At the Viejas Reservation on Thursday, firefighters from across San Diego and Imperial Counties practiced what it would be like to put out a wildfire.
"Simulating a real wildfire incident such as putting a hose on the ground to simulate fighting a fire going up a hillside, cutting some brush like they would do in a brush fire and then also practice some of their tactics and strategies," said Heartland Fire and Rescue's Sonny Saghera.
Ground crews also had a chance to coordinate water drops with firefighting aircraft.
"For this event it is just helicopters," Saghera said. "So the personnel and the firefighters on the ground will actually communicate with the helicopters pilots with radios just like we would in a real wildfire—tell them where we want the water dropped."
Saghera said training events like this are key.
"We bring about 750 firefighters during the three days and it’s important because it is upcoming wildfire season we like to kind of knock off the cobwebs so to say," he said.
RELATED: San Diego Winter Is Wetter Than Most
There was a lot of rain this winter and firefighters are expecting a busy summer season.
"What the rain does is it produces that grass crop," Saghera said. "If you drive around San Diego county you’ll see all that tall grass everywhere and right now it’s still green—but we’re at the end of the rainy season now. We’re going to start to see those grasses starting to cure; starting to brown up, and what we’re going to see early in this fire season is starting to get those grass fires like in early June or July."
Firefighters also worked with SDG&E crews about what to do if they come across downed power lines. Funding for the training was also provided by the utility.
