZIP Codes of these fires from insurance non-renewal or cancellation for one year from the date of the Governor's emergency declarations regardless of whether they suffered a loss.
In issuing the mandate, Lara said, "Homeowners plagued by devastating wildfires deserve the peace of mind that their home and future will remain covered by insurance as they recover and rebuild. Protecting wildfire survivors from non-renewals is one of the many actions I am taking to implement proactive solutions that address the impacts of climate change and extreme wildfires on our communities."
The Department of Insurance is deploying staff to wildfire disaster areas to assist survivors in filing claims and protect communities from potential insurance fraud and abuse.
The Commissioner's ability to issue the moratoriums results from a California law that he authored in 2018 while serving as a state senator in order to provide temporary relief from insurance non-renewals and cancellations to residents living within or adjacent to a gubernatorial-declared wildfire disaster.
Following the Governor's state of emergency declarations, the Department of Insurance partners with CAL FIRE and CalOES, pursuant to existing statute, to identify wildfire perimeters for mandatory moratorium areas. The Department of Insurance will continue to collaborate with CAL FIRE and CalOES to identify additional wildfire perimeters for any fires where the governor declares a state of emergency. -Sora O'Doherty |
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA