Las Positas College (LPC) offers a range of hands-on programs, focused on experience for students to get straight into their chosen working field. One of these programs includes the LPC Regional Fire Academy. Their training and preparations couldn’t have come at a better time.
On Jan. 7 fires raged in Southern California that destroyed the communities of Palisades and Eaton. News spread of the disaster across state and nation, as families were evacuated from the flames. Firefighters started calling in help, attempting to utilize all their resources.
Daniel Spoon, a student enrolled in the LPC Fire Academy was deployed to assist with combating the Eaton fires in Los Angeles. It was also his first time ever participating in an active wildfire situation.
“It’s kind of a whirlwind,” Spoon said, “Getting to see everything.”
Spoon had been volunteering at the River Delta Fire District. During his weekly twenty-four-hour shift, his chief had mentioned the possibility of going down. Not even an hour later a strike force was put together to go help.
“It was kind of a rush to get everything, since I [had] never done it before, so I had to have a whole packing list that I had to scramble to get down.”
His team was one part of a six-engine task force sent south.. Spoon’s strike force contributed two fire engines and six team members. Nothing could have prepared the team for what they were going to experience.
“Didn’t know what I was really getting myself into, yeah,” Spoon said. “But I kind of trusted the other people around me who had the experience and kind of followed their lead.”
One of the things Spoon remarked that made this fire remarkable even to his experienced team because it wasn’t just wild land, but urban residences, too. The Eaton fire as of now has been fully contained, but at the cost of over 9 thousand residential and commercial buildings being destroyed, and 17 fatalities. In total, Spoon was there for fifteen days.
One of the things that he had to rely on heavily was his gut instinct and basic training, which he acquired at Las Positas. The fire academy here at LPC is accredited with the California State Fire Marshal program, offering a wide range of training and experience from various valuable instructors.
As stated in their program’s descriptions:
“This program is designed to meet the dynamic challenges of fire department needs for pre-service recruits in the 21st century.”
LPC’s fire academy fosters networks for students not only to learn but also to be able to work and eventually be hired. According to Captain George Freelan, one of the academy instructors, five years ago, twenty four out of twenty eight students ended up getting full-time jobs.
Not every student, though, gets an experience like Spoon’s.
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TOP PHOTO: On January 7th, wildfires ravaged the neighborhoods of Eaton and Palisades. Daniel Spoon was deployed to the Southern California county to assist with firefighting efforts. (Image courtesy of Cal Fire).
Mel Llamas is the Opinions Editor for The Express. Follow him on X, formally Twitter, @MM_Llamas
