REDWOOD CITY, California – With California fire brigades attached to sources, residents have organized to put out flames themselves in a large pond of land burning south of San Francisco, defending their homes despite evacuation orders and pleas by officials to to come out of danger.
They go in, despite the California Fire Department, repeatedly warning people that it is not safe and actually illegal to go into evacuated areas, and they may obstruct official efforts to stop the flames. The former head of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the effort near a cluster of firefighters around the city of Santa Cruz is bigger and more organized than he recalls in previous magazines.
“People are frustrated by the lack of resources available. People will always try to sneak back, but it sounds like this is growing to a new level, “said Ken Pimlott, who retired in 2018 as director of Cal Fire.” I have not seen people look at this scale again, especially with the level of organization. ”
The group of wildfires near Santa Cruz burned 125 square kilometers and destroyed more than 500 buildings. While those fires contained 20 percent, firefighters have been driven to the breaking point since more than 500 fires broke out in one night last week, most of them in the central and northern parts of the state.
In Boulder Creek, a community at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains near a state park filled with high towers, some people call the group of residents fighting the flames the ‘Boulder Creek Boys. ‘They say the group, including former volunteer firefighters, have been protecting houses and extinguishing fires behind fire lines for more than a week, sometimes using only nothing but dirt and garden hoses.
About 10 miles north of Santa Cruz, crews of civilians stayed behind to protect homes in Bonny Doon’s small community that they believed firefighters were too strict to protect, patrolling shifts through the night. Brothers Robert and Jesse Katz even brought in their own fire truck, fighting alongside official crews.
Jaimi Jansen, 38, has returned to the area several times since she was ordered to evacuate early last week. She says she helps defend the community against fires and re-supplies neighbors with water, generators, gasoline, shovels and fuel.
“We have operated a gas pump, similar to the type you use to drain a pool,” said Jansen, who has no professional firefighting experience. “One end goes into a well or pool, and we used that to put out spot fires.”
Jansen said she is modest and has learned from others, including a relative and neighbor who have been firefighters. At one home, they sprayed a garden hose while a team of neighbors used a tractor to clear trees and create a fire barrier.
Deputy director of Cal Fire, Daniel Berlant, said he has not heard from residents organizing to what extent civic groups are now in the Santa Cruz Mountains. But he said it is always problematic for residents to stay or re-enter evacuation zones, and sometimes they have to be rescued by official crews.
“Our firefighters have equipment, communications and decades of experience that allow us to fight dangerous fires,” Berlant said. “We absolutely urge everyone to evacuate early. These efforts, while well-intentioned, absolutely slowed us down. “
He said it could also cause problems for firefighters as citizens struggle for roads and water pressure.
Gregg Schalaman, 58, of Boulder Creek, did not evacuate at first, instead driving his neighborhood in search of spot fires, then alerted Cal Fire crews or called 911.
“I could point out locations where they could not check in regularly,” he said, noting that although firefighters generally respond, they can only do so much.
Schalaman also defended his own house and the properties of neighbors with a hose and a few buckets of water from a nearby hot tub, at one point a spot on a hillside near a house that had been blown up.
“It was not quite a smart thing to do, honestly,” Schalaman said. “But I was there and thought I could throw a few bowls on it. It was lucky that there was water in that house. ”
Cal Fire officials could not say what effect citizens had on stopping fires and destruction. Evacuated areas around Santa Cruz have had problems with looting, and authorities say that while they focus on stopping looters, not amateur firefighters, some people have been arrested for entering evacuation zones.
The Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office has so far arrested five people on suspicion of burglary and is urging people to stay away from the evacuation zone to prevent looting, said spokeswoman Ashley Keehn. Six others were arrested for entering a closed disaster area, but Keehn could not indicate how many residents were fighting fires or those who were.
Kevin, a resident who only wanted to use his first name because he was afraid of retaliation, said his crew of residents patrolled in teams around the clock, and “so far we have not lost any houses.”
‘I can say with confidence that if we were not here, we would have. We have exposed several fires that could have been out of control, “said Kevin.
