California Professional Firefighters

On Wednesday, July 10, 2013, fallen firefighters with California roots were flown home from Arizona to the Golden State aboard a National Guard C-130. A Memorial Ramp Ceremony upon their arrival gave all California firefighters the opportunity to pay their respects to those who paid the ultimate price. 

CDF Firefighters Local 2881 is saddened to announce the line-of-duty death of CAL FIRE Engineer/Paramedic Christopher Douglas, who was fatally injured this morning after being hit by a car while working along eastbound Interstate 10 in the Thousand Palms area of Riverside County. 

In the most devastating firefighter loss since 9/11, 19 Prescott Arizona firefighters died Sunday battling a devastating wildland blaze in central Arizona. A public memorial was held in Prescott on Tuesday, July 9 at 11:00am at the Toyota Center.

For some California families, Sunday's tragedy in central Arizona carries special pain. Five California natives were among the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who died in Sunday's catastrophic burn over of the Yarnell Hills Fire.

 Despite hundreds of millions in concessions and give-backs by working people, anti-pension hard liners are doubling down on their attacks. Now, a billionaire Texas hedge fund operator linked with the defunct and discredited Enron is promising millions to a California campaign to gut retirement security for firefighters and other workers.

At a time when the Central Coast is under siege from wildland fires, Vandenberg firefighters are getting furlough notices. Thanks to the federal sequester, all 57 firefighters will face furloughs of up to 32 hours a month from July through September, and will see the closure of the base Hot Shots program.

 Untrained or poorly-trained "rescuers" are increasingly becoming casualties themselves in multiple fatality incidents, both in and outside the workplace. 

No new anti-pension measures are being eyed at either the state or local level in California, and those that have passed are facing increasing difficulty in the courts. With pension funds at record levels and voter indifference rising, the anti-retirement tide may have finally ebbed.

The convicted murderer who set a North Hollywood arson fire that killed 34-year-old L.A. City firefighter Thomas Taylor in 1981 is eligible to be released from prison. Watch and share and find out why Mario Catanio deserves to stay behind bars.

Rain and cooler temperatures provided a much-needed break for firefighters battling the 28,000 acre Springs Fire in Ventura County. But the real miracle may have been the work of the firefighters themselves.