East Contra Costa Fire Protection District Chief Hugh Henderson provided a message to the community this morning about the districts response to the Morgan Territory Fire which burned just over 3,100 acres. It should also be noted that since ECCFPD was the responding agency, we had a Battalion Chief assigned to the fire from start to finish working directly with CALFIRE.
Kudos to all who fought this fire and saved over 100 homes that were in danger–that is incredible!!!!
Here is his message
Dear ECCFPD resident,
Morgan Fire Update
As of 6 AM on Friday, September 13, 2013, the Morgan Fire is 95% contained and the focus of our activity has gone from fire suppression, to starting the process of repairing natural resources in the impacted areas.
On Sunday afternoon, September 8, 2013, at roughly 1:30 p.m. the first report of the Morgan Fire was called into 911. Within an hour of the initial dispatch, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) had five engines on scene, with four water tenders and two Battalion Chiefs, who were actively battling the fire.
An Emergency Recall was conducted and off-duty personnel were able to re-staff all 5 ECCFPD stations and continue to provide normal emergency response throughout the District. I am personally very proud of the level of service District personnel continued to provide the region during what will go down as the largest fire (total acres burned) since the District was formed in November of 2002.
The feedback I’ve received from residents, ECCFPD Board Members and elected officials mirrors my own, that we are all very proud of our personnel for their outstanding hard work and their continued commitment to provide safety throughout the communities we serve.
Finally, the Morgan Fire, once again has shined a light on the extreme importance of maintaining adequate fire protection for our District and County as a whole.
Respectfully,
Hugh Henderson
ECCFPD Fire Chief
7 comments
To all those involved in the Morgan fire, thank you so much
God Bless all those brave people who came together to keep this fire from being a total disaster. The incredible training, fast response and determination of the firefighters and assistance from everyone to save homes, animals etc brings a sense of pride and awe. You are unbelieveable. Thank you and God bless and keep you safe always!
Chief Henderson is too modest. He and his Batallion Chiefs–as well as our off-duty Firefighters–did an incredible job getting all 5 ECCFPD Stations restaffed within hours. The first three were restaffed quite quickly. Our entire on-duty roster of Firefighters and nine apparatus were committed to the Morgan Fire, as were the CALFIRE personnel and apparatus from the Sunshine Station. There was zero ECCFPD coverage for the rest of the district, and CONFIRE would have been hard pressed to send help as they had also committed many companies to the Morgan Fire.
Some misinformation has appeared in other comment threads. It is true that ultimate responsibility for the area covered by the Morgan Fire rests with the state. However, it took over 24 hours for CALFIRE to assemble a sufficiently large force from all over California. Until that could be done, local departments had to take a major responsibility for the first full day of firefighting.
The Morgan Fire occurred in our district. As a result, It is unlikely that ECCFPD will be reimbursed for its expenses. Those include roughly a day of overtime for another full shift of Firefighters. This is why it is ECCFPD Board policy to target a 20% reserve, even though we do not come close to achieving it.
Thank you to all of you for your hard work and for saving so many homes and keeping everyone safe!!!
No lives lost, no horses lost, no houses lost! What a great job all of you did to avoid these disasters! Thank you so much for all that you do!
Does anyone know why immediate air support was not employed?
Congrats to the firefighters involved for staying safe in a really tough terrain, and thank goodness for the incredibly mild winds.
Curious1, Maybe Steve can answer that as he knows the truth about what happened in the first 24 hours that local crews had control of the fire. Steve please tell what happened in that first hours that the fire went from 1/2 acre to Cal Fire taking control at 800 acres. What is true is that all firefighters did a great job and no lives were lost only a couple minor injuries to Cal firefighters. Steve, tell us please what happened with immediate air support?
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