Aurora firefighters return from Los Angeles with lessons, suggestions on fire safety
The brush crew from Aurora Fire Rescue that went and helped in the Los Angeles firefighting efforts said Coloradans need to be prepared for a wildland fire at any time of year.
The last time we saw Captain Jeremy Sones and the Aurora Fire Rescue Brush 13 crew they were on their way to fight the massive wildfires that were burning in LA.
"We got back last Monday evening. What are we looking at? 17 days," said Sones.
He said fighting the Palisades Fire was a life changing experience.
"Even being in the business for 36 years that I've been. It's so hard to fathom that areas that were burned and were devastated and destroyed are so far from the vegetation environment and ecosystem," said Sones.
Wednesday night he and his crew are hosting a community meeting and Q&A about their deployment. He said the purpose is to try to get people to understand that this could happen here.
"You know, every day can be fire season if we don't have any moisture," said Sones.
The Q&A also aims help residents prepare in case the unthinkable happens
"They need they need to know how to, you know, have an evac plan and know, and have an alert system either on their phone or opt into like a code red system we have here," said Sones.
"One thing they can do really easily is taking vegetation out of their roof gutters in the valleys of their roof. The roof is a large area, large horizontal surface area that those things accumulate. And it's really the embers from these types of fires that are, you know, received from these things and then initiate those ignitions."
He said his crew worked hard and gained a lot of useful knowledge he hopes he never has to use here at home.
"We're committed as a fire department and as a city to be, you know, to better prepare for these types of incidents," said Sones.
The community meeting will take place at the Aurora Municipal Center from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday night. It will also be streamed on Aurora Fire Rescue's YouTube page.
