Alumni Spotlight: Bradley Brown

Bradley Brown (Class of 2008) of the Longview Fire Department recently returned from a two-week trip to California where he served on a strike team fighting wildfires. The team was assigned to the Creek Fire outside of Fresno where they worked 24 on/24 off shifts. They did everything from night watch fire lines to pumping uphill over a mile of hose. Their team was paired with California fire hand crews that assisted them with prepping headlines and back burning large areas of land.

Bradley said, “The terrain is definitely very different than East Texas. We are basically in the mountains with little to no flat land. We had some long, hard days and nights but what an experience this has been.”

This year’s wildfires in California that began in August when lightening struck dry forests have spawned fires that have grown from the ‘megafire’ classification to the first ‘gigafire’ in modern history — a blaze spanning over 1 million acres. At 1.03 million acres, the fire is larger than the state of Rhode Island. The August Complex Fires top a list of huge fires that have resulted in 5 of the 6 largest fires ever recorded in state history and have burned through 4 million acres of California this year.

On behalf of all of us at Van ISD, thank you, Bradley, for your service not only to your community but to people across the country in need. #WeAreVan #VanISDAlum

There are so many incredible Van ISD alumni making a lasting impact on our community and world. We want to recognize and celebrate our alumni who are making a positive impact in their communities and doing incredible things. We want to celebrate YOU and tell YOUR story! Please click here to nominate yourself or someone you know and help us tell the story of Van ISD!