Did you know that two recent Civicorps alumni helped to stop the Keller Fire in the Oakland hills in October 2024? Eerily, the Keller Fire broke out one day shy of the 33rd anniversary of the deadly 1991 Oakland Hills fire. Fortunately, fire crews stopped the forward progress of the Keller blaze within three hours after it started. We are extremely proud to report that Sol Ruiz and Erica Bradley participated in the recent blaze’s containment.
Wildfire is a risk that impacts everyone and is just one of the environmental challenges that Civicorps Corpsmembers are training to mitigate.
Erica Bradley
Sol and Erica each honed their skills in Civicorps’ Wildland Firefighter/Fuels Management Career Pathway, and each of them left Civicorps for a coveted job on the Fuels Crew with East Bay Regional Park District. You can read more about Erica’s Corpsmember journey in our 2023 Annual Report where we wrote about her transformation from shy fast-food worker to conservation powerhouse.
Sol Ruiz
Being at Civicorps was transformational. It gave me a sense of direction and I’m very thankful.
– Erica Bradley
