A strike team of five engines from five fire departments rolled down the Highway 99 on ramp at 3 p.m. Monday afternoon in Ripon headed for the Ferguson fire that has claimed the life of one firefighter in Mariposa County.

The fire personnel – headed by Stockton Battalion Chief Shannon Lewis – congregated at the headquarters of the Ripon Consolidated Fire Department in downtown Ripon.  It was the second call out for Manteca firefighters in little more than 24 hours. Manteca sent an earlier team to the fire in the predawn hours Sunday at 1 a.m. 

It was the fourth call out for the Lathrop-Manteca Department in recent weeks with Chief Gene Neeley having acted as a strike team Leader last week. Their crew went to the Pawnee Fire as well as the Ferguson Fire where they have one Type 3 Engine and the Office of Emergency Service green engine on the fire line. 

Represented in Monday’s  strike team were engines from Lathrop-Manteca, Manteca Fire Department, Mokelumne Fire Department, Thornton and French Camp – Manteca city had two engines.  Mountain House Fire Department – contracted with the French Camp department had two firefighters in the team. 

Engines and heavy terrain trucks began arriving at the Ripon department at 2 p.m. driving one by one into the station forming a caravan line-up that would head for Highway 99 by 3 p.m. where they were forced to break into heavy commute traffic with their fire rigs as they headed south to Highway 140 on their way east. 

Manteca firefighter Armando Blanco received a family send-off by his four small children at the open back door to the Ripon station when they swarmed over him with hugs as his wife looked on.

Captain Travis Gooch and Captain Neil Green were dispatched in supervisory roles to the stubborn mountain blaze respectively with the Manteca and Ripon departments.