Albion-Little River Volunteer Fire Department

Final status: Friday, July 18, 2008 @ 7:00 PM:

The Mendocino Lightning Complex consumed 53,300 acres and is 100% contained. Residents are reminded that smoke and flare-ups may continue within control lines. Firefighters will continue to extinguish any remaining hot spots and will be patrolling all fires for several weeks.

Beginning around 5:00 pm on June 20, 2008 and quickly passing across the region, the dry lightning series ignited and sustained 129 wildland fires in Mendocino County alone. Four fires were fought within our own district. The Salmon Creek fire was the first reported, and it was contained relatively quickly. Within hours, the River Fire was located and attacked, bringing containment quickly before it could gain a foothold in the pygmy. [more...]

January 1 of this year marked the beginning of a new era for the Albion-Little River Volunteer Fire Department, as Fire Chief Derek Wilson stepped forward to take command.

Chief Wilson has been a volunteer firefighter in Albion-Little River for 13 years—the last five serving as an Officer. [more...]

One of the goals of the Albion-Little River Volunteer Fire Department is to make our communities “disaster resilient”. Pre-disaster preparedness begins with awareness. At the community level, ALRVFD is taking steps to prepare for the worst. Sheriff Thomas Allman’s office recently donated three 20 foot storage containers to be filled with community disaster supplies and placed on each of the three ridges in our district. These will provide necessary emergency resources in the event our bridges are damaged and our communities become isolated. [more...]

Thanks to generous community donations, the Albion-Little River Volunteer Fire Department recently purchased six Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) from Cardiac Science. Now there is an AED on each ridge and three others assigned to specific EMTs/Officers throughout the district so that we can respond directly to the patient without waiting for a rescue rig, thereby allowing us to provide the fastest and most effective possible response when every minute counts. [more...]

Every year, a total ban on outdoor burning throughout Mendocino County goes into effect. As of Monday, June 16, 2008, all residential and open outdoor burning within Mendocino County is suspended, per the CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit Chief.

Violating this ban is not only dangerous, but can be very expensive even if the fire burns as intended. [more...]

A team of federally licensed amateur radio operators (Hams) has joined the Albion-Little River Fire Auxiliary. They are trained and equipped to handle communications in the event other systems of communication go down in a disaster. Hams have assisted in emergency situations for decades and were invaluable during the Katrina disaster. They are also able to help in community events such as parades and marathons.

There are five Hams on Albion Ridge that can communicate with the rest of the county with and without the use of repeaters, and two more soon to be active in Little River. [more...]

Approaching emergency vehicles, with lights flashing and sirens wailing, evoke a myriad of responses from drivers, ranging from panic to complete refusal of acknowledgment. Some people simply don’t know what to do, even though they would like to help out. We would like to explain some rules of the road as they pertain to emergency vehicles and you.

When an emergency vehicle uses its siren and flashing lights, it is to indicate to other drivers that there is an incident which requires a rapid, life-saving response and the roadway needs to be clear for a safe, yet speedy progress. [more...]

Every year thousands of California Wildland acres and hundreds of homes are destroyed during fire season and each year firefighters have to make decisions on which homes they can or cannot save, allocating their time, equipment and personnel to the most defensible ones. Many people do not think about wildfire until it is headed their way, and by then it is possibly too late. We would like to share with you some preventive measures which you can take to give your home a fighting chance. [more...]

Many of us choose to live in rural Northern California to get away from it all, to have peace and quiet surrounding us. For many of us it is important to have privacy and solitude. The Fire Department understands and shares these concerns and does not want to intrude on your space. However, it is equally important that our emergency personnel and their vehicles can reach you quickly if you ever need us. It is not uncommon for the fire department to receive an urgent 911 call from a residence that is tucked away, difficult to locate and completely unidentified from the road. There are a few easy and inexpensive steps to take to help ensure a speedy response from your local fire department. [more...]

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training is a course that educates community members about disaster hazards and preparedness specific to their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills so that they can give critical support to their families and neighbors until professional rescue help arrives. [more...]