Briceland Volunteer Fire Department

During 2023-2024 our Fire Department provided Dept. of Forestry & Fire Protection with cover assistance on 7 different incidents and Mutual Aide Support on Cal-Fire Stations, as well as sending a Strike Team to the SRF Lightning Complex in the Klamath Forest in early fall 2023. In early January 2024 we provided assistance to Humboldt Co. Office of Emergency Services, prepositioning response teams for the numerous winter storms that hit the Northcoast region. We responded to numerous fire, emergency and medical incidents in our service area. We completed our District-wide Road Mapping and Naming grant project for the numerous private rural roads in our area. This has contributed greatly to emergency response time and has tied into GIS locations with the Humboldt County mapping project. In November 2023, we were awarded a USDA/USFS Community Wildfire Defense Grant. We began a pilot project on five miles of a private road system to create a buffer fire break and safer evacuation route for residents and access for emergency responders. We continued to conduct Prescribed Burns, outreaching to areas outside our District, furthering our Fuels Hazard Reduction program as well as being a part of our Fire Training Program. In June 2024 we were awarded a Defensible Space Project grant through the Humboldt Co. Dept. of Public Works, as part of the California Climate Investments Program through the California Fire Safe Council. This grant will provide for 90-120 homesites to be treated with a 100' buffer zone and home risk assessment to help harden residents homes to better resist wildfires. Our Department continued to offer basic and advanced fire fighter trainings through our annual Fire Academy Training grants as well as recruiting potential new fire fighters. Our Department members participated in many basic and advanced training courses throughout 2023-2024.