United States Department of Agriculture
VALLEJO, Calif. — USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region (Region 5)
mourns the passing of two of our agency’s “family members” and heroes in the
firefighting community –Allen Johnson and Marcus Pacheco.
Losing any member of our Forest Service family is a heartbreak for each one of
us – let alone two in a week. Words cannot express the sorrow felt across the
federal firefighting community, and for the loved ones and friends of these two
men.
Allen Johnson dedicated over 40 years of his life working throughout Region 5 to
the Forest Service mission and was working to protect life and property during
this unprecedented fire year at the time of his passing.
Allen worked for many years on the Stanislaus National Forest, spending most of
his career on the Groveland Ranger District. He led out on fire and fuels
management – and continued to make a difference with many years of service
through the local firesafe council and other community efforts throughout his
retirement. He continued to be part of fire suppression after retirement through
his role on an Incident Management Team. Allen was known as a mentor and
friend for any that had the opportunity to cross paths with him. He was best
known as a giver and a leader, both personally and professionally. Allen was
loved and respected by all who knew him.
Marcus Pacheco dedicated his life to firefighting and served the Forest Service
and other agencies in working to protect all Californians during this
unprecedented fire year.
Marcus served for thirty years of firefighting in many roles for multiple agencies