Marc Bontrager, Battalion Chief

Email: Marc.Bontrager@fire.ca.gov

Battalion 14 in the Fresno-Kings Unit is in Central California and consist of rural agriculture areas, small communities, and one of largest State Responsibility Areas (SRA) in the State of California.

The Battalion consists of over 1 million acres of State responsibility land under direct CAL FIRE protection. The Coalinga Battalion also has 151,967 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Direct Protection Area (DPA). CAL FIRE provides fire protection for most of the BLM property within the Coalinga Battalion. Battalion is bordered by CAL FIRE Units of San Luis Obispo, San Benito Monterey, Mariposa Madera Merced and Kern County. The Coalinga Battalion is also boarded by Local Government of Kings County, Fresno County Fire Protection District, and the City of Coalinga.

The elevation of the Battalion ranges from 400 feet along the western SRA border to the highest point of 5,000 on the eastern border. Interstate 5 runs 80 miles along the Eastern SRA boundary of the Battalion. This provides very high transit traffic. State Highway 198 and Los Gatos Creek Road are east west routes to State Highway 101. These routes have high traffic as well.

The Battalion’s diverse elevation provides for an array of fuels, which relate to the overall potential fire behavior. The primary fuel models at the lower end of the Battalion consist of seasonal grasses, which quickly transition into deciduous and evergreen oaks. At the mid-slope to higher elevations of the Battalion, the fuel models transition to California brush models. There are areas within the Battalion that contain stands of evergreen and confer trees. These are located at the highest elevations of the Battalion. There are several areas, which are inaccessible, or control measures will be difficult due to steep topography. This provides the Battalion with many different fire behavior characteristics to be concerned with and a potential for a large fire growth if weather, fuel, and topography come into alignment with an ignition. 

The station is staffed with two Model 34 Type 3 engines, a Type 2 dozer and location of the Battalion headquarters.

CAL FIRE Coalinga Station

25600 Jayne Ave

Coalinga CA 93210