Show Notes
Host Captain Shawn Millerick is back in the studio and ready to inform, educate and entertain with Episode 21 of the PIO Podcast.
Episode Highlights
Transition to Planning and long term projects
Ryan Beckers shares an update on his move from PIO duties into the Planning Section, discussing what the transition looks like, upcoming projects, and the importance of seeing the big picture beyond day to day operations.
Spark of Love documentary and telling the bigger story
The group reflects on the completed Spark of Love documentary, highlighting the amount of work that goes into the program and how it extends far beyond toy collection. The discussion emphasizes the importance of educating both the public and department members on how these programs truly function.
PIO perspective during disasters
Ryan explains the Public Information Officer role during major incidents, focusing on balancing accuracy, timing, and responsibility. He talks about staying ahead of information, resisting media pressure to exaggerate, and ensuring the department tells its story honestly and professionally.
Flooding response and damage assessment operations
The conversation shifts to recent flooding impacts in Wrightwood, Lytle Creek, and surrounding areas. Curtis Markloff walks through how damage assessment teams operate, what they look for, and how devastation can be both obvious and subtle, especially when water damage affects structures that are still standing.
Understanding damage categories
A detailed breakdown of damage classifications is shared, from superficial damage to destroyed structures. The team explains how inspectors determine percentages, how flooding assessments differ from fire incidents, and why local knowledge of terrain and structures matters.
Damage Inspection Teams explained
The episode offers a behind the scenes look at damage inspection teams, training through Cal Fire, data collection, quality control, and the massive effort involved in scrubbing reports, verifying addresses, and matching photos to properties.
Community interaction and public service
Curtis Markloff talks about interfacing directly with residents during inspections, entering homes when permitted, answering questions, and connecting people with available resources. The public relations aspect of being boots on the ground during recovery is highlighted.
Station support and teamwork
Shout outs go to crews at Station 14 and Station 10 for their support and hospitality during operations, reinforcing how teamwork across stations makes large scale responses possible.
Rose Parade float duties
The episode takes a fun turn as Curtis Markloff shares his unique old man hobby of driving a Rose Parade float. He describes the logistics, overnight operations, limited visibility, teamwork between drivers and spotters, and what it is like being part of one of the worlds most iconic events.
Wrapping up with laughs and reflections
The show closes with more firehouse humor, reflections on teamwork, and appreciation for the people who keep things moving, whether in emergency response, public information, or behind the scenes.
Links Mentioned in the Episode: Spark of Love Documentary
More from San Bernardino County Fire: PIO Podcast
This episode marks a milestone, the show’s 40th installment, and it comes together in an unusual way. Part of the conversation was recorded back in June, and part was recorded this October, so the show jumps between the two recording sessions, almost like time travel in a movie, to bring five different segments into one episode. The show kicks off by digging into a box of old VHS tapes, including a mystery news clip from 2006 that has the studio trying to guess which current department member is on screen. The real news of the episode is the announcement of this year’s Salute to Service award winners. The crew walks through every category and announces this year's winners: Sustained Superior Performance Champions of Change Awards (Mentorship Excellence, Synergy Star, Rising Phoenix) Legacy Award Exceptional Service Award Annual Awards (Ambulance Operator of the Year, Fire District Employee of the Year, Firefighter of the Year) Fire Chief’s Distinguished Service Awards Medal of Valor Award Tech Corner covers two drones now in testing, one built to drop water on hot spots and another designed to fly hose packs up to firefighters on steep terrain, plus a new robot dog making its debut around headquarters. The episode wraps with surprise phone calls to a retiring 20 year veteran on his way out the door and a firefighter with a wild past life as a Dodger Stadium visiting clubhouse bat boy, along with groundbreaking news on Fire Station 227 and updates on several more stations in the pipeline.
CAL FIRE Battalion Chief David Acuña joins the PIO Podcast to walk through a career that started with the Orange County Fire Explorers back in 1986 and wound through paramedic work, a stretch away from the fire service entirely, and stops at Riverside County Fire, CAL FIRE, the Emergency Command Center, and now statewide Battalion Chief and Public Information Officer. He breaks down what a CAL FIRE PIO actually does day to day, covering a coverage area that stretches from Siskiyou to San Diego, and shares a crash course in fire weather and behavior fundamentals including LCES. Acuña talks about Aware California, a platform set to change how agencies share incident information, and talks candidly about the personal impact of the 2020 Creek Fire. The conversation wraps with his thoughts on mentoring and recruiting the next generation of firefighters.
Second District Supervisor Jesse Armendarez welcomes the PIO Podcast into his own office for a conversation on Fontana roots, public service, and building opportunity from the ground up.
Vice Chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and Fifth District Supervisor Joe Baca, Jr. joins the PIO Podcast for a wide ranging conversation on family, public service, and what's coming next for San Bernardino County. Baca, Jr. talks growing up in Rialto, his years as a teacher and softball coach, and how those experiences shaped his approach to representing the 5th District.
Host Captain Shawn Millerick is back in the studio for a conversation with San Bernardino County’s Third District team: Chairman of the Board Dawn Rowe, Chief of Staff Claire Cozad, and Communications Director Scott Ward. Chairman Rowe shares her path to the board, from losing her husband in Iraq and staying in Yucca Valley to raise her kids, to land use frustrations that led her to the planning commission, town council, and eventually the county board. She talks about the steep learning curve of representing the largest district in the county, which touches Arizona, Nevada, and LA County and has been ground zero for the El Dorado Fire, the Line Fire, Hurricane Hilary, and Snowmageddon. Chief of Staff Claire Cozad discusses her work on Capitol Hill, her experience as a chief of staff managing a team of twelve, and the advice she would give any young person starting out. Scott Ward reflects on more than three decades in radio at KFROG, including a Blue Angels ride that produced a memorable barf bag photo, and the transition to public service communications. The group also digs into county budget priorities, the importance of Starlink in remote desert response, leadership lessons, and a mass casualty incident exercise that turned into an accidental rescue of a county supervisor stranded in the desert with a group of high schoolers.