The City of Loma Linda is surrounded by beautiful foot hills which in the summer months become very dry and highly flammable. In order to handle a large brush fire in the south hills, fire department personnel train and review suppression techniques throughout the year. It is not uncommon to have our cities engines respond to fires as far north as the Oregon border or as far south as the Mexican border to assist other agencies with large brush fires.

In our department, we have several members that are certified in heavy rescue operations. This consists of training in over the side rescue, trench rescue and below ground rescue. Loma Linda Fire also has several members with specialized training in hazardous materials response as well as swift water rescue. It is not unusual for the training division to stage a live burn (donated structure) so that members can better understand structure fires and our ability to extinguish them.