Services personnel during times of crisis. The services that San Diego Volunteers provide include providing personnel for search,
rescue, fire, or medical.
As residents of New York City experienced during the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, the heroics of the cities EMS personnel were
demonstrated when hundreds of EMS personnel perished in the collapse of the Twin Towers. In San Diego County during the wild
fires of 2003, the counties EMS system found its resources over tasked. It is purpose of San Diego Volunteers to have a contingency
of volunteers trained to assist the professional EMS personnel of San Diego County during future times of crisis.
During the 2003 San Diego wildfires that devastated hundreds of thousands of acres, thousands of homes, killing over a dozen people and one
firefighter, displacing entire families, and changing thousands of lives forever, numerous citizens not associated, attached, or affiliated with
emergency management agencies made attempts to control numerous fires, hot spots, and flare ups throughout the county of San Diego and its
surrounding communities. Regardless of the potential threat to their own safety these people took it upon themselves to assist where emergency
services could not, due to the counties resources being over tasked.
Don Mason, Roger Ponce, and USMC Gunnery Sgt. Dan Nila, were just a few of the dozens of San Diego County citizens who found themselves
working together along numerous areas of Interstate 15, extinguishing flare ups and protecting neighboring structures which had been evacuated.
Subsequently, it was determined that the possibility of an event similar to the wildfires that struck San Diego county, could possibly reoccur in the
future. Additionally, the fact that the counties emergency services might once again find itself over tasked, as with smaller communities located
throughout the country, a volunteer agency with trained members in the areas of emergency services could beneficially serve as an additional layer of
protection to assist San Diego County Emergency Management Services.
Today San Diego Volunteers while in it’s infancy, is an organization that looks towards the future in the service and protection of San Diego County
and its surrounding communities.
The members of San Diego Volunteers are from all walks of life, whether as a white collar or blue collar worker, student or unemployed, all of the
members of San Diego Volunteers look towards the protection of their community.
For a detailed list of all services that San Diego Volunteers provides utilize the
USMC
