The CCC is perhaps best known for its emergency work - fighting fires and floods, assisting with earthquake recovery efforts, cleaning up after oil spills, and much more.

CCC crews can be dispatched where needed throughout the state within hours. Since the Corps was established in 1976, corpsmembers have provided eight million hours of emergency work, responding to nearly every major natural disaster in California.

For corpsmembers, responding to an emergency may mean 12-hour days, often 10 to 14 days at a time, before being relieved by a fresh crew. Despite the long hours, most corpsmembers find the work among the most rewarding in the CCC, whether saving homes and businesses from rising flood waters, working at a large firefighter base camp or helping neighborhoods clean up after an earthquake.

Types of emergency response work include:
• Fires -- The CCC provides initial attack, mop-up and logistical support crews on dozens of fires each year. Fire recovery work is also part of the CCC's efforts, including thousands of hours of work after the Southern California fires in 2003, the Oakland Hills Fire in 1991 and Laguna and Malibu fires of the 1990s.
• Floods -- Corpsmembers have braved nearly every major flood since 1976, including the El Niņo storms of 1998. CCC crews protect and reinforce levees, stabilize hillsides and fill sandbags. Since 1976, the CCC has filled more than three million sandbags.
• Earthquakes -- From Coalinga in 1983 to Loma Prieta (1989), Landers and Ferndale (1992), Northridge (1994) and San Simeon (2003), the CCC has long been involved in earthquake cleanup and recovery efforts.
• Agricultural Pest Infestations -- Working under the direction of the Department of Food and Agriculture, corpsmembers have fought the Mediterranean fruit fly, gypsy moth, white fly, red imported fire ants and the glassy-winged sharpshooter. In 2003, corpsmembers helped halt the spread of the deadly Exotic Newcastle Disease affecting all species of birds, including poultry.
• Oil Spills, Search-and-Rescue, and more --There are specially trained oil spill cleanup crews and search and rescue crews. The CCC also helps with snow removal and other emergency efforts.

The CCC offers well-trained and managed crews, frontline and logistical assistance and a quick response time. As noted in the Corps' work contracts, crews may temporarily postpone a work project if dispatched to an emergency.

In October 2003, nearly 500 corpsmembers were dispatched to the Southern California fires, helping with both initial attack and fire camp support. Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger met CCC fire crews during this time. After the fires were out, the CCC was called upon to assist with cleanup, recovery and rehabilitation of the burned areas.

The CCC also focuses on homeland security efforts in its emergency response work, through hazardous material training, search-and-rescue work and enhanced initial attack firefighting and floodfighting crews. The Corps is currently collaborating with the Red Cross in several California locations to increase emergency preparedness efforts in local communities.

Many corpsmembers have used their CCC experience as a stepping-stone to future careers as firefighters with the California Department of Forestry, the U.S. Forest Service as well as city fire departments.