We have all seen the news footage – huge wildfires consuming large areas in California. Last year, major fires like the Woolsey and Camp fires, destroyed thousands of acres of woodland, thousands of homes and disrupted the lives of tens of thousands of residents. And, in almost every newsreel, you saw firefighters and other first responders, doing tasks, such as fighting the fires, clearing a fire line, help escaping residents and much more. It begs the question, “How does California organize thousands of firefighters and other personnel to have them all respond to these fires?”

My guest on this episode of “5-Alarm Task Force” is FF/PM/Eng Brad Bihun. Brad is a firefighter, paramedic and engineer in Southern CA. However, he is also trained as a PIO – Public Information Officer, for CAL Fire, the state’s special fire coordination department. Brad explains to us how the state uses six Incident Management Teams to rally all the forces needed for both mitigating an incident and caring for the people effected by it. Last year, one of these major fires required over 8,000 men and women, with various responsibilities, to handle the emergency and its ramifications.

Brad provides many insights into how the third-largest state in the U.S., is able to organize responses to certain emergencies that most of us, hopefully, will never see, yet are all too common in California! Tune in on your favorite podcast platform or at www.dalmatianproductions.tv.