Mutual Aid in Action: DLA San Joaquin firefighters support local crews in 5-alarm fire

Firefighters from Firefighters from Defense Logistics Agency Installation Management, San Joaquin Fire & Emergency Services responded to an offsite five-alarm fire June 11, one with plumes of smoke visible from neighboring counties and television news coverage visible across the nation.

The firefighters from the DLA site, which sits at the eastern edge of Tracy, received the call to help battle the blaze about six miles away at a warehouse on the western edge of the city as part of a mutual aid agreement with nearby emergency agencies. Typically, the DLA crew might receive a call to help when their proximity to the situation makes them the closest responders available.

This call for help to the DLA firehouse, however, was made due to the massive scope of the inferno, said David Herman, fire chief, DLA Installation Management at San Joaquin. The one-million-square-foot Medline Industries warehouse, a major distribution center for the medical and surgical equipment provider, stood in an industrial park that also housed distribution centers for other major companies.

"We were actually on a hazmat call on the installation when we were diverted to the fire," explained Bryce Pierce, firefighter, DLA Installation Management at San Joaquin. "As soon as we pulled off the installation, we saw that huge column of smoke."

The four-man firefighting crew of Pierce, Justin Mello, Gavin Hinz and Mark Haynes took DLA San Joaquin's ladder truck number 262 and spent the next 20 hours lobbing water at the massive structure fire.

"Every firefighter's best day is someone else's worst day," added Hinz, noting the tragic loss of not just the building, but also of the estimated $50 million in medical supplies and other assets.

Upon arrival at the scene, the crew first hooked up to nearby private yard hydrants, only to find them grossly under-pressured and inadequate to supply enough water to douse the flames. Instead, the DLA team carried their hoses further away to the nearest municipal water supply and began pumping more than 600,000 gallons onto the fire that engulfed the facility and threatened another nearby building.

"In a situation like that, you really have to lean on your training and look to your crew," said Pierce. "I've been a firefighter for 13 years, and that was by far the most intense fire I have seen. It was a once-in-a-career fire."

Looking for the silver lining in the cloud of smoke, Pierce said the DLA team is appreciative of the opportunity to put their constant training to real-world use and the camaraderie while working with their counterparts from other emergency agencies. The combined efforts of emergency personnel resulted in the containment and extinguishment of the massive fire without any lives lost and no major injuries reported.

"Our training involved building construction," explained Pierce. "So, to be able to see the building collapse, to watch as the structure failed, it really helps you see how you might handle that situation on the installation if it ever occurs."

Pierce and his coworkers also noted that firefighters, regardless of the department to which they're employed, are considered a brotherhood, and that the DLA team is in good company when working with the other departments in California's central valley region. The mutual aid agreement between the various agencies provides a certain amount of relief to the DLA department.

"If we ever get something on the installation that we're not equipped to handle, we'll receive reciprocal aid from them," explained Herman. "We'll need them for anything more than a single-room or contents fire. And that's why it's so important to maintain the communication systems, ensuring we're able to share radio frequencies with our county and local partners without restrictions. The systems in place don't mean anything if they're not maintained."

For the DLA San Joaquin firefighters, the mutual aid agreement not only provides opportunities to broaden their firefighting skills and experiences with other experts in the field, but it also allows them the opportunity to help out their neighbors in advance of any situations where that reciprocated assist is needed back home.

"With this mutual aid agreement, we provide our assistance whenever we're needed, but it's not a one-sided partnership," explained Herman. "We don't need their assistance very often, but if it comes down to it, we'd need their help more than they'd need ours."