Inside CAL FIRE’s Emergency Command Center

The emergency command center processes fire and medical calls for the County of Humboldt, with the exception of the cities of Eureka & Fortuna, says Cal Fire Emergency Command Center Battalion Chief, Andrew Gonzales.

If you’ve ever called 9-1-1 in Humboldt County, there is a good chance you spoke to someone here. There is a routing process, Andrew explains, ” It stops at the what’s called a primary pick up, which is law enforcement. And then they’ll talk with that call or determine what the nature of the emergency is. And then that law enforcement agency will transfer the call to us.”

CAL FIRE is a large organization that covers more than just wildfires.

“We have we cover everything from somebody who has just fallen and needs help up all the way to medical emergencies, traffic collisions, structure fires and, of course, wildland fires,” Gonzales said. The command center is busy, with screens monitoring forest cameras operated by A.I. and trained to detect smoke, to maps of coverage areas, power outages and more.

“It’s somewhere between 30 and 50 calls per day that we process through here,” he continues. “And in 2023, we processed about 13,000 calls.”

The sense of comradery was palpable in the building, as the organization is dedicated to service and commonly deals with real emergencies. Sometimes they’re dealing with those emergencies on a personal level – like during the 2022 earthquake that hit Rio Dell. Crew members secured their families then showed up on their days off to see how they could help.

“Everybody on our staff is local,” the Battalion Chief says, “so we have people who live in Rio Dell, Blue Lake, McKinleyville– all over the county. We’re all members of the community.  And I know that each person here wants to help serve their community. And this is one way that we can do it.”