Valley firefighters tackle Butte County blaze

The 2008 fire season has roared into high gear – and for the second time in three weeks, Sonoma Valley is responding.
At 7 p.m. last Wednesday, California’s Office of Emergency Services summoned statewide help to fight a wildfire outside Chico which had burned more than 23,000 acres and 74 homes by presstime. The OES keeps a cadre of engines and crews throughout California, including one in the Sonoma Valley Fire and Rescue Authority.
“We sent four members on the unit: Capt. Joe Pierson, paramedic engineer Jason Stayton, paramedic engineer Luke Loftus and firefighter Jason Cambell,” SVFRA Capt. Spencer Andreis said last Thursday. “They are a part of a strike team consisting of four additional engines; one from the city of Santa Rosa, and a Strike Team Leader. The engine could be committed up to 14 days.”
Sonoma last responded to a statewide alarm on May 22, when the OES engine and crew turned out for the week-long, 4,270-acre Summit Fire south of Loma Prieta.
“We met up with a strike team in Benicia,” said SVFRA Capt. Mike Bruno. “We went right into base camp, got rested for the night and went out to the fire line the next day.”
Accompanying Bruno for the six-day, 24-hours-on and 24-hours-off task were SVFRA engineer/medic Billy Harper and volunteer firefighters Bob Molesworth and Jack Ayers. The Summit Fire was the second “campaign” and first OES assignment for Ayers, a recent paramedic graduate who works part time for the Kenwood Fire Department.
“I try to learn from the best, and learn as much as I can, and ask questions,” Ayers said. “You’re always thinking, ‘What’s next? What’s next?’ You try to remember everything you’ve learned.”
The Summit Fire claimed 31 homes and 63 other structures before it was contained May 28. More than 2,500 firefighters battled rough terrain to contain both the main fire and countless, wind-blown “spot fires” – some of which they’d just finished extinguishing.
Ayers said that while there’s no such thing as a typical fire – “We go to 100 structure fires a year, and none is alike” – there are elements common to both Sonoma Valley and the Santa Cruz Mountains. He said Bruno had trained him using the mental “slideshow” model, which means looking for the familiar amid the chaotic.
“For example, here’s a driveway that’s long and narrow and steep, just like on Norrbom Road – could we get out of there?” Ayres said. “We’re continuously familiarizing ourselves with stuff like that.”
If the year so far is any indication, that training may be tested in the months ahead. Bruno predicted that a lack of brush-clearing burns, a major factor in last summer’s Lake Tahoe fires, doesn’t bode well for the future.
“I’m 32 years into this deal – this was probably my 16th or 17th OES run,” Bruno said. “Fires seem like they’re getting worse … the last few fires we went on were pretty intense. They said [the Santa Cruz Area] hasn’t burned for 100 years.”
But when the inevitable happens, Bruno said the alarm won’t go unanswered.
“They know they can call OES out on a moment’s notice,” he said. “We’re ready to go all the time.”