California National Guard, 40th CAB Fight Fires, Rescue those trapped as California Burns

Cal Guard aircraft from the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade have been rescuing people trapped by the #CreekFire. These photos are of Cal Guardsmen on the rescue flights Saturday, Sept. 6.

Early this morning, Sept. 8, 2020, there were three more rescue flights. A Cal Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter from the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade evacuated 13 people from China Peak to the Fresno Air Terminal at 3:16 a.m. A U.S. Navy SH-60 Seahawk helicopter from Lemoore evacuated 11 people from Lake Edison to the Fresno Air Terminal at 4:44 a.m. A Cal Guard UH-60 Black Hawk from the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade flew 11 people from Lake Edison to the Fresno Air Terminal at 5:42 a.m

The smell of smoke hangs heavy in the air as the Soldiers and Airmen make their way through the burnt and barren landscape. Forcing their way through charred branches and soft dirt, they meet up with the rest of the crew, who were helicoptered a few hours prior and are already at work clearing brush and roots.

Rattlesnake has been activated since early last week, often operating in 24-hour shifts as hand crews, to assist the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) in containing the LNU Lightning Complex fire, which includes the counties of Sonoma, Napa, and Lake, California.

“We’re cutting line, we’re separating the fire from the live brush, we do a four-foot scrape to protect housing and prevent something from sparking it back up,” said Hortua, a hand crew team member with a Rattlesnake Fresno team.

“This is a very large fire, so we’ve been a contingency force and we’ve been sent out to the highest risk areas with the most fire activity to cut some hand lines directly against the fire line, basically prevent fires from impeding on some of the communities around here,” said Tabor.

Soldiers and Airmen with Rattlesnake must often work in dangerous conditions, smoke, ash, long hours, and rugged terrain are always a challenge when hiking to a wildfire in need of containing. The northernmost perimeter of the LNU Lightning Complex fire, located near Rumsey Canyon, was especially challenging for the teams.

Due to the rough terrain, over 50 Rattlesnake members were flown by UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and dropped on the ridge, while a crew of nearly 15 drove to the remote site at the base of the canyon, ensuring transportation back at the end of their shift. The crew then hiked a brutal 3.5 miles up to the ridge in order to tie in with the rest of the team, said Tabor.

Below: Three rescue flights from #CreekFire to Fresno Air Terminal over night. Cal Guard UH-60 Black Hawk, 13 people from China Peak, 3:16 a.m. Navy SH-60 Seahawk from Lemoore, 11 people from Lake Edison, 4:44 a.m. Cal Guard UH-60 Black Hawk, 11 people from Lake Edison 5:42 a.m.

Watch Below: The Cal Guard is working with the California Medical Assistance Team (CAL-MAT) to staff an emergency medical clinic for shelter evacuees and first responders in Santa Cruz following the CZU Lightning Complex Fire