ELDORADO HOTSHOT HISTORY

On May 19, 1981, Lynn Biddison, director of Aviation and Fire Management initiated the Eldorado Hotshots.  Up until 1976, all four districts on the Eldorado National Forest maintained a ten-person fire suppression crew.  In 1977 the Amador District gave up their crew, which in turn was absorbed by the Placerville District.  The two hand crews were combined to form a single 20-person crew.  They shared common transportation and days off.  The crew was known as the Sly Park Fire Suppression Crew.  During the winter of 1980, the Eldorado National Forest proposed to Region Five to change this crew into a Type 1-fire crew; on May 19, 1981, the crew became the Eldorado Hotshot Crew, to be stationed at Sly Park on the Placerville Ranger District.  The Hotshots designed and constructed their own facility, including men’s and women’s barracks, laundry facility, office and workshop.

The first Superintendent was Milt Clark.  He was detailed into the position during this first fire season.  During the fall of 1981, the Palomar Hotshots became victim to a reduction in the workforce.  Their displaced Superintendent, Barry Callenberger, found a home on the Eldorado Hotshots for the 1982 fire season and stayed with the crew until 1988.

In the winter of 1989, Greg Keller, who had been the foreman from 1981 to 1988, became the next Superintendent.  He held the position until 1995, when he decided to move on to greener pastures in Idaho as a Battalion Chief.

The winter of 1995 brought on a change of leadership as Mike Beckett became Superintendent.  After details in the 2009 and 2010 fire season as Division Chief, Mike officially became the South Division Chief of the Eldorado National Forest in July 2010.

In the winter of 2010, Will Harris, who had been the Captain from 2004 to 2010, accepted the Superintendent job in November. Will had previously detailed into the Superintendent position during the 2009 and 2010 fire seasons.

Fire season 2015 started with Will detailed as Battalion 61 finishing as Division 6. Aaron Humphrey detailed as Superintendent. That fall Will moved on from his 15 years with the crew accepting the Georgetown Division Chief  position. New leadership was ushered in by Aaron Humphrey becoming superintendent permanently in December 2015.

Crew Superintendents                           

Milt Clark,1981

Barry Callenberger,1982 - 1988

Greg Keller, 1989 -1995

Mike Beckett, 1996 - 2010

Will Harris, 2010 - 2015
Aaron Humphrey 2015 - present
Crew Captains

Milt Clark, 1982
Greg Keller, 1981-1988
Paul Musser, 1983-1989
Berni Bahro, 1989-1993
Lisa Fisher, 1991-1996
Jeff Robison, 1996
John Colby, 1996-1999
Mike Cherry, 1996-2001
Mike Sandoval, 2001-2006
Will Harris, 2004 - 2010
Nick Matheson, 2010-2014
Aaron Humphrey, 2007 - 2015
Brad Stewart, 2014-2015
DJ McIlhargie 2016 - Present

Ben Strahan    2016 - Present