As a veteran firefighter of 25 years, PPA Tour referee Mark Thomas is accustomed to being thrust into action.

That was the case during the Zimmer Biomet Masters powered by Invited, when he received a phone call at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 9 notifying him that his services were required to help with the ongoing LA wildfires.

A battalion chief with the San Jose Fire Department, Thomas is also a resource unit leader for an 80-person incident management team in California, and his squad was needed to “track all of the resources assigned to the incident and manage a plan to put those resources to work.”

Instead of refereeing Round of 16 matches later that morning, Thomas was on the first flight out of Palm Springs International Airport to San Jose to prepare his gear, before quickly heading back down south by car to the Ben Clark Training Center in Riverside, CA where his team set up shop.

“We’re an all-hazard team that’s utilized mostly for wildfires. We provide management and oversight for major incidents. Right now, we’re operating the mobilization center, so we’re responsible for deploying all the resources coming in from out of state,” he explained. “We’ve been part of mobilizing hundreds of pieces of equipment that will assist with these fires, including engines from as far away as Washington, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Colorado.”

At the same time, Thomas and company must always be mentally and physically prepared to jump into the fray and join their fellow firefighters on the front lines battling the flames.

It’s a waiting game for his entire unit. 

“Our team is ready to take over the next fire if another fire happens. In baseball terms, we’re “on deck” for the next one,” he said. “We’re preparing for the next onslaught of Santa Ana winds that have the ability to create an additional large fire. The area from San Diego County all the way up to Ventura County could be affected by this next Santa Ana wind event and red flag warning.”

Thomas is no stranger to confronting wildfires in the Golden State.

He draws on that vast experience to guide his decision-making under difficult circumstances like these.

"My team was part of the response for the Park Fire this past summer in Chico. It was the biggest fire in California history. I've also been part of teams for fires in Orange County that destroyed homes right outside of Irvine," he recounted. "The significant part of these fires in Southern California, though, is the total loss of property and the devastating effect they've had on so many homes. These fires are historic in the amount of damage they've done."

That's a scary thought, of course, but Thomas is wholeheartedly committed to doing his part to help in any way possible in the days to come.

In short, he loves his work and the responsibility that comes with it.

"For the fire service, we bring calm to chaos. It's a systematic approach. It's about providing the best service possible to the citizens that we're serving, and in this case, it's making sure the citizens of California get the resources they need in order to recover from this devastating set of fires," he shared. "Any time there's someone in need, it's a calling for the fire service to be able to help."