Citizen fire brigade that helped the Palisades is attracting hundreds

Gibbs views the brigade’s high-profile firefighting as a “Trojan horse” to recruit citizens to help with the “real work” — home hardening and community wildfire preparedness. Some fire safety advocates argue there’s simply no need to engage in dramatic, high-risk operations in order to make a difference.

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A VOLUNTEER hoses down a home during the Franklin fire last December.

(Community Brigade)

“There’s plenty that you as concerned citizens can do,” said David Barrett, executive director ofthe Los Angeles Regional Fire Safe Council (one of the many organizations that do wildfire preparedness work similar to the brigade, just without the firefighting part).

For the brigade, he said: “It’s terrific that you want to protect your community — How would you feel if your actions caused the death ofa firefighter? What would happen if your vehicles clogged evacuation routes and people couldn't get out? What if you forced firefighters to rescue you?”

Guerrilla-style fire brigades have along history in the Santa Monica Mountains, where the old-school do-it-yourself ethos of ranchers still permeates, Gibbs, a lifelong resident, noted. But the 2018 Woolsey fire, which Gibbs and his longtime friend Tyler Hauptman fought with garden hoses and shovels, stirred a rising frustration among residents that they could not trust the Fire Department alone to save their homes.

So, after nearly five years of negotiations, the county agreed to formalize a brigade. In the agreement, the brigade gained significant access to Fire Department training and the authority to operate in emergency situations. Meanwhile, the Fire Department took meaningful control over the previously haphazard operations — the department could now reject or remove certain individuals from the brigade, dictate its role during emergencies and ensure its activities don’t interfere with professional operations.