Big Pine Fire Chief outlines mutual-aid strain, prepositioning and volunteer costs in Region 6 update

Big Pine Fire Chief Damon Carrington, who also serves as the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) Region 6 operational-area coordinator, told the Inyo County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 21 that 2024 placed substantial burdens on local departments and that ongoing shortages of personnel and certain apparatus types remain a concern.

Carrington said Inyo County departments deployed repeatedly to out‑of‑county incidents last year, listing the Quality and Horseshoe fires locally and multiple mutual‑aid assignments including the Eaton and Palisades fires. "I think at one time there were 13 pieces of apparatus out," Carrington said, describing simultaneous deployments from Inyo and Mono counties.

The update explained why departments are being asked to preposition resources for other regions and summarized what that costs local volunteer organizations. Carrington said his department has generated significant revenue from out‑of‑county deployments over recent years but that invoices remain outstanding: "This year alone … Big Pine is about $380,000 net made, and you can see in the yellow (on our accounting) is still owed to us," he told the board. He later summarized a six‑year total: "Roughly since this, my department has pushed about $2,800,000 through the treasurer tax collector."

Why it matters: Carrington framed the region’s 2024 experience—heavy mutual aid, long deployments and changing resource needs—as a marker for 2025 preparedness. He said recent southern‑California fires showed how quickly demand can exceed available local resources, and he urged continued volunteer recruitment, equipment maintenance and short‑term funding solutions to help departments respond without jeopardizing local coverage.

Key details from the briefing: - Deployments and coverage: Carrington said Region 6 had multiple task force deployments in 2024 and that local departments provided engines, water tenders and crews to incidents across the state. He noted several incidents where local resources were out of the valley while other fires threatened Inyo, and said mutual‑aid decisions are not taken lightly: "The chiefs or anybody else would not be sending resources out if we didn't have coverage here," he said. - Apparatus needs: He said demand in 2024 favored lighter wildland engines (Type 3) and Type 6 engines for quick attack rather than water tenders, but departments had provided largely water tenders based on earlier availability reporting. - Prepositioning: Carrington explained how Cal OES prepositioning works, including the application process and fiscal limits. He said prepositioning is now used for a wider variety of threats than originally envisioned (wildfire and landslide), citing use during Snowmageddon and swift‑water operations. - Volunteer strain and payroll: Carrington described long deployments and personal sacrifice: volunteers often served 40‑plus hour stretches, slept little and accepted delayed reimbursement for pay. He said payroll and reimbursement timing require careful local budgeting and praised county payroll staff for helping speed payments. - Financials and unpaid invoices: Carrington described outstanding payments for deployments and maintenance costs, noting his department had tens of thousands of dollars still owed for 2024 assignments and that departments together had processed millions through county financial systems over several years. - Preparedness tools: Carrington highlighted devices and systems local agencies are using: statewide fire cameras on peaks, Watch Duty and the county’s Genesis evacuation and situational‑awareness platform. He urged residents to use Watch Duty for camera feeds and evacuation zone information.

Quotes from the meeting are drawn from Carrington’s presentation and Q&A. He offered a direct reminder of volunteer motivation: "They're not doing it for the money…They do it for the community," and summed up the coming season bluntly: "It's a scary situation right now. We're 20 days into this year, we've had three major fire incidents. We've already been on one prepo, and we still got 11 months to go."

Board response and next steps: Supervisors thanked Carrington and other chiefs for deployments and for supporting other communities. The board and staff agreed to continue exploring short‑ and long‑term funds and logistical options for water, substitute staffing and equipment maintenance, and to pursue state or federal support where available.

Ending: Carrington closed by reiterating department resilience and asking residents and elected officials to recognize the scope of volunteer sacrifice and the financial realities of sustained mutual‑aid operations. "We go out to help the community, but you go out for team building, team bonding, to learn things, and enjoy time," he told the board as he summarized the human dimension of deployments.