TRACY, Calif., TRACY, Calif. –
With thousands of fires affecting millions of acres in the western coast of the United States every year, the Defense Logistics Agency Distribution San Joaquin, California, fire mission is essential to supporting firefighters across North America.
In 2014, DDJC assumed responsibility of the fire mission from the General Services Administration to consolidate governmental efforts. Today, DDJC supplies the US Forest Service across the entire United States and works closely with local state agencies, like Cal Fire, to provide equipment and high priority requests based on real time requirements to fight fires.
Kevin Cabral, the DLA Fire Mission supervisor in San Joaquin, says he loves being able to help firefighters all over the United States with such a vital mission.
“Our orders are based off real-world needs,” Cabral said. “Our incident management teams communicate with the US Forest Service and Cal Fire to understand what supplies fire crews need to sustain the firefighting effort.”
Hoses, shovels, batteries, food, uniforms and hundreds of other wildland fire support items are delivered to fire caches across the nation every week. During the fire season and times of high priority, DDJC’s fire mission team works 24/7 to ensure that the fire caches are filled with the supplies necessary for firefighters to do their jobs.
“Here at DDJC, we always keep an eye on the USDA Fire Map to best prepare for incoming requests from our partners,” Cabral said. “I speak with our mission partners every week to ensure that the fire caches are filled with the necessary inventory to keep the firefighters going.”
As fires continue to rage through the Southern Oregon and Northern California border, DDJC has continually supplied the local fire caches with key supplies and firefighting equipment.
“In this quarter alone, we have shipped 8 truckloads of firefighting equipment to our Redmond, Oregon, and Redding, California, Fire Caches,” Cabral said. “We are in an expedited work posture for the entire official fire season, from May 1 to October 31. Our team is on call and prepared to process any material to the respective caches during this timeframe.”
Marine Col. Kevin Chunn, commander of DDJC, also stated his appreciation regarding this mission.
“Our ability to provide firefighters with the right gear at the right time and place is one of the many things that makes DDJC a vital distribution center,” Chunn said. “The DLA fire mission here at DDJC is a perfect example of how we faithfully and reliably support our nation, abroad and at home.”
DDJC’s fire mission team will continue to stock fire caches across the mainland, Alaska and Hawaii in support of the firefighter.