Meet the Los Angeles Fire Department crew tasked with protecting communities from the next wildfire disaster

By Cindy Von Quednow, CNN

Los Angeles (CNN) — The smell of wet grass from the recent atmospheric river rains, mud and gasoline wafts through the warm Southern California air as Alec Derpetrossian works the chainsaw with a foreman, Randy Magaña, who helps him guide where to put the blade. Derpetrossian is still learning how to adequately use the large tool.

Magaña shows him how to maneuver the blade around a thick trunk, as the foreman kicks it loose.

It takes several times to cut down a branch and even longer to conquer a three-pronged tree trunk, as the men struggle to cut the thick tree down.

“Timber!” yells Derpetrossian as a tree comes down.

Derpetrossian and Magaña are working in the Sepulveda Basin, near the Los Angeles River, under shaded trees that they are working to take down. The area is prone to brush fires, thanks to thick vegetation and the presence of homeless encampments.

The men are part of Crew 4, the Los Angeles Fire Department’s first full-time paid wildland hand crew aiming to protect the City of Angels from another Palisades Fire, the historic firestorm disaster that decimated the Pacific Palisades area in January 2025.

The blaze was part of 12 fires that broke out in the Los Angeles area, killing 31 people in the Altadena and Pacific Palisades communities and destroying thousands of homes and structures. The Eaton and Palisades fires have left permanent marks in history by joining the top 10 deadliest wildfires in California.

The crew’s purpose is to beef up the city’s emergency response as well as vegetation management throughout Los Angeles to prevent brush fires from spreading out of control, the team’s superintendent Capt. Travis Humpherys said. A large portion of the city lies in a what is known as a “very high fire hazard zone.”

During active fires, the crew digs lines and removes brush out ahead of the fire or along the fire’s edge to help extinguish the blaze.

But before a fire even starts, their goal is to remove invasive trees and brush, so when a blaze ignites and the infamous Santa Ana winds are blowing, embers don’t fly into tree canopies or dry vegetation and spread the fire more rapidly.

While Derpetrossian and Magaña are conquering the tough tree, it takes several crew members to cut, pull, drag and carry heavy branches to a woodchipper, which shreds branches and trunks and spits out chips in a matter of seconds.

When Derpetrossian finally sees sunlight through the trees’ canopy, he thinks “I just did that, I didn’t know I could do that,” he says, his face covered in woodchips and dripping with sweat.

‘There’s no such thing as fire season’

The addition of Crew 4 to the LAFD’s firefighting toolbox comes as wildfire disasters in California are becoming significantly larger, more destructive and deadlier.

The area burned by wildfires and the number of large wildfires in California have increased over the past decades, largely influenced by “changes in land use, fire management practices, and the impact of climate change,” according to the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

Additionally, the annual average area burned in the state between 2020 and 2024 was about three times higher compared to the 2010s, the agency reported.

The crew is preparing for fire season, which in Southern California typically runs from late spring to October, except fires can now happen any time in the region thanks to changes in climate conditions, dry vegetation and gusty winds.

“We can always have those high winds. We have the little fuel moisture and the very dry vegetation,” LAFD Chief Adam VanGerpen said. “There’s no such thing as fire season, because it’s year-round …The fires are going to come, unfortunately, but we’re here and ready to protect the citizens of LA.”

As an example, the Palisades Fire, which killed 12 people and became the third-most destructive wildfire in California history after destroying thousands of structures and burning more than 23,000 acres, began January 7, 2025, outside the typical window for wildfires.

Crew trains every day

Crew 4 members graduated in June 2025, after five weeks of rigorous training. They continue to train daily and build a lasting comradery, members told CNN.

The team trains by going on runs or hikes in difficult terrains throughout Los Angeles County and by doing brush clearance several times a week.

They work out of Fire Station 88 in the San Fernando Valley which doubles as a training facility. The team is becoming a main trainer for the LAFD for all wildland fire training, Humpherys said.

A team nearly 20 years in the making

Crew 4 is made of more than 20 wildland fire technicians, who are civilians, three foremen, who are sworn LAFD members, and the superintendent.

A volunteer program started in 2006, and officials pushed for a paid crew ever since then, firefighter foreman Paul Wingate said.

The paid hand crew is a “huge benefit” to the LAFD, according to Wingate.

“We only had that one volunteer crew, which (was) only staffed maybe twice a week. Now, we have a full-time paid crew to staff four times a week, and that’s going to add to the resources to help out on these fires, and they’re not going to stop,” Wingate said. “The more resources and boots on the ground we have, it’s going to help when we do have that next event like the Palisades Fire.”

VanGerpen, Wingate and others are confident that the team is ready for the next fire disaster.

“This crew is 100% ready to respond to and assist on a fire,” Humpherys said.

“They’ve gone through a rigorous training academy, and we’ve trained nonstop from when we first started back in late May, early June. So, if the response comes out, we’re ready to go, and we’re prepared to attack the fire in any way we can.”

The safety of residents remains the top priority for the LAFD, Chief Jamie Moore said in a statement on the anniversary of the Palisades Fire.

“The lessons from the Palisades Fire are shaping how we train, prepare, deploy resources, and how we work alongside the communities we serve. These changes are driven by a shared goal: protecting lives, homes, and the sense of security every family deserves,” Moore said.

Crew 4’s mission is crucial in keeping residents safe, Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement to CNN.

“Keeping Angelenos safe means investing in prevention, not just response,” Bass said. “LAFD’s Crew 4 plays a critical role in brush clearance and vegetation management, while also responding to fires and all-hazard incidents. I’m grateful for this team’s dedication and the work they continue to do to protect our communities.”

Motivations to join crew

Derpetrossian was working with a hot shot crew with the Angeles National Forest when he got called down to help fight fires that were popping up around Los Angeles while the Palisades Fire wreaked havoc on the city’s Westside.

Other members worked with the volunteer crew before joining Crew 4. Some were influenced to work in public safety from a young age, while others are the first in their family to join the fire service.

They come from all walks of life and with different levels of experience, Magaña said.

“The beauty of it is (our) diversity and trying to build the best team,” he said.

Jesus Vivas got an up-close view of what Los Angeles paramedics do from a young age. His childhood friend was shot when he was young, then years later his father suffered cardiac arrest. Both times, paramedics were there to assist.

Vivas knew he wanted to be a role model for his family and community someday, like those paramedics.

“It’s that long thread that has continued this ambition of trying to become a city of Los Angeles firefighter,” Vivas said.

A few years ago, he heard about the volunteer program, and he signed up to join. After his success with that team, he was able to join Crew 4.

He has wildfire experience, as he responded to multiple blazes that ignited last January throughout the city he still calls home.

His training kicked in, which he says, prepares him for the unknown.

“I didn’t get nervous, I just relied on my training, relied on my hand crew, on my members, on my foreman, and we were able to do the job fully, completely,” Vivas said. “We know our city, and we understand its topography … We’re learning every day. This is our city, and we’re here to protect it.”

Similarly, Pedro Rodriguez got a text saying the volunteer crew he was a part of was getting activated to help combat the fires. He immediately went to work.

“Just seeing houses and the city burning, it just inspired me to be a part of this paid crew,” Rodriguez said. “Mother Nature, it’s going to do its thing when it wants to. All we could do is prepare for what it’s going to do and try to combat it the best way we can.”

‘When a call goes out, our crew is ready’

Rodriguez said another benefit of the LAFD having its own hand crew is that it doesn’t have to borrow resources from neighboring departments to fight their own fires.

“Now, when a call goes out, our crew is ready … The firefighters know that we’re coming and we’re going to help them out with whatever they need. We’re there to help and support on that fire,” Rodriguez said.

Justin Treiber had just graduated from an academy at a community college when the Palisades Fire started.

He was anxious to be part of a team battling the catastrophic blaze. On day 4 of the fire fight, he had his first interview to be part of Crew 4, and he let his interviewer know he was able and ready.

Treiber didn’t have any experience in wildland firefighting but he wanted to be a role model for his younger siblings.

“I’ve been dedicated to this crew ever since, and I absolutely love it every single day here,” he said.

He said a hand crew is essential in battling wildfires in an urban landscape, and Crew 4 has an advantage because they are familiar with the terrain of the city.

“We already know the environment, because we’ve either been training in it, we’ve been working through it … and so we know the fire has done this in this area last time,” Treiber said. “We already kind of have an idea of how this fire might go or how it responds, and it gives us an upper hand on fighting these fires, so they don’t get out of control.”

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