Esperanza Fire Entrapment Fatalities 2006

The Esperanza Fire was reported on October 26, 2006 at 1:11 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) in Cabazon, California, within the jurisdiction of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). At approximately 7:15 a.m., five wildland firefighters from San Bernardino National Forest Engine 57 were overrun by the fire, while they were positioned near an isolated residential structure. All five firefighters were fatally burned by a sudden, intense fire run up a steep drainage below their location. 

Those lost from Engine 57 on the Esperanza Fire were: Pablo Cerda, Daniel Hoover-Najera, Mark Loutzenhiser, Jess McClean, and Jason McKay. 

Fatality, Structure Protection, Entrapment, Engines, Initial Attack, Fire Behavior, Entrapment