A mobile store operating 24 hours a day keeps the more than 5,000 people who are fighting the Soberanes Fire supplied with equipment. At the Cal Fire incident base at Toro Regional Park, tons of supplies come in and go out daily. Firefighters will find safety clothing, such as gloves, shirts and hard hats.
They also will find axes, sledgehammers, chain saw blades, McLeods (combination rakes and hoes) , firehose, nozzles, gasoline and office supplies.
It’s like a Costco for firefighters.
With an order form in hand, a firefighter can exchange broken tools and damaged safety clothing for new ones.
“We are drawing resources from all over the nation,” said Cpt. Matthew Brandt, a Cal Fire supply unit leader.
So far, Brandt said, the supply unit has moved more than 1 million feet of hose to the fireline. It also has gone through between 400 and 500 five-gallon gas tanks. Larger fuel tanks for bulldozers and other heavy firefighting equipment is delivered by air in cargo nets.
“It (firefighting) requires a lot of tools and a lot of fuel,” Brandt said.
Most of the supplies are coming from a cache of firefighting items in Ontario, California, one of two caches in California. The other one is in Redding. There are 12 caches throughout the United States.
The supply unit has two sides: supplies and ordering, Brandt explained. No money is exchanged. It’s all done by ordering. However, the unit does purchase products from local retailers when necessary, especially office supplies.