On the Fire Front
SAND FIRE: A campus fire crew on Monday (July 25) headed to Southern California in OES Engine 364 to join the fight against the Sand Fire. The state Office of Emergency Services provides the engine to the campus for its use year-round, on the condition that when OES summons the engine for an emergency, the campus supplies the crew. The Sand Fire had burned more than 33,000 acres in the mountains of the Santa Clarita Valley as of Monday afternoon, and was only 10 percent contained. The fire had destroyed at least 18 structures, according to the Los Angeles Times.
MINOR INJURIES: Two campus firefighters are “resting at home ... on the road to recovery” after being hurt in an apartment building fire in Dixon. The campus Fire Department had answered Dixon's call for mutual aid on the fire that struck late Friday afternoon (July 22). Read more.
There’s been an uptick in strangers buying coffee for Sgt. Max Thomas.
Thomas, who has worked for the UC Davis Police Department for eight years, said it had happened twice in as many weeks near the UC Davis Health System; he’s also noticed more people stopping him to say they appreciate his service.
“I think people want to get it off their chest that not everybody is anti-police,” Thomas said.
In the days since officers were murdered in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, care packages and letters of support have been sent to the UC Davis Police Department and students have stopped officers to thank them.
Acting Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter and Acting Provost Ken Burtis visited the department on July 18 for an informal breakfast, thanking officers and administrative staff for their service.
“These are trying times for law enforcement,” Hexter told officers, staff members and students. “We know you put your lives on the line every day, and without you our community would not be what it is.”
Chief Matt Carmichael praised the visit, and said the department continues to reach out to the campus community by recruiting students for its cadet academy and employing around 130 students.
“These are people who truly care about our students and are out there to support faculty and staff nonstop,” Carmichael said.
Two UC Davis officers attended memorials of the slain Dallas officers; Carmichael said the department is not likely to send anyone to memorials in Baton Rouge.
Media Resources
Cody Kitaura/Dateline, Dateline, 530-752-1932, kitaura@ucdavis.edu