Yuma, Arizona - Yuma Fire Department’s firefighters, deployed to help with California wildfires, have returned home! They were notified early Thursday afternoon that they were being demobilized later in the day, and began the process that ended with them beginning their trip back to Yuma. They arrived back in Yuma after midnight this morning.
Yuma’s firefighters, working as a part of an Imperial Valley Task Force, first left for assignment to the “Creek Fire” on Tuesday December 5th. Since then the Task Force was reassigned to the “Thomas” Fire in Ventura, CA. The first crew of firefighters were relieved and replaced by fresh personnel on Tuesday December 19th.
YFD firefighters worked 24 hour shifts (24 hrs. on and 24hrs. off) protecting homes and dealing with spot fires in their assigned areas. Their duties involved significant amounts of hiking in varying terrains. Our firefighters were part of an effort involving more than 8000 fire personnel.
All YFD personnel are returning back to their regular duty assignments. Those who returned back last night from our department were Fire Captain Brian Friar, Fire Engineer Jesse Townley, Firefighter Alex Diaz, and Firefighter Leo Gonzales. We are glad to have them back (especially in time for Christmas!) and congratulate them on a job well done!
Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the Fire Service personnel, their families, and others who have been affected by and have lost so much in this season’s wildfires.