In a Zoom press conference this morning, state Senator Mike McGuire announced that the state will be funding the purchase of 10 new fire engines for local fire districts in Northern Mendocino and Southern Humboldt counties

The engines will by pickup-style “Type 6” engines that are especially useful in back roads in rural areas, and they will replace “antiquated” versions of the equipment, according to McGuire.

Among the agencies to receive the vehicles are the Briceland, Whitethorn, Garberville, Palo Verde, Telegraph Ridge, Piercy and Leggett volunteer fire departments.

In addition to the new trucks, McGuire announced that the Bell Springs, Whale Gulch, Alderpoint, Redway and Shelter Cove volunteer fire departments will receive training opportunities and grant-writing support.

Nickolas Pape, chief of the Shelter Cove fire department, said during the conference that the engines will support the work of local strike teams in the event of wildfire, and should allow local departments to attack emerging wildfires more quickly.

“Every large fire starts as a small fire, and if we can put the fires out at a quarter-acre, we don’t need to spend millions and billions of dollars on these million-acre fires,” he said.

Pape, who said that local departments hope to have the new engines in service sometime in the middle of next year, added that the engines will also be useful in situations other than wildland fire, such as car crashes, medical calls, and search and rescue operations.

McGuire also announced $6 million in funding for wildfire prevention efforts throughout the North Coast, with nearly $1 million of that earmarked for Humboldt County. These funds will be distributed through grants open to local fire departments, special districts and nonprofit organizations, McGuire said, and will be used for projects such as vegetation removal and the constructions of firebreaks around communities.