Atwater, CA…On Monday, July 28, 2025 the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) will open a new training center in Merced County, located at the former Castle Air Force Base in Atwater.
The Atwater Training Center will provide comprehensive training and education to CAL FIRE personnel to ensure readiness and effectiveness in fire prevention, protection and emergency response. “The addition of the fourth training center is a significant milestone for our Department, as we continue our efforts to advance fire protection throughout the state,” stated CAL FIRE Training Centers Deputy Chief of Operations, Justin Chaplin.
CAL FIRE currently operates three other Training Centers located in Ione, Redding and Riverside. The addition of this fourth training center will further support the addition of new positions and enable us to provide instruction to an additional 300 students annually. This expansion will support Fire Control Academies (including Firefighter and Company Officer Academies both delivered across our four locations.
With the opening of the Atwater Training Center, CAL FIRE Training Centers will maintain seven concurrent Fire Control Academies in addition to an annual Heavy Fire Equipment Operator Academy (HFEO), three Emergency Command Center Academies (ECCA), and a California Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T). Certified Law Enforcement Regular Basic Course (RBC), across its four locations and is on pace to train approximately 1,600 Fire Control students in 2025.
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I have a better idea, the employees you already have, and I’m talking the “LIFERS” need to be checked up on by a neutral source as to why they plan their time off around their personal needs, with no regard to what the fire danger, how many fires are burning at that time, they load the family and all their tax payer toys, and off they go, what a Fing racket you fire boys have established for yourselves!
You want some examples, there are certain “fire boys” in the Murphy’s community I check on daily, I know what I’m talking about, they have their own preferred schedules, all by design, Oh, Forest Mdws is burning down, don’t expect me to show up, I’m on my days off, we’re headed for Santa Cruz, you know who you are, you are being watched, and if theirs a brand new pickup in your driveway, and it doesn’t”roll” I know you earned the term “FIREBOY” , because your inaction is what a 10 yr old would do!
Hey did you want to be a fireman when you were little and things just didn’t pan out? What is your point? People can’t go on vacation? I’d rather my taxes go to paying Firefighters then giving Billions of tax breaks to the rich.
If you bag on Firefighters and Cops that makes you either a douche bag or a Trumpanzie.
It seems this guy is really triggered by a fireman who lives in Murphys? What a pathetic loser that has nothing better to do with his time. We support our firefighters and cops!!!
Or to the illegals? Because that’s what your tax monies are going to+ plus the ever growing homeless population, and TARD agendas! My agenda never included serving proudly as a combat veteran in Nam, it never included being a FIREBOY, and a million other avococations, but to work hard, be honest and not depend on the govt to nurse me on through my life!
So are people not supposed to buy trucks with the money they make? What’s your point??Do you think that firefighter might have kids who are off for the summer and might want to spend time with them? Did you know firefighter and cops have some of the highest suicide and divorce rates in the country? Go screw yourselves you pathetic POS.
So your say this guy in Murphys doesn’t work hard? Who are you to judge? You probably were in the rear with the gear in NAM.
It seems to me this guy wanted to be a fireman and just couldn’t cut the mustard.
I know a guy (in Murphys)that is a Vietnam veteran and worked 30 years for CDF. He is awesome and I believe he deserves every benefit bestowed upon him .
Seems like a tax paying citizen has kicked the bees nest! I’ve never wanted to be anything in fire, but since moving to this are in 1977, I have witnessed first hand this fire situation from an employe to now a retired sr.
Summer is fire season in California, if you work for any of the fire agencies you should know that! Point being, your, as a fire person should plan your vacation time during the off seaso,not to be unreasonable, but just driving back fro AC any alert person can see we are one lightning strike, one car rollover in the roadside grass from a fire that could devastate a lot of the area. So you have kids that want to go on vacation, Daddy or Mommy have been hired to protect the wild lands and personal life first and foremost. It’s as simple as that.
As for the remarks about “ this guy wanted to be a fire person” never got there is a pretty cheap remark! If you critique fire, the dumb asses are the first to respond, “wait a minute, I deserve vacation time, who are you to judge”! You’ve missed the entire point, and I will stick with my argument, you owe your time to the taxpayers of California, not your family, not to your selfish demands, so I would say “ suck it up big boy and do your job, you don’t work for yourself, you work for me, to keep the fire areas safe, and to protect the citizens of California safe” simple but true!
This post is an embarrassment — not to firefighters, but to you. The fact that you’re whining about firefighters taking time off just shows how out of touch and selfish you are. You clearly have zero clue what these men and women actually go through. They’re not sitting behind a desk — they’re running into burning buildings, cutting people out of wrecked cars, performing CPR on strangers, and dealing with trauma on a level you probably couldn’t handle for one day, let alone a full career.
Let’s make one thing clear: nobody, in any profession, is expected to work 180 days straight without time off. That’s not hard work — that’s exploitation. Firefighters work brutal 24-hour shifts, sacrifice time with their families, and still show up when your world is falling apart. They have scheduled shifts and personnel in place so coverage never stops — that’s how 24/7 emergency services operate.
So the fact that you’re upset someone had the audacity to take a vacation — regardless of the season — tells us everything we need to know about your selfish, uninformed mindset. Maybe next time you’re choking, trapped in a car, or your house is on fire, you’ll remember that the person saving your life has earned every single hour off they get.
Grow up and show some respect.