Posted on 10/30/2006 1:47:12 PM PST by granite
THE ESPERANZA ARSON WILDFIRE
This is the personal story of a very brave CDF Dispatcher from Riverside County Volunteer Fire Station 63 located in Poppet Flats.
Monday, October 30, 2006 12:36 PM
Subject: Fire update from Poppet Flats
Here is a report of what happened on Thursday, 10/27/06 in Poppet Flats.
My pager went off at 2 am on Thursday morning not sure what day, they have all run together.
I am in charge of calling all of our firemen at Station 63, since my antique pager is the only one that works up here in the mountains. I have been a volunteer at station 63 for the past 27 years. I have been trying to retire for the last 10 years, but am still Treasurer & dispatcher to inform them we have been toned out to an incident.
I told our firemen that we were dispatched to a fire, originating in Cabazon on Esperanza & I-10. They were calling us for structure protection in Twin Pines. At that time our whole valley was full of smoke. When our firemen got to the top of Poppet Flats Rd., They called back and said to start alerting people in Twin Pines, since they could see the red glow of the fire way east of them. They said it looked very bad and the winds were blowing very hard, out of the east.
I immediately got on the phone and alerted our High Valley Water Dept. Supervisor. He was grateful, since he said he would leave immediately to make sure his water tanks were all full. I then started calling the residents in Twin Pines that were on the eastern edge of the mountain. I told them it looked bad and to start alerting people, even though it is 2:10 am. By then our whole sky was turning red, very smoky and ashes falling. In just a little while our electricity went out. I continued making and receiving phone calls throughout the night.
By daybreak we were having trouble breathing, since the wind was blowing very hard. We heard from our men that it was out of control and we should be prepared to evacuate. By daybreak we could hear loud speakers, it was coming from the Sheriff cars in the area, they were going through the area telling everyone to leave immediately
We moved our trailer to the Silent Valley parking lot. Since it is in "THE PLAN" that Silent Valley is the safest place to be in a fire. We are all together there and can be sheltered in place by the fire crews. Silent Valley can at certain times be a community of maybe 1000-5000 people. It just happens that this was a very big weekend for them, since they would be celebrating Halloween and have their haunted forest.
The Sheriff had the road blocked at the Silent Valley entrance so nobody could leave the valley.
I am also a member of the High Valley Disaster Team and a Cert Certified. We were checking on people, making sure they were leaving. There was also a team making sure all of the animals were taken care of. The county had trucks and trailers here helping people pick up their animals and also Perry & Helen were using their own trailer to rescue chickens, llamas, horses, dogs, cats etc.....
After we arrived at the parking lot of Silent Valley we went in to check on our neighbors, to see how many of them had made it into the park. We had to park across the street in the parking lot, since the park was full.
I then went back to the Ranger Station to see if I could help out there, since I had been a ranger for a few years. The electric and the phones were out. They hooked the Ranger Station up to the generator and had one emergency phone, which was constantly ringing. So for the next 9 hours I was answering the phone, which allowed the employees to be able to do other critical jobs.
By that time the fire had crossed Hwy 243 to the east of us and was rapidly approaching. The winds were still gale force. The fire went north and south of the park. It crossed Poppet Flats road and fingers of fire were coming into F section.
One of the Rangers was sent up to the water tank with binoculars to watch for fire coming into the park. We had hundreds of Fire Engines rolling down the hill into our area. They came from all over the state. The employees were kept busy with all of the jobs they had to do, such as putting out spot fires.. The fire completely surrounded the park at times. It burned right up to the edge in several places.
The phone was constantly ringing, most were asking about family members that were in the park. Some were hysterical saying their parents were camping there, I assured them all was safe. Some had husbands or wives camping and the spouse was down the hill. At one time a wife called saying her husband was there and the children were very upset after watching the TV news. I assured her all was well, then asked to talk to a child that was crying in the background. I think I helped calm her a little when I told her we were all fine.
The press kept calling and wanted interviews, they would start by saying" I hear you are all trapped" I would stop them at that point, and say we are not trapped but in the safest place for the time being. The roads were all closed to allow the movement of all the fire equipment.
As the fire moved around the park, maintenance was kept busy helping people to evacuate their trailers to the center of the campground. First from one side and then the other. F section was evacuated first as the fire crossed Poppet Flats road and fingers of fire spread towards the camp, followed by B section, then C section. Somehow the fire managed to bypass the upper storage area, although it came right up to it. The firemen had us surrounded and did a wonderful job of controlling the burning. Many spot fires were breaking out. That night we made it back to our house to check on it, all was fine, so we stayed there. It was very scary, since there was fire burning on all of the ridges around us. At night it looks very close.
About midnight the dogs woke us and I looked out to see a big fire engine backing into our driveway. I went to the door and the Capt. said it was time to leave, since it was getting close. We quickly grabbed a few things and went back to our trailer at Silent Valley. We spent the next few hours wondering what was happening around us. At daybreak we hurried back to see if we had a home. We were elated as we rounded the turn to see all of the houses still standing. It was terrible though, it had come right up to all of the houses on the edge of the community, some had their siding melted. We were all so very lucky. God was certainly with us. We then went back to tell all of our neighbors that all was safe here. Then we started hearing of the terrible loss that our Twin Pines neighbors had suffered. There were 27 homes lost over there. The fire went through so fast, many just barely got out. Then we began hearing stories that four firemen were killed, we were hoping it was not true. We stayed home most of the day and made phone calls to our neighbors, who had left the hill, to tell them their house had survived. We also checked on a few people. In the late afternoon, the sheriff came through again and said that the whole valley was going to have to be evacuated. The burn on the east, north & south was burning away from us, but the west ridge where we had seen flames, most of the day, was predicted to head east again with the strong evening winds and wipe out all of Poppet Flats and Silent Valley. So the campers in Silent Valley were told to leave as soon as possible. If they had vehicles, they were told to leave their rigs & just get out. Some were able to take their rigs, but most were left in place.
I went down the hill to the Red Cross shelter while my husband refused to leave. He stayed in our trailer. As I drove down the mountain I was in disbelief at what I was seeing. Everything was burned. The houses on Hwy 243 were all gone but two. The guardrail posts were all down, the roads were charred black at the edges. The whole mountain was black, all the way down to the bridge at the bottom of the hill. I stopped after I got down & looked back at the mountain that was once so beautiful I could not see any green, from Palm Springs to Sun Lakes it was all black. It looked like what I would imagine a moonscape to look like. My dog & I spent a very restless night in the car. I had my cell phone & called my family. About 10 pm, my brother called from Yucaipa and told me to come stay there. It was so hard to sleep, not knowing it there would be any homes left in the morning or not. I waited until about 7 the next morning and started calling several of the firemen on their cell phones. Finally one of them answered and said all was well, they had saved all of the houses but one, which was down the back road.
I was so excited that I started calling all of our neighbors that I could find numbers for and tell them the good news. I, as Secretary have been compiling a list of emergency numbers of everyone in our area to be used in the case of a disaster.
I them went back to the Red Cross center and met up with a few neighbors. They told us that the road back up the mountain would open at 10 am. We could go back up and collect a few things, but had to be back down the mountain by 3 pm. We had two checkpoints as we came up the mountain where we had to show proof of residence and credentials. It was so sad to drive back up and see all of the devastation.
When I arrived back we were all checking on neighbors and helping to make sure they had gas to run their generators. Everyone has been so helpful and really pulling together to help each other. When I got back, my husband was really having trouble breathing, since he had inhaled so much smoke and is also a heavy smoker. When I ran into the Battalion Chief he told me I did not have to leave at 3 pm, since I was needed to help in Poppet Flats.
They have a very large portable generator to run the telephones. It may be days before the electricity is restored. The water pumps that pump water up the mountain from Banning have been damaged, so we need to conserve the water. We are still in evacuation mode. Each day only allowed in between 10-3.
The fire danger and heavy smoke is gone, but the burn smell will linger a long time, it is on our clothes, hair, in vehicles and houses. The fire has moved on to the south. The helicopters were still flying & dipping from the trout pond at Silent Valley today, but I understand it is nearing control. We just have nothing but praise for our own volunteer fire department, station 63 and all of the firemen that came from near and far to risk their lives in such a fast moving fire. Also our newly formed Disaster Team has proved they can work together. Some of them worked round the clock checking on others, bringing food, bringing gas for generators and helping in many ways. Our President, John had some good helpers, Dave, Bob, Larry, Roger made quite a team.
We have been very lucky and are counting our blessings.
Wow! Thank you, great post.
I hope they catch whoever set these fires and convict them and give them the max.
Sounds like my recollection of the Cedar Fire in San Diego County.
Thanks for posting this....added some keywords..
Fox News Alert just reported that the Sheriff's Dept. just raided a house on Ida St., just a half mile from the origin.
Reporting that two "Skinhead troublemakers" are the persons of interest.
For a half-million dollars, I'll bet a lot of tips are being given to the LE agencies. The name of every skinhead, crackhead, meth-dazed person, or local crazy or vagrant will be thrown out with the hope that one sticks.
ping
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