Yesterday we wrote about having seen four California National Guard trucks transporting wildland firefighters in the back, open-top, cargo area of the vehicles, and we got a photo of one. Today we saw two more of the trucks as they entered the staging area at the fairgrounds in Yreka, California.

In these photos it is obvious that there is no roll over protection or seat belts.

Safety Officers on fires frequently, and correctly, tell firefighters that the wearing of seat belts is required. In fact in many states, including California, it is the law.

Our fire leaders need to take a stand on this. We have reached out to the U.S. Forest Service and CAL FIRE for their stand on this. We’ll let you know what we discover.