In The Community

Dry Creek Rancheria Fire and Rescue was AWARDED a GRANT FROM CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION TO CONTINUE WILDFIRE PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS EFFORTS IN Geyserville, Northern Sonoma County

With wildfire season becoming an almost year-round event in California, Dry Creek Rancheria Fire and Rescue has received a vital grant from the California Fire Foundation to assist with the ongoing need to address fire prevention and preparedness in our community.

The grant has enabled Dry Creek Rancheria Fire and Rescue to purchase NFPA compliant Personnel Protective Equipment that’s required during any fire related incident. Personnel Protective Equipment purchased is able to outfit all of the department employees that includes the following: Mystery Ranch hydration packs with accessories, Dual Compliant Wildland Pants and Calfire spec wildland jacket.

The California Fire Foundation offers statewide grant opportunities to California fire departments, firefighter associations, and community-based organizations in support of local wildfire prevention education and planning, specialized firefighting and personal protective equipment, fuels reduction and defensible space projects, community safety initiatives, and relief and recovery efforts.

“This funding partnership is critical for Dry Creek Rancheria Fire and Rescue to keep our staff safe from injuries while being compliant with State Regulations during fire suppression efforts said Fire Captain Cory Smith. "We are so very thankful to the California Fire Foundation for this invaluable grant. It will be hugely beneficial to our community.”

“The need to address wildfire prevention and preparedness is an integral part of living in California,” said Rick Martinez, Executive Director, California Fire Foundation. “These grants support important projects focusing on keeping Californians, our state’s communities, and our first responders safe.”

Since 2018, California Fire Foundation grants have served communities at heightened wildfire risk, directly addressing the state's toughest disaster-risk needs. For more information on California Fire Foundation grants visit www.cafirefoundation.org/grants.

Media Contact: Fire Captain Cory Smith – cory.smith@dcrfire.com – (707)814-4390

On August 15th around midnight an immediate need strike team from Sonoma County was requested to the HEAD Fire in the Klamath National Forest. A strike team consists of 5 engines and a strike team leader.   DCR Fire sent a type 3 fire engine with 4 people. They arrived the morning of the 16th and were assigned structure defence / protection in the area.

The engine is still committed to the incident which is now the Happy Camp Complex fire.

Chief Matt Epstein was one of ten California firefighters invited to appear on The Ellen Show to discuss battling recent wildfires, including the Getty and Kincade fires.

This is the information site for recovery efforts related to the October 2017 Sonoma County wildfires. The site is a joint effort of the County of Sonoma and City of Santa Rosa.

This profile of Chief Matt Epstein in The Jewish News of Northern California includes the DCR Fire Department’s role in fighting the Tubbs Fire in 2017.