Chief's Message
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We continue to navigate the impacts of the past decade of Drought related climate effects here in American Canyon and the surrounding Napa Valley. I’d like to remind everyone of the need to be on-guard for an early and potentially long ‘fire season’ again in 2022. All you have to do is look out the window of your house, apartment or car and you should be noticing that the hills to the East of town are turning golden with every day that passes. The recent ‘April Showers’ were refreshing and helped the spring snowpack in the Sierra Mountain range, but they did little to restore the ground water that supports our drinking water and the taxed root systems of the trees and heavy brush that surrounds our neighborhoods and Valley hills. We are receiving more and more calls from concerned residents about the tall drying grass in the open space and areas adjacent to their neighborhoods all around town. If you are responsible for one of these properties, please start to work on cutting the high grass and removing it from your property for your safety and that of your neighbors. If you are one of those who is calling the City or reporting a concerning property in your neighborhood, please be patient with us as we are working to address your complaints and concerns.
The Fire District has an annual Weed Abatement program that starts each year on June 1st. We actually begin our visual assessment of properties at the start of May and develop our abatement notice list prior to the June 1st start date. You may encounter or see firefighters and support personnel driving through your neighborhood as they are starting inspections and documenting conditions over the next several weeks.
Once our abatement list is developed property owners are given notice and allowed to remove the hazards on their own prior to the 10 day deadline. If the property is not cleaned consistent with the requirements of the Weed Abatement Ordinance standards, then the property will be cleaned by the Fire District’s contractor and the property owner will be billed for the cost of this work and the related administrative cost incurred by the Fire District to address the problem.
Generally, most all of the property owners in the District comply with this program and either clean their properties themselves or hire a company to do it for them. Overall , our program is very successful and the hazards in town are greatly reduced every year. Now that I have said that, let me assure you that we will still have fires in and around American Canyon this year. All the work that you and we do to reduce the threat of these fires plays out in the fact that they are normally easier to control and suppress when they do happen because of the hazard reduction resulting from our annual ‘weed abatement’ program.
Thank you to each and everyone of you who helps the Fire District continue to make our community a safer place to live, work and play!
Be safe as we all progress from Spring to Summer in our beautiful and vibrant community.
Mike Cahill
Fire Chief
Follow us on Social Media:
Facebook: Facebook.com/AmCanFire
Instagram: Instagram.com/amcanfire
Click Here for the Monthly Statistical Report for April Statistics
CPR Training
Are you CPR Trained? Would you like to be?
The American Heart Association hosts online CPR/AED classes to provide basic life support training.
Visit: AHA CPR/AED Training to find class near you.
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Meet The Team Mondays
Meet The Team Mondays continued featuring the following:
Firefighter/Paramedic Chad Pilkington
Captain/Paramedic Max Etchieson
Probationary Firefighter Kyle Murchison
Fire Executive Assistant / Public Information Officer Laura Provencher
We will continue to feature a different member of the American Canyon Fire Protection District. We are highlighting why they love serving our community, why they like being a firefighter, and how they like to spend their downtime. They even get to highlight what special duties they have taken on within the District. Stay tuned to learn more about YOUR AmCan Fire District.
To see the previous post click here.
2021 Annual Fire District Report
Tuesday, April 26th, the American Canyon Board of Directors accepted and filed the 2021 Fire District Annual Report as presented by Chief Cahill.
The annual report is a comprehensive look at the ACFPD's activities, training, financials, and community involvement in 2021.
To review the report click here.
Fire Business Inspections
On April 19th, our contract Fire Marshal, George Apple, (CSG Consultants) brought in-house training to C Shift regarding Fire Safety Inspections.
Continued active fire prevention measures ensure not only compliance, but safety for our business owners, their employees and visitors.
As COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted, ACFPD staff will be conducting inspections to ensure compliance to the State Fire Code, local building requirements and obtain current contact information.
For more information visit
This Month in Action
Mutual Aid to Benicia Fire - Port Fire
AmCanFire responded on April 9th to a 4th alarm fire at the Benicia Port. This fire was assisted by over 10 agencies, including several fire boats. There was no threat to the American Canyon community.
AmCanFire participates in the statewide mutual aid matrix when we have adequate staffing and availability. This ensures that should be we need assistance for an incident, other agencies will respond.
Easter at Shenandoah 2022
 An aspiring Firefighter races to rescue our mascot 'Marshal'. She did a GREAT job!
 This firefighter is working through some 'Confined Space' training.
 Members of ACCERT, AmCanFire, our Mascot Marshal, the Easter Bunny, PD's Mascot Lobo and AmCanPD gather to celebrate and document this fun occasion.
Fire Extinguisher Training
 AmCanFire conducts yearly training with the staff at Amcor, a global packing solutions company located in the Industrial Park.
Pictured is LaVail Marshall, Sr. practicing proper technique when using a fire extinguisher.
 What is CERT?
Community Emergency Response Training (C.E.R.T.) is a nationally recognized emergency training course that teaches essential emergency response skills. By taking and completing the CERT course you will gain the skills and confidence necessary to help yourself, your family, and your community during a disaster.
ACCERT April Highlights
- SAT 4/9 to SAUN 4/10 - Search and Rescue (SAR) Overnight– 8 volunteers from Napa City CERT and ACCERT participated in an overnight drill with Napa Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team in a mock search for a missing person.
- 4/11- 4/15 - Communications Director, Michael Tadewald, continued his communications training by completing the Intermediate Public Information Officer class through Cal OES.
- SAT 4/16 “Rockin’ into Spring” – 8 volunteers from Napa City CERT and ACCERT did traffic control (foot and vehicle) and manned an ACCERT informational booth. Shenandoah Park
- SAT 4/23 Deployment with SAR - 8 volunteers from Napa City CERT and ACCERT responded to a request for assistance from the Napa Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team to help search for an individual that went missing on 4/22. Training from 4/9 paid off!
- SAT 4/28 –Go Box Training – 15 volunteers from Napa City CERT and ACCERT learned how to deploy our new “go box” communication boxes and antennas. We practiced set up of 40’ antennas at Napa Valley College.
- ACCERT had a new member join last month. Welcome “Kristen Klein”.
- To learn more about ACCERT visit our web site at http://www.americancanyoncert.org/ or Follow us on Facebook here.
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The next Fire District Board meeting will take place on Tuesday, May 24th at 6:30 PM. The agenda will be posted on our web site.
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