San Bernardino, CA - At 2:00pm on July 13th, #SBCoFD crews were dispatched to a reported vegetation fire in the area of Waterman Ave & Vanderbilt Way in San Bernardino.

ME231 arrived on-scene within two minutes to find 200’ x 50’ spot in the river bottom. Crews battled the fire with limited access, heavy fuels & 100+ degree temperatures. A water dropping helicopter from San Bernardino County Sheriff was requested for assist with water dropping & reconnaissance. A water dip site was set up and nearby station 231 to minimize turnaround. SBCOFD & SBSO recently trained on dip site and porta-tank operations. Thanks to SBSO for the assist.

Despite the high temperature and heavy fuels, the forward rate of spread was stopped at 5 acres. Crews remained on-scene for into the evening working on mop-up and containment lines.

SBCoFD’s regionalized service model allowed the City of San Bernardino to have continuous service by “moving-up” SBCoFD Engines to vacant stations. This ensures uninterrupted fire, rescue and EMS service is provided. Once crews achieved knockdown on the fire, the manpower from our hand crews allowed our incident commanders to release engine companies to their respective station.

San Bernardino County Fire responded with 13 Engines, 2 Water Tenders, 2 Hand Crews, 3 Chief Officers, a Dozer and a Fire Investigator. San Bernardino County Sheriff assisted with a water dropping helicopter. Colton FD & Loma Linda FD assisted with an Engine.