Pine Cove Fire Incident

A structure fire occurred on State Highway 243 in Pine Cove on the evening of December 9, 2007. The Cal Fire relief crew at Pine Cove Station #23 was the first responder to the fire. The firefighters did not immediately utilize the engine’s on-board computer and initially were unable to locate the nearest fire hydrant. This confusion led to a PCWD employee being unnecessarily called out to help locate the hydrant. 1

On the night of the structure fire, a Cal Fire, off-duty firefighter, called the PCWD and requested the assistance of a water district employee to aid in locating the nearest hydrant. The firefighter made this call from his home, based upon information he had gleaned listening to a scanner radio. The call to the PCWD was made without first confirming the need for assistance from the on-scene Incident Commander.

A PCWD employee responded to the request for assistance at the structure fire that night. When approaching the fire scene, he drove over a charged fire hose without authorization. This is a violation of California Vehicle Code §21708.

The PCWD employee responded to the incident in his personal vehicle rather than his assigned district vehicle. This was not a violation of PCWD policy. However, his personal vehicle had no marking designating it as a district vehicle and also had no flashing amber light to be displayed when parked at the scene of an emergency.

At the time of the Pine Cove fire incident, the Idyllwild Fire Department laid a fire hose across the road. This hose was poorly marked and not easily visible to on-coming traffic.

An Idyllwild firefighter, on that night, threw a trash can and hit the personal vehicle of the PCWD employee who had just driven over the fire hose. This firefighter’s action resulted in damage to the employee’s vehicle and a verbal confrontation with the district employee. Throwing an object at a moving vehicle is a misdemeanor violation of California Vehicle Code §23110.