CAL FIRE holds annual extended attack drill as Fire season arrives early

AROMAS, Calif. (KION) — As fire season begins earlier than usual on the Central Coast, CAL FIRE conducted its annual Extended Attack Drill this morning, bringing together more than 120 fire personnel from across California for a large-scale wildfire simulation.

The training exercise, held in Aromas, aimed to prepare teams for real-life disaster scenarios by replicating a 500-acre wildfire. Crews practiced everything from fire suppression to coordination, logistics, and public communication.

“This gives us an opportunity to come together to simulate a large-scale incident to ensure that all of our resources are currently in play,” said Keith Tsudama, Assistant Chief with CAL FIRE.

Now in its fifth year, the drill has grown significantly in scope and participation. Agencies from Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, and Fresno counties joined Monterey-based personnel in the simulation. The goal: seamless interagency coordination when the real emergencies hit.

“We always want to be fire ready,” said Jody Gear, Fire Captain at the Monterey Command Center. “We want to make sure that responses, ordering, and all the background logistics are seamless.”

Public Information Officers (PIOs) also played a key role in the exercise, practicing how to communicate accurate and timely information to the public and media during a wildfire.

“They know the importance of the media outlets and using them to get the information out,” said CAL FIRE PIO Curtis Rhodes. “There are critical needs and tight timelines that come with the job.”

Inside the command center, leaders emphasized the importance of a forward-thinking strategy.

“It’s not just that we’re sending resources,” said Gear. “We’re augmenting responses, thinking ahead, and planning 15 steps in advance so our firefighters can do their job safely and effectively.”

The annual drill has been held in Monterey County since its inception. However, organizers say next year’s event will move to Northern California to bring the training to a new region and expand statewide preparedness.

“This is about building relationships before disaster strikes,” Tsudama added. “When an emergency happens, we don’t want to be meeting for the first time—we want to already know how to work together.”