{"id":257436,"date":"2017-08-02T06:06:19","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T20:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=257436"},"modified":"2017-08-02T06:06:19","modified_gmt":"2017-08-01T20:06:19","slug":"15-man-crew-aid-calif-fight-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/15-man-crew-aid-calif-fight-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"15-man crew to aid Calif. fight fire"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gov.<\/a>
Gov. Ralph DLG. Torres and Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services assistant fire chief Jesse Mesa pose in a group photo with members of the 15-man crew as well as DFEMS officials\/trainers during a press conference yesterday at the governor\u2019s office\u2019s conference room. The crew members will be deployed to California to assist in fighting forest fires. (Ferdie de la Torre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The CNMI will be sending today and tomorrow a 15-man crew to California to help the state fight forest fires.<\/p>\n

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services presented yesterday the crew, which consists of eight firefighters and seven civilians.<\/p>\n

DFEMS spokesman Derek Gersonde said members of the 15-man crew were certified as Type II U.S. Forest Service Handcrew Firefighters.<\/p>\n

Gersonde said 15 are part of 26 individuals who obtained their certificates after being trained in April on how to fight brush and wildland fires. <\/p>\n

The training was conducted by DFEMS in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service.<\/p>\n

The 15-man crew will be deployed to California for the next 30 to 40 days.<\/p>\n

Last Wednesday, DFEMS was notified that Region 5 has exhausted its resources and is requesting for personnel from the Northern Marianas.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Forest Service will cover all costs, including wages, associated with the deployment of the 15 crew members.<\/p>\n

Torres said he is very proud of the crew and looks forward to them representing the CNMI in helping California extinguish forest fires. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time we\u2019re going to miss them, and we wish them good luck and we pray for their safety,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n

The governor thanked the firefighters and the volunteers \u201cfor their bravery in assisting those in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thank their families for their patience and for all their sacrifices as we see our guys go out and fight the fires,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The CNMI last sent 17 crewmembers to assist in fighting wildland fires in the U.S. mainland in 2014.<\/p>\n

Prior to 2014, the CNMI also sent a firefighting crew not just to California but also to Idaho and Nevada.<\/p>\n

Of the 15 crewmembers, one is from Rota and the rest are from Saipan, said DFEMS assistant fire chief Jesse Mesa. <\/p>\n

Of the original 26 training participants, one is from Tinian but he moved to Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay alert and stay alive,\u201d Mesa advised the crew. <\/p>\n

Mesa said the selection process prioritizes the civilian crew. DFEMS then fills the extra slots with firefighters because of the fact that they also have to protect the CNMI.<\/p>\n

One member of the 15-man crew, Martin Pangelinan Jr., looks forward to the experience as he had fought forest fires for eight years in southern California. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis time around, I\u2019m going out with people of the CNMI and I am glad to be one of the leaders,\u201d said Pangelinan, who is on the civilian side.<\/p>\n

Pangelinan said his main objective is to ensure everyone\u2019s safety while they are fighting fires and that they all return home to their families.<\/p>\n

Pangelinan was part of the group that was sent to California to fight wildfires in 2008, just two months after graduating from high school. <\/p>\n

\u201cI did not know what I was getting myself into, but I was excited,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pangelinan described the experience as \u201c tough and exhausting,\u201d being away from family, sleeping in the wilderness, not being able to take a shower for days, and other things.<\/p>\n

When their tour was done, Pangelinan was given the opportunity to stay back for the rest of the fire season.<\/p>\n

The following year, he was offered a position as a seasonal wildland firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was then that I decided to move my family and I to Los Angeles, where I was stationed,\u201d Pangelinan said. He was offered a permanent position that same year.<\/p>\n

Pangelinan went from being a seasonal wildland firefighter to a senior firefighter.<\/p>\n

Aside from Pangelinan, the six other civilians members are Shelwyn Taisacan, Marlon Garde, Lucio Kalen, Devin Deleon Guerrero, Jhonathan Kapileo, and Joshua Muna.<\/p>\n

The eight members from DFEMS are Jun Kaipat, Paul Acebedo, Ralph Magofna, Joseph Lifoifoi, Jamal Mresbang, Abraham Quitugua, Albert Aldan, and Argernon Flores.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The CNMI will be sending today and tomorrow a 15-man crew to California to help…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":257442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[26,4234,14954,7040],"class_list":["post-257436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-cnmi","tag-dfems","tag-emergency-medical-services","tag-jesse-mesa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}