California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

Agency in California

CAL FIRE's foremost operational role is to fight and prevent wildfire on 31 million acres of state forestland. The organization works in both suppression and prevention capacities on state land, and offers emergency services of various kinds in 36 out of California's 58 counties, through contracts with local governments. The organization also assists in response to a wide range of disasters and incidents, including earthquakes, water rescues, and hazardous material spills. The organization manages eight Demonstration State Forests for timber production, recreation, and research. In conjunction with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, CAL FIRE uses thousands of incarcerated firefighters at 44 conservation camps throughout the state on fire prevention, fire suppression, and various maintenance and conservation projects. CAL FIRE works with employees of the California Conservation Corps since that agency's creation in a partnership for fire suppression duties, logistics and forestry management. CCC corps members are involved in job training programs as Type 1 Hand Crew firefighters, supervised by CAL FIRE personnel, in increasing prevalence to offset CDCR inmates as the incarcerated firefighter program is closed. Programs to control wood boring insects and diseases of trees are under forestry programs managed by CAL FIRE. The vehicle fleet is managed from an office in Davis, California.

The largest and most visible part of CAL FIRE operations is fire protection. Operations are divided into 21 operational units, which geographically follow county lines. Each unit consists of the area of one or more counties. Operational units are grouped under either the North Region or South Region. The Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) is the CAL FIRE program that protects life and property through the development and application of fire prevention, engineering, training and education, and enforcement. As part of this mission, OSFM establishes a fire safe environment for the people of California, which serves as a foundation for local agencies to build on as they strive to meet their specific goals. There are two CAL FIRE training centers. The original academy is the CAL FIRE Training Center in Ione, east of Sacramento. The second academy is at the Ben Clark Training Center in Riverside. Both centers host the Fire Fighter Academy (FFA). All CAL FIRE Fire Protection employees go through this academy once they become permanent employees. The Company Officer Academy (COA) is only held in Ione. All new company officers (Engineer, Captain, Forester I, etc.) attend this academy.

As of 2017, median pay for full time firefighters (which includes base pay, special pay, overtime and benefits) is $148,000.

Firefighters employed by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection are represented by IAFF affiliate, CAL FIRE Local 2881, which represents 5,700 members within CAL FIRE Local 2881 and is also associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

Operational units are organizations designed to address fire suppression over a geographic area. They vary widely in size and terrain. For example, Lassen Modoc Plumas Operational Unit encompasses three rural counties and consists of eight fire stations, one Helitack Base, three conservation camps and an inmate firefighter training center. Fire suppression resources include 13 front line fire engines, 1 helicopter, 3 bulldozers and 14 inmate fire crews. The unit shares an interagency emergency command center with federal agencies including the US Forest Service, National Park Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. An interagency center contributes to economies of scale, supports cooperation, and lends itself to a more seamless operation. The area has fragmented jurisdictions across a large rural area along the Nevada and Oregon state lines. Riverside Operational Unit by itself is one of the largest fire departments in the nation, with 95 fire stations and about 230 pieces of equipment. The Riverside Operational Unit operates the Riverside County Fire Department under contract as well operates eighteen city fire departments and one community services district fire department. Nine of these stations belong to the state, with rest owned by the respective local government entity. The unit operates its own emergency command center in Perris. Terrain served includes urban and suburban areas of the Inland Empire and communities in the metropolitan Palm Springs area. The area includes forested mountains, the Colorado River basin, the Mojave Desert and Interstate 10. The counties of Marin (MRN), Kern (KRN), Santa Barbara (SBC), Ventura (VNC), Los Angeles (LAC) and Orange (ORC) are paid by CAL FIRE to provide fire protection to state responsibility areas within those counties rather than CAL FIRE providing direct fire protection, and are commonly known as the "Contract Counties". Lawmakers in Sacramento have mandated that every operational unit develop and implement an annual fire management plan. The plan will develop cooperation and community programs to reduce damage from, and costs of, fires in California. One metric used by fire suppression units is initial attack success: fires stopped by the initial resources, (equipment and people,) sent to the incident.

CAL FIRE uses various apparatus to accomplish their daily responses. Engines fall under two categories, either being state owned — mostly wildland, or city/county owned, which CAL FIRE operates under contract. For the wildland portion, most engines are manufactured with West Mark or Westates (now American Truck & Fire Apparatus) bodies on an International chassis. Commonly seen models of wildland engines include the Model 14, and 15. CAL FIRE Models 24 and 25 were test bed models, with only a few of each model fielded. The newest versions of these engines are CAL FIRE model 34 (4WD) and 35 (2WD), manufactured by Placer Fire Equipment, Rosenbauer, and HME. Model 34/35's are currently being fielded statewide. As of 2009 Model 35's have been discontinued and Model 34's from BME Apparatus are the new standard. Fact sheets on all of CAL FIRE's current service Type 3 (wildland) engine models can be found on the CAL FIRE Web site under Mobile Equipment.

CAL FIRE owns its own fleet of air tankers, tactical aircraft and helicopters, which are managed under the Aviation Management Program. Additional aviation resources are leased by the department when needed. All of the fixed wing aircraft, while owned by CAL FIRE, are piloted and maintained by DynCorp International. The CAL FIRE Air Program is one of the largest non military air programs in the country, consisting of twenty three (23) Grumman S 2 Tracker (S 2T version) 1,200 gallon fixed wing turboprop air tankers, seven (7) Lockheed Martin C 130H Hercules 4,000 gallon fixed wing turboprop air tankers (in service in 2025), fourteen (14) North American Rockwell OV 10 Bronco fixed wing turboprop air tactical aircraft and twelve (12) Bell UH 1H Super Huey helicopters. CAL FIRE has also now begun operating new Sikorsky S 70i Firehawk helicopters for aerial firefighting support including water drops and is planning to acquire up to twelve (12) of these rotorcraft to replace the aging Bell UH 1H Super Huey fleet. From the thirteen (13) air attack and ten (10) helitack bases located statewide, aircraft can reach most fires within 20 minutes. Aircraft are a prominent feature of CAL FIRE, especially during the summer fire season. Both fixed and rotary wing aircraft are employed. Helicopters (also known as rotorcraft or rotary wing aircraft) are used to transport firefighting "Helitack Crews" into fire areas. They also drop water and retardant chemicals on fires. Fixed wing aircraft are used for command, observation, and to drop retardant chemicals on fires. CAL FIRE contracted in the past with 10 Tanker Air Carrier for three years' of exclusive use of their McDonnell Douglas DC 10 10 heavy air tanker known as Tanker 910 for aerial firefighting at a cost of $5 million per year. Additional access was also provided to DC 10 30 air tankers, being Tanker 911 and Tanker 912. In 2014 Tanker 910 was retired; however, 10 Tanker Air Carrier continues to currently operate several DC 10 30 air tankers. On October 7, 2014, a CAL FIRE S 2T air tanker crashed while fighting the Dog Rock Fire in Yosemite National Park. The pilot was killed.

CAL FIRE uses several enterprise IT systems to manage operations. Altaris CAD, a computer assisted dispatch system made by Northrop Grumman, is employed by each unit's emergency command center (ECC) to track available resources and assignments.

Fire Country is an American drama television series in which a young convict volunteers for the Conservation Camp Program and assists Cal Fire.