News: Local firefighters performed heroic rescue in San Diego County

By KIMBERLY TRONE
The Press-Enterprise

Tony Mecham watched with a sharp, sinking pain in his heart as the most extreme firestorm the Cal Fire/Riverside County battalion chief had ever seen enveloped one of his strike teams in last month's deadly Harris Fire near the Mexico border.

Mecham called for an ambulance.

The strike team, led by his longtime colleague, Battalion Chief Steve Curley, had entered the eye of a firestorm to check on an elderly, paralyzed man who had refused earlier mandatory evacuation orders.

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Ramon Mena Owens / The Press-Enterprise

Cal Fire Capt. Joe Pidgeon and Battalion Chief Steve Curley were among a strike team that saved the life of an elderly man.

"I was very concerned we could have some of our guys burned over. I did not think our guys were going to make it out without injuries. I wanted that paramedic there," Mecham said.

They made it. The paralyzed man was rescued and Curley and his strike team went on to fight more battles.

"The actions of my people were very heroic," said Curley, who is the Moreno Valley fire battalion chief. "However, I believe anybody on my strike team that day would have done the same thing. We were into 30 hours of continuous firefighting, and these guys absolutely never gave up."

Heroes Everywhere

Similar scenes played out across Southern California last month as thousands of firefighters struggled to save lives and homes in the string of blazes. Cal Fire/Riverside County deployed 50 engines to assist in the fight.

The Harris Fire that began in San Diego County on Oct. 21 charred 90,440 acres, destroyed 211 homes and 262 outbuildings. By the time it was contained 10 days later, the blaze had killed five people, injured 21 civilians and 36 firefighters, at least two of them critically.

Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Chief John Hawkins credited his firefighters' training and preparation for their success.

Hawkins told the Riverside County Board of Supervisors he would probably recommend Curley, 45, for a medal of honor for the leadership of his team during the Harris Fire. Curley has been with Cal Fire for 26 years.

"Their actions were courageous, dangerous, but extremely effective in saving multiple civilian lives," Hawkins said.

Curley's strike team had been on the Harris Fire almost 24 hours by 2 a.m. Oct. 23, when it was notified the paralyzed man needed help. Only 10 engines were in the area and resources were stretched.

"It was a true firestorm. Flames were going over the top of us," Curley said. "This by far was the most extreme fire behavior I ever witnessed."

A Firestorm

Mecham, a branch director on the blaze, said a thousand engines couldn't have controlled the firestorm as three walls of fire spun closer and closer together and merciless winds blew flames as long as 80 feet across the road.

Flames were advancing on Cal Fire/Riverside County crews from Moreno Valley Engine 91, Rubidoux Engine 38 and North Palm Springs Engine 36 as they entered a compound where the man was located.

Mecham said he could only wait and watch from above the firestorm.

Firefighters found the man inside a garage where he'd been placed in the bed of a pickup. Neighbors, who refused to evacuate, had covered him in blankets and towels, thinking they'd eventually drive him to safety. Curley said the man told him he had suffered a heart attack five days earlier.

The electric door of the garage was broken and jammed. Curley ordered Engine 38 to defend the garage with hoses. Crew members of Engine 91 and Engine 36 forced the garage door open. Windblown smoke and embers made it difficult to breathe or see.

The firefighters struggled in the onslaught of debris and fire to carry the man to Curley's truck. Curley drove the man to safety and to the ambulance Mecham had summoned for firefighters.

After the rescue, which took 30 minutes, the weary Riverside County strike team went back to the firefight until late in the morning.

Few words passed between Mecham and Curley when they met up after the rescue.

Mecham described his feeling as that of relief when swerving out of the path of a grave danger.

"These guys deserve a lot of credit, but not only for the rescue," Mecham said. "There are 30 or 40 families that were able to resume a fairly normal life because of their efforts."

Fair use source: PE Inland News