Cal Fire to open new center in the Redding area
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is opening a new fire center in the Redding area. The new location, though, won't feature big, red fire engines with lights and sirens.
Cal Fire plans to open the center within the next few weeks and staff it with a "type 1 crew" that fights fire by building fire line using hand tools and chain saws in areas that bulldozers can't reach, according to Gabriel Trull, a Cal Fire battalion chief.
Because the crew has grown to 40 members, it has outgrown its current location in Whitmore, Trull said. Cal Fire will lease the property, which formerly housed a Victor Treatment Center for youth with "specialty mental health needs."
The number of fires in recent years in the Anderson-Happy Valley area was also a factor in choosing the new location at 855 Canyon Road, a Cal Fire official said in April.
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Cal Fire has long used incarcerated inmate crews, but the new crew will be made up of "firefighter 1's" who are non-inmates, Cal Fire said. Trull said new fire center will be similar to ones in Modoc and Glenn counties.
The new center also will give Cal Fire the option to increase the number of crews operating in the Shasta County area, Cal Fire said.
"During critical fire weather or at times of increased incident activity, the (Cal Fire) unit can utilize off-duty crew members to staff a total of three separate firefighting hand crews," the agency said in a news release.
In late 2019, Victor announced it was closing its residential group homes and non-public school facility in Redding, a move that affected 60 children and 90 employees. A Cal Fire official said in April that another reason for moving to the new site is the number of fires in recent years in the Anderson-Happy Valley area.
Last year, Cal Fire opened a new $7 million, 10,000-square-foot fire station in Anderson on Riverside Drive, between Interstate 5 and Highway 273. The 3-acre property was donated by Sierra Pacific Industries donated the 3-acre property to the county.
In addition to fighting fires, the crews at the Canyon Road center also will conduct fuel-thinning projects, Trull said.
Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on Twitter at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Why Cal Fire is expanding in the Redding area
