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Astoria firefighters recount deployment to California Palisades fire; city thanks crews
Summary
Members of the Astoria Fire Department described their deployment to the Palisades fire in California, where five engines from the county and 17 firefighters assisted with structure protection, mop‑up and community support amid large losses. City leaders recognized the crew’s work and described mutual aid cooperation.
Three members of the Astoria Fire Department attended the Feb. 18 Astoria City Council meeting to describe their January deployment to the Palisades fire in California.
Fire Chief Dan Crutchfield introduced Engineer Zach Plant, who described the deployment on behalf of Astoria and neighboring agencies. Plant said five engines from the county (Seaside, Cannon Beach, Nahalem, Lewis & Clark and Astoria) sent 17 firefighters to California. He described the Palisades incident as “the largest we’ve had through OSFM” for Oregon deployments, with “6,000 and something structures…completely gone” and a dozen fatalities. Plant said his assignment focused on structure protection, extinguishing rekindles and extensive mop‑up and gridding work that required teams to search for hot spots on hands and knees across several miles per day.
The nut graf: councilors thanked the department and highlighted mutual aid ties across states. Chief Crutchfield and councilors said the deployment demonstrated regional cooperation; Councilor Lum, who said she is from California, thanked the crew personally.
Anecdotes and community response: Plant recounted community gratitude in the impacted area, noting displaced residents who remained and sought assistance and a local gym that had multiple patrons lose homes and nevertheless offered support to crews. “It really gave them a lot of peace of mind seeing our presence out there,” Plant said.
No council action was required; the appearance was a recognition and informational briefing. Mayor Fitzpatrick and councilors publicly thanked the firefighters for their service.
