Photo By Ronnie Rosas | Fort Hunter Liggett provides dozers, dozer bosses and dozer operators in support of...... read more read more
Subscribe
Fort Hunter Liggett’s swift response to the encroaching Plaskett Fire in the adjacent Los Padres National Forest is a testament to its emergency preparedness and strong mutual aid partnerships in Monterey County, California. The fire ignited on August 26, 2026, burned 29,976 acres and is 89 percent containment as of September 15.
There is no threat to the cantonment area, and the installation continues daily operations to support military training. While the threat never necessitated activating the installation’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), garrison directorates effectively synchronized operations to deliver rapid fire-support operations. Fort Hunter Liggett (FHL) remains mission ready with minimal disruption to daily operations.
“I’m incredibly proud of the tremendous teamwork and dedication the installation and our tenants displayed,” said Garrison Commander Col. Jason McKenzie. “The fact that our military training and daily operations continued through these last two weeks, illustrates that Fort Hunter Liggett is always mission ready.”
The FHL Fire Department monitors regional fire activities routinely and conducts prescribed fires when possible to reduce the abundant fuel in and around the installation. They immediately started defensive planning and acting when they learned of the Plaskett Fire.
The FHL Fire Chief Aaron Smith is serving as FHL’s Unified Incident Commander and is working alongside California Interagency Incident Management Team 7 (CIIMT-7) to ensure a coordinated, safe, and effective response to the Plaskett Fire. FHL is providing dozers, dozer bosses and dozer operators in support of suppression operations. FHL is also providing an Advanced Life Support ambulance to support the incident Medical Plan.
“At the same time, we continue to maintain a dedicated initial attack capability for structural and wildland emergencies for the installation,” said Smith. “This allows us to support the larger firefighting effort while continuing to protect our community, infrastructure, and training mission.”
The Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Roads & Ground crew works in lockstep with firefighters throughout the year to create firebreaks. DPW provided four dozers and eight equipment operators to the IMCT creating new fire breaks and enhancing existing ones to help contain the fire.
“I’ve heard nothing but great things from the Incident Team…they’re doing a great job. I’m very proud of my team for their contributions,” said FHL DPW Director Lt. Col. Loren Baldwin.
The FHL Police Department plays a critical role in patrolling critical infrastructure and establishing a check point at the FHL entry of the Nacimiento-Ferguson Road to prevent non-emergency responders’ traffic from impeding fire operations. Those living within the Los Padres Forest and FHL boundaries have unimpeded access to their homes.
Through all this, FHL remains fully operational with the help of the FHL Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS) team coordinating and synchronizing support efforts. With more than a dozen aircrafts supporting the fire and thousands of firefighters in and around FHL, Range Operations are operating at full throttle. They are constantly engaged—monitoring the situation, collecting data, and supporting the U.S. Forest Service Fire Service base camp at Schoonover Airfield.
“While our EOC-Light and weekend operations were highly successful, our true victory lies in the lessons learned. We are already leveraging this experience to refine our systems, processes, and communication tools,” said the DPTMS Director Paul Lewis. “I could not be prouder of the DPTMS team and the garrison's unified response.”
The air quality at FHL has ranged from Moderate to Hazardous according to the AirNow website. However, FHL discovered that the existing air quality measurements used by online platforms such as AirNow and https://www.mbard.org/current-air-quality-forecast were based on sensors that were 40-50 miles from the installation. To rectify this, DPTMS worked with https://map.purpleair.com/air-quality-standards-us-epa-aqi?opt=%2F1%2Flp%2Fa10%2Fp604800%2FcC0#12.97/36.003/-121.24446 and installed four air quality sensors inside the cantonment. This measures allows FHL to get accurate readings and apply appropriate safety measures to protect those that work and live at FHL.
Having effective communications during any crisis is critical and the installation uses all available channels to keep the FHL community and neighbors informed. FHL uses face-to-face, internal emails, the My Army Post App, mass notification systems, and many online platforms to communicate to the community. FHL also has webpage dedicated to fire-related information: https://home.army.mil/liggett/about/Garrison/public-affairs/Emergency-Info
Good communications and the fact that this is not the first, or last, wildfire the installation has faced helps the community stay prepared. The Dolan Fire in 2020 was the last big wildfire that had significant impact on the installation. Then and now, seeing the night sky aglow for FHL residents is a traumatic experience.
“I went through the Dolan Fire filled with fear and uncertainty. Facing the Plaskett Fire, I understood exactly what could happen,” said FHL resident and Army Civilian Talia Wesley. “That experience didn’t erase the fear, but it gave me the resilience, strength, and clarity to prepare. I can’t control the flames, smoke, or wind in either event, but I can control my readiness.”
Wesley and many FHL residents are prepared with air purifiers, to-go bags in case of evacuation orders, and dusted off their Family Emergency Plans. “The Dolan Fire taught me the reality of wildfire danger, the Plaskett Fire showed me how preparation turns fear into action.”
“Serving and protecting our community requires a united front and Fort Hunter Liggett definitely is showing its true colors to support each other,” said McKenzie. “We’re also incredibly grateful for the Army Reserve providing emergency funds, Cadence Communities for sharing command information to keep our residents informed, the Association of the U.S. Army for providing N95 face masks to combat the hazardous air quality, and many others that helped during our time of need.”
FHL is proud to be part of the unified Monterey County effort to contain the Plaskett Fire. During the September 8 virtual community town hall, Incident Commander Tom Clemo emphasized the importance of the community engagements to listen to concerns and partnerships.“The partnerships that have been created…Chief Smith at Fort Hunter Liggett has done an amazing job taking care of firefighters at the base. If there’s anything we’ve learned during incident management is that we cannot do this alone.”
“The Plaskett Fire has reduced some of the available wildland fuels within the affected area, but it does not eliminate the installation’s future wildfire risk,” said Smith. We will continue evaluating burned and unburned areas, maintaining established fuel breaks, conducting mitigation activities when conditions permit, and incorporating lessons from this incident into Fort Hunter Liggett’s long term wildland fire management planning.” Preparedness, prevention, and strong interagency coordination will remain central to protecting the installation and sustaining its training mission.
With fire comes a risk to federally protected resources and future erosion. FHL DPW environmental team coordinates with CIIMT-7 by providing environmental data for operations and recovery planning. The environmental team will follow up in 2027 with surveys of key areas to monitor status of threatened and endangered species and cultural resources sites.
Steep, remote terrain and weather play a critical role in the fire containment. Various fire operations such as application of mobile fire retardant, backfires, direct handline crews, and fire breaks continue. Plaskett Fire information is available at https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/26/plaskett-fire.
| Date Taken: | 09.15.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 09.15.2026 15:12 |
| Story ID: | 574793 |
| Location: | FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 19 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Unified by Fire: FHL and Partners Battle the Plaskett Fire, by Amy Phillips, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
