Federal Firefighters Who Combated California Wildfires Given Pentagon Tour

View Online Federal Firefighters Who Combated California Wildfires Given Pentagon Tour Feb. 19, 2025 | By Matthew Olay Ten U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service firefighters from two separate crews who spent much of January battling Southern California wildfires were given a tour of the Pentagon this afternoon as part of a four-day, USDA-hosted trip to Washington. During the approximately one-hour tour, five members of the Forest Service's Southern California-based Angeles National Forest firefighting crew and five members of the Missouri-based Mark Twain National Forest veteran crew were guided through the Pentagon's multiple floors and corridors. During the tour, they learned about the Defense Department's history.  "It's an awesome opportunity. It's nice to out here and for the work we've been doing in California," said Michael Miller, a two-year veteran of the Mark Twain firefighting crew and former U.S. Navy aviation mechanic who served from 2004 to 2013.  "Being a veteran, walking down these aisles, seeing the history of the Navy the history of the other branches was a really cool opportunity. I think it's really rewarding to myself and the vets I'm with," Miller added.  Composed entirely of U.S. military veterans and stood up in January 2023, "The Mark Twain veteran crew provides veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces with the training and experience needed to obtain meaningful employment in the wildland fire service," the crew's website reads.  This past January, the Mark Twain crew deployed to Southern California during the initial outbreak of that region's wildfires.  At first taking on the role of initial attack and bolstering the numbers of firefighters already on scene, the crew members soon found themselves working 16- to 24-hour shifts while proactively going into harm's way to prevent the fires from spreading. "We're a hand crew, so where the engines can't go. We were hiking up about 2,000 vertical feet of elevation, up to the most remote part of that fire every day … swinging hand tools and carrying chainsaws," said Samuel Bowen, superintendent of the 25-man Mark Twain crew and an Iraq War veteran who served in Army infantry.  "It's such a great honor; I don't know how else to describe it, but it's really cool," Bowen said of touring the Pentagon.      Eduardo Cerna is a 13-year Forest Service veteran and engineer with the Angeles National Forest firefighting crew who took on the Eaton and Hughes fires in January. "The fires that happened, those were our backyard … and my engine company was one of the first units on scene that fire," Cerna said.  His team was initially tasked with doing all they could to save lives by evacuating as many people as possible before then moving on to trying to save structures.  Cerna said it feels good for the USDA to recognize him and his fellow firefighters with an invitation to Washington.   "Not that I'm doing this job to get the notoriety, but just knowing that, at higher levels above, they see what we're doing at the ground level … it feels good," he said, adding that he viewed the Pentagon and the amount of work that goes on within it "amazing."   In addition to touring the Pentagon, the Forest Service firefighters toured other D.C. landmarks, including the White House and U.S. Capitol.  The Pentagon has offered public tours since 1976. Today, there are up to five tours daily, each with a capacity of 60 visitors. Tour hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, except federal holidays.

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