Meet LAFD’s Crew 4: The New Full-Time Wildland Team Preparing Los Angeles For the Next Firestorm

The scent of wet grass from recent atmospheric-river rains mixes with mud and gasoline as Alec Derpetrossian props and operates a chainsaw while foreman Randy Magaña directs where to place the blade. Derpetrossian is still learning to handle the heavy tool, and the crew works methodically—cutting, pulling and feeding limbs into a woodchipper—until sunlight breaks through the opened canopy.

Firefighters work to put out a wildfire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 7, 2025. - Philip Cheung/The New York Times/Redux

Derpetrossian and Magaña are clearing shaded trees and dense brush in the Sepulveda Basin near the Los Angeles River, an area vulnerable to brush fires because of thick vegetation and nearby homeless encampments. They are members of Crew 4, the Los Angeles Fire Department’s first full-time paid wildland hand crew, created to strengthen prevention and response after the catastrophic January 2025 firestorms.

Alec Derpetrossian is part of Crew 4, the Los Angeles Fire Department’s first full-time paid wildland hand crew aiming to protect the City of Angels from another Palisades Fire. - Philip Cheung for CNN

A focused mission: prevention, preparedness, response

Led by Superintendent Capt. Travis Humpherys, Crew 4 is tasked with vegetation management, digging fire lines, and on-the-ground fire suppression. The team’s preventative work—removing invasive trees and thinning brush—aims to reduce the risk that embers carried by Santa Ana winds will ignite tree canopies or dry fuel and accelerate a blaze.

Tree stumps are seen in the Sepulveda Basin, which is prone to brush fires thanks to thick vegetation and the presence of homeless encampments. - Philip Cheung for CNN

When fires are active, the crew digs containment lines and clears fuel ahead of and along a fire’s edge to slow its progress and assist suppression efforts. Stationed at Fire Station 88 in the San Fernando Valley, Crew 4 trains countywide and often conducts runs, hikes and frequent brush-clearance operations to maintain readiness and build team cohesion.

A neighborhood burns in last year's Pacific Palisades fire. - Philip Cheung/The New York Times/Redux

Composition and training

Crew 4 comprises more than 20 civilian wildland fire technicians, three sworn-employee foremen, and a superintendent. Members graduated in June 2025 after a five-week intensive training academy and continue daily exercises to hone skills for varied terrain and urban-wildland conditions. Many crew members previously served on LAFD volunteer crews or worked as hotshot firefighters in national forests; others bring new perspectives to the department.

The LAFD's Crew 4 is preparing for fire season, which in Southern California typically runs from late spring to October. - Philip Cheung for CNN

“This crew is 100% ready to respond to and assist on a fire,”

— Capt. Travis Humpherys

Context: Larger, more destructive wildfire seasons

The addition of Crew 4 arrives as California faces larger, more destructive wildfires. The state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment reports that changes in land use, fire management, and climate impacts have increased the area burned and the number of large wildfires over recent decades. Between 2020 and 2024, the annual average area burned in California was about three times higher than in the 2010s.

Shopping carts were pulled out of Encino Creek by Crew 4 members. The area is known for homeless encampments. - Philip Cheung for CNN

In January 2025, a series of fires across Los Angeles—including the Eaton and Palisades blazes—killed 31 people in the region. The Palisades Fire alone killed 12 people, destroyed thousands of structures, burned more than 23,000 acres, and ranked among the state’s most destructive wildfires. That event highlighted the need for locally based, permanent hand crews familiar with the city’s terrain.

Tree branches are piled up during vegetation management at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area. - Philip Cheung for CNN

Voices from the crew

Members emphasize local knowledge and teamwork. Jesus Vivas, who joined after serving on the volunteer crew, said he relied on training and fellow crew members during last January’s response: “I didn’t get nervous. I just relied on my training, relied on my hand crew, on my members, on my foreman, and we were able to do the job fully, completely.”

Crew 4 is made of more than 20 wildland fire technicians, who are civilians, three foremen, who are sworn LAFD members, and the superintendent. - Philip Cheung for CNN

Justin Treiber, accepted to Crew 4 during the Palisades response despite limited wildland experience, noted the advantage of a city-based crew: familiarity with neighborhoods and how fires have behaved in specific areas gives them an upper hand in preventing fires from getting out of control.

Destroyed homes are seen in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles after the January 2025 fires. - Philip Cheung/The New York Times/Redux

Firefighter foreman Paul Wingate called the paid crew “a huge benefit” compared to the previous volunteer program, which staffed less frequently. With Crew 4 available full time, the department can deploy boots on the ground more often without relying as heavily on neighboring agencies.

Members of Crew 4 walk to their vehicles after clearing vegetation. The team trains by going on runs or hikes in difficult terrains throughout Los Angeles County and by doing brush clearance several times a week. - Philip Cheung for CNN

Looking ahead

LAFD leaders emphasize that wildfire risk is now year-round: dry vegetation, low fuel moisture and strong winds can produce dangerous conditions outside the historical fire season. Chief Adam VanGerpen said there is “no such thing as fire season” anymore and vowed the department will remain ready. Mayor Karen Bass and other officials have framed Crew 4 as an investment in prevention and community safety.

As the crew fells stubborn trunks and clears brush, their work is practical and symbolic: reducing immediate fire risk while building local capacity to respond quickly when the next fire threatens Los Angeles neighborhoods.