We are now accepting applications for the 2009 fire season.  

Applications submitted before December 30th, 2008 will be given first consideration.

Announcement Number:  BLM-FIRE-2009-007

              Positions:  Hotshot (Range/ Forestry Aid/Tech)

                      Duty Location: Bakersfield, CA

 Call  us for additional information about open positions and to schedule a
 station visit.


 Ron Napoles, Superintendent                 Leif Mathiesen, Asst. Supt.
 661-391-6054                                                 661-391-6055

The Kern Valley Hotshot Crew was established by the Bakersfield District, Bureau of Land Management, as part of its fire program build up, in 1983. Anthony Escobar was detailed from the US Forest Service to start the crew as Superintendent. The first crew was comprised of local BLM, Forest Service firefighters and Alaskan Fire Service personnel. Known as Crew 6 the crew was stationed at Black Rock Fire Station on the Sequoia National Forest from 1983 to 1984. The general location for the crew was near the Kern Plateau at the eastern end of the collective communities gathered along highway 178 and Lake Isabella generally known as the Kern Valley. The name Kern Valley Hotshots was chosen over such stately names as the Golden State Hotshots. The Crew was the first BLM Hotshot crew established in California.

Anthony Escobar eventually became the permanent Superintendent and in 1985 the crew moved to Chimney Peak Fire Station, manned with all BLM personnel and designated as Crew 1.  The crew was largely made up of personnel from the surrounding communities in and around Lake Isabella. In the same year the crew was amongst the first to carry water as a tactical function of the Supt. Truck.  Four-wheel drive crew carriers on a regular truck chassis were also used by the crew at this time and for several years after. It is generally agreed that in 1985 the crew became recognized by its peers as a Hotshot crew while several large fires including the Wheeler Ridge Fire on the Las Padres National Forest.  

In 1988 the Crew made a substantial move out of Kern Valley and into Bakersfield City in order to be closer to a jetport. In Bakersfield the crew was first stationed at the old Butte Street Fire Warehouse located in the hood behind the cement factory.  The move to Bakersfield started a fundamental shift in the crew’s personnel from small town to urban. In 1989 the crew was re-located into the abandon Kern County Fire Station #42, on Niles Street in the heart of East Bakersfield. The crew members and station contributed greatly to the Niles street community by providing a variety of services ranging from changing tires to providing a temporary homeless shelter on the station’s front porch. Bakersfield’s large oil production work services and products allowed the crew to begin utilizing metal processes for manufacturing and fire tool making.
Finally in 1993 the crew made its final move to the Bakersfield Field Office in Northwest Bakersfield. The office environment enabled the crew to start working with computer software as an adjunct to firefighter training. In 1997 the Kern Valley Hotshots began teaching the Bakersfield College Fire Technology course, B71a, Basic Firefighter. In 2001 Anthony Escobar became the Central California BLM Assistant Fire Management Officer. Ron Napoles assumed responsibility for the crew as its second Superintendent.

Crew Foremen have included:

Brian “Buster” Fennessy
Mike Bowles
Jesus Robles
Ron Napoles
Robert White