Firefighters Deploy to Sand Fire

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Three firefighters and a division chief from Laguna Beach returned to Laguna Beach this week after spending several days battling the Sand fire raging in the Santa Clarita Valley mountains.

Fire Chief Jeff LaTendresse says the Laguna contingent were part of a five-engine strike team drawn from five cities, including Anaheim, Huntington Beach, Garden Grove and Fountain Valley dispatched to assist the fire that roared to life last Friday.

A battalion chief from Anaheim is leading the strike team that includes Laguna firefighters Captain Eric Lether, Chip Gilmore and Forrestt Lazicki. They returned home Wednesday, LaTendresse said.

Laguna Division Chief Api Weinert returned home Tuesday after taking advantage of the crises to serve as a strike team leader trainee for five engines from the Orange County Fire Authority, LaTendresse said.

That sort of training is required to become certified to lead a five-engine strike team, LaTendresse said.

Altogether, fire agencies in the county sent out six strike teams or 30 engines, he said.

The blaze prompted the evacuation of at least 10,000 homes and had burned an estimated 38,000 acres as of Wednesday, July 27.

 

Engineers Ascend the Ladder

The 41-person Laguna fire department also announced the promotion to captain of two fire engineer paramedics, including the department’s only woman, Crissy Teichmann.

The department’s five captains are responsible for supervising an engine crew and earn about $122,000 in salary annually.

Dan Conroy also joins the department’s brass as captain. He began his career with Laguna as a reserve firefighter and was hired full-time in 2007.

Teichmann previously worked as a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service and as a fire inspector for the city of Garden Grove.

She is the department’s second female captain. The first to earn the rank in 1996 later became chief in the city of Monterey Park, Chief Jeff LaTendresse said.

Also, former Fire Chief James Reed, who served from 1999 – 2002, passed away on July 12, says a statement from the city manager. Reed also served as fire chief for Newport Beach and six other cities including Fullerton, where he retired in 2006. Services were held Friday, July 22, in Santa Ana.

 

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