On Jan. 18, members of our Wildland Fire Academy Crew, formally known as the “Roadrunners”, were deployed to the Colby Fire in the foothills above Glendora, CA.

Many of the firefighters who responded were recent graduates of the Rio Hondo College’s Wildland Fire Academy.

A press release was distributed to the media, stating that the crew “was prepared to be deployed for up to 14 days.” Some of the crewmembers were at an advantage after contributing their efforts last year with responses to the Carpenter 1 Fire outside of Las Vegas, NV, as well as being deployed to the RIM Fire in Yosemite, also in 2013.

Saturday’s deployment also created a social media buzz after the photo of the firefighters was posted by Marketing & Communications, which attracted the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Community College Bureau P.I.O.

“It is with great honor and service that our trained Wildland Fire Academy graduates of RHC deployed this morning to help serve our communities in immediate need,” said Superintendent/President Teresa Dreyfuss.