The “Horseshoe Meadow Crew”, has been proudly serving the U.S. Forest Service for the past 30 years.  The crew was established in 1974 on the Hume Lake Ranger District of the Sequoia National Forest.  Ben Charley was the first superintendent.  The crew was stationed at Horseshoe Meadow KV (Knudsen-Vanderbilt) camp.  Originally there were 27 crew members, this allowed for seven-day-a-week staffing. In the late 70’s due to budget short falls, manpower programs such as California Indian Manpower Consortium and Young Adult Conservation Corps were used through Native American programs to hire crewmembers.  The philosophy behind this was to create diversity and develop a young, strong, workforce.  It also provided the district and forest with a multiple-use resource.  

In 1980, the crew earned Hotshot status through a reputation of hard work and safe firefighting becoming the Horseshoe Meadow Interagency Hotshots. Ben Charley retired in 1989, but his famous line of “only two more chains! We’re almost tied in”, is still spoken as a motivational tool on Horseshoe to this day. Robert Bennett “Horseshoe Bob” took over leading Horseshoe as Supt. in August of 1989 and lead the crew until he retired in October of 2006.  “Horseshoe Bob” continued the tradition that Ben started in the early 70’s and provided the Forest Service with a highly respected and hard working Interagency Hotshot Crew. In May of 2007 Joe Gonzales was hired to lead Horseshoe as Superintendent.

At present, the crew is stationed at Pinehurst Work Center in Pinehurst, Ca. We are approximately 60 miles east of Fresno, CA.

Horseshoe Meadow Hotshot Crew Superintendents 

Ben Charley-1974 to 1989

Bob Bennett-1989 to 2006

Joe Gonzales-2007 to Present