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OCFA briefing: expanded staffing and mutual aid kept recent red-flag fires in check, chief says
Summary
Orange County Fire Authority Battalion Chief Mike Morgenstern told the Tustin City Council that OCFA upstaffed engines, crews and helicopters for recent wind-driven 'red flag' events, deployed mutual-aid resources to Palisades and Eaton fires, and reported seven vegetation responses countywide; the agency said the largest was just over an acre.
Battalion Chief Mike Morgenstern of the Orange County Fire Authority briefed the Tustin City Council on OCFA’s response to recent wind-driven red-flag weather and statewide mutual-aid requests, saying the agency pre-positioned personnel and equipment to prevent local incidents from growing.
Morgenstern said OCFA began upstaffing on Jan. 7 and coordinated with Metro Net partner cities, Cal OES and Cal Fire to increase engine and crew coverage across Orange County. He listed assets placed on standby or deployed during the events: Type 6 strike teams (patrol-style engines), firefighter hand crews, dozers, multiple helicopters including two newly added Fire Hawks, reserve water tenders and additional dispatchers to handle higher 911 call volumes.
“We upstaffed resources,” Morgenstern said, describing a period when reserve stations were manned, surge engines were staffed and three helicopters were staged at John Wayne Airport for rapid deployment to South Orange County.
He described mutual-aid deployments to the Palisades and Eaton fires that included Type 1 strike teams, hand crews, urban search-and-rescue teams and an arson dog funded by the state for investigative support. Morgenstern said OCFA also sent damage-inspection specialists to assess property losses.
When council members asked whether vegetation fires were stopped locally during the wind event, Morgenstern said OCFA recorded seven vegetation-fire responses countywide during that period and the largest was “a little over an acre.” He credited increased staffing and regional coordination with limiting spread and preserving life and property.
Mayor and council members thanked OCFA for the briefing and emphasized the value of public communication about resource posture and water-system checks, brush-clearing near high-risk areas such as Peters Canyon, and continued interagency coordination.
The presentation was intended to reassure residents about Tustin’s public-safety posture during regional wildfire threats; the council took no formal action on the briefing. The council’s public-safety conversation continued in Q&A and council comment later in the meeting.
