Mother Lode Fire Information
Clarke Broadcasting, KVML, KZSQ, KKBN and Mymotherlode.com are all dedicated to bringing you the most up to date fire season information possible in the Mother lode region. Visit Mymotherlode.com or listen to KVML, KZSQ or KKBN for updates and breaking news developments.
If you see a fire and want to report it, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection recommends you call 911. 911 Personnel can determine quickly what department needs to be notified and helps dispatch aid to the location of the fire in a quick and efficient manner.
For information regarding whether or not it is a burn or no burn day, please call the Tuolumne County Air Pollution Control District at (209) 533-5598. For Calaveras County please call: (209) 754-6600 - Copperopolis Residents: (209) 785-7664
The CDF
 The men and women of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) are dedicated to the fire protection and stewardship of over 31 million acres of California´s privately owned wild lands. In addition, the Department provides varied emergency services in 33 of the State´s 58 counties via contracts with local governments.
The Department´s firefighters, fire engines, and aircraft respond to an average 6,400 wild land fires each year. Those fires burn an average of nearly 148,000 acres annually.
For more information on the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention please visit CDF Home page
U.S. Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management
 The Fire and Aviation Management part of the USDA Forest Service is a diverse group of people working to advance technologies in fire management and suppression, maintain and improve the extremely efficient mobilization and tracking systems in place, and reach out in support of our Federal, State, and International fire partners.
Their core values of Safety, Integrity, and Mutual Respect guide their interactions, decision-making, and their care of America´s public lands.
For more information on the U.S. Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management division please visit their website at U.S. Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management Division
Fill These Boots
 Fill these boots with volunteer firefighters…
Call 209-533 5983
Your local firefighting recruitment team:
Tuolumne County Fire Department, Columbia Fire Protection District, Jamestown Fire Protection District, Twain Harte Community Services District Fire, Groveland Community Services District Fire, Mi Wuk Sugar Pine Protection District, Sonora City Fire Department Tuolumne Fire Protection District.
· Enjoy teamwork that improves your public safety.
· Receive free quality education and training.
· Encounter challenging, adventuresome and rewarding work.
· Get to know your community
· Educate your community about fire safety.
· Get off to a good start in a fire service career.
· Help in staying fit.
· Experience appreciation for a job well done.
· Firefighter stipend program.
· Retirement benefits.
Help your community by becoming a volunteer firefighter! Call 209-533 5983 Today!
Useful Links
 There are now many resources available to assist property owners, including a number of Web sites with excellent information on fire-resistant building materials, landscaping techniques, evacuation procedures, etc. We know you will find these links very useful.
MODIS Active Fire Maps
California Department of Forestry
National Interagency Fire Center
The Firewise Home Page
Wildfire News and Notes
The Smokey Bear Web Site
Tuolumne FireSafe Council
The History of Fire Fighting
 In recorded historical times, First Century Romans were the first known civilization to have a paid fire department. It consisted of about 7,000 fire fighters, who not only doused fires, but were also empowered with authority to police the streets in order to punish those who violated their fire prevention codes. An inventor by the name of Ctesibius devised the first known fire pump around 200 B.C. but the idea was lost, ironically, in the burning of Alexandria, Ctesibius´ home city. It wasn´t until A.D. 1500 that the fire pump was again re-invented. For many years throughout Europe and the American colonies fire-fighting equipment was extremely elementary, and not very effective. The Great London fire of 1666, which burned for 4 days and destroyed the city, encouraged the advancement of fire fighting by the invention of a two-person operated piston pump that was moved about fairly easily on wheels.
In 1648 Peter Stuyvesant, Governor of New Amsterdam (Now known as New York City) pioneered fire prevention for the New World by appointing fire inspectors with the power to impose fines for fire code violations, an idea he unknowingly copied from the Romans. In 1653 Boston had its first "great fire," after which it adopted a fire code. A subsequent great fire" in 1679 destroyed the dockyard, warehouses, and 150 houses prompting them to import one of the early fire engines, a ten-person pump that was created by English inventor Richard Newsham. It wasn´t until 1743 that Thomas Lote constructed the first fire engine to be manufactured in the America´s.
In 1829 a steam-powered fire engine was invented, but fire fighters of the day were reluctant to accept it. In 1841, a self-propelled fire engine was invented, financed by a group of insurance companies. It was scoffed at by the firefighters of the time, who refused to use it. Finally, the insurance companies were forced to concede that the project was a failure. Eventually there was such an outcry by the public in Cincinnati, Ohio, that the fire fighters there were forced to adopt its use.
The first ladder wagon´s appeared in 1870 and the hose elevator was put in use around 1871. Gasoline engines were at first used either as pumping engines or as tractors to pull other apparatus. Eventually the two functions were combined, with one engine both propelling the truck and driving the pump. In modern times, equipment is most often diesel powered and has become extremely diverse and versatile, with many variations on the basic fire engine design. This enables firefighters to respond to many types of emergency situations with appropriate equipment at hand.
|