The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) is mourning the loss of one their own when a water tender overturned on Sept. 21 while on its way to provide support for the Canyon Fire at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
The crash occurred early in the morning, according the VCFD, where Purisima Road meets the roundabout between Lompoc and Buellton on Highway 246. Engineer Ryan Osler and another firefighter were both injured, although Osler didn’t survive the crash.
Osler, who was reported to have been the passenger, was 38 years old and an 18-year veteran of the VCFD. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
The second firefighter was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash.
Thus far, they’re the only serious casualties among firefighters who’ve been battling several brush fires that broke out at Vandenberg during the course of a week.
What’s being dubbed the Canyon Fire started on the southern portion of Vandenberg on Sept. 18, scorching more than 12,500 acres and prompting the cancellation of the Atlas V rocket launch. By Sept. 23, the fire was 90 percent contained. Full containment was expected by Sept. 26.
A second fire near Airfield Road broke out on Sept. 22 on North Base near the Communications Squadron Building and other buildings, according to 30th Space Wing Public Affairs, causing mandatory evacuations and the cancellation of an exotic car show scheduled for Sept. 24.
This fire burned at least 250 acres, and its cause appeared to be a downed power line, according to base public affairs officials.
Then on Sept. 23, a third fire—called the Oak Canyon Fire—was reported at 1:20 p.m. in an area north of the Lompoc Correctional Complex and burned approximately 30 acres.
The 30th Space Wing reported that a fourth fire, called the Corral Fire, broke out at approximately 12 p.m. on Sept. 26 and burned at least 4 acres.
According to the 30th Space Wing, the fire knocked out a “significant portion” of VAFB’s power where crews had been working near high voltage equipment, although power was eventually restored.
Although officials said residential areas of the base were never in danger from the fire, students from nearby Crestview Elementary School were relocated to Cabrillo High School in Vandenberg Village. The power outage also prompted the closure of the base’s School Age Care Program and the Youth Center.
