News: Cal Fire failed to radio Bonny Doon volunteers

Source: Written by Chuck Anderson | Press Banner

Friday, 20 June 2008

When Bonny Doon’s biggest-in-history wildland fire started last week, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection dispatchers failed to radio the community’s first responders — the volunteers of Bonny Doon Fire and Rescue. When Bonny Doon’s biggest-in-history wildland fire started last week, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection dispatchers failed to radio the community’s first responders — the volunteers of Bonny Doon Fire and Rescue. The initial report of smoke went to the countywide Netcom communications center in Santa Cruz at 2:49 p.m. Wednesday, June 11. Because Bonny Doon is Cal Fire-County Fire territory, the call was logged and relayed by computer to the Cal Fire command center in Felton by 2:50, according to Mike McDougall, Netcom general manager. Already busy deploying firefighters and equipment to two fire calls in San Mateo County, Cal Fire dispatchers took four minutes to turn to the Bonny Doon incident. Two Cal Fire battalion chiefs, three engine companies and a bulldozer operator, all from outside Bonny Doon, were dispatched. No radio dispatch was ever sent to Bonny Doon volunteers. Cal Fire Deputy Chief Paul Helm conceded that there was a dispatcher error, though he defended Cal Fire’s performance. “I don’t believe it significantly slowed the response,” he said. Helm pointed out that the volunteers were alerted through an alphanumeric page. Each carries a pager, and it can be set to make a sound when a page is received. “It was an inexcusable error,” said Tom Scully, a retired fire captain and president of Bonny Doon Fire and Rescue’s board of directors. “We’re the closest, and we responded only because we happened to be at the station or saw the smoke.” The volunteers responded on their own starting at 3:01 p.m. with two engines and a water tender. They beat the Cal Fire engines to the area of the fire, but a Cal Fire battalion chief ordered them to wait at the nearby fire station on Martin Road instead of going to the scene. Nearly half an hour after the initial call, firefighters were told to attack the blaze. It wasn’t necessarily a mistake to make them wait, however, according to Scully and Cal Fire officials. They said that for firefighters’ safety, a commander must take stock of where a fire is, how fast it’s spreading and its direction before ordering an engine company to go in. It’s impossible to know whether faster notification would have reduced the size of the fire. The first Bonny Doon engine company arrived at the area of the fire at 3:05 p.m., 11 minutes after the dispatch. Firefighters on Bonny Doon Engine 3221 reported at 3:06 that it “looks to be approximately a quarter acre at this time.” By 3:15, it had grown to an estimated 10 to 15 acres. Five minutes later, the volunteers were authorized to set up a hose line. Cal Fire engines arrived after that. The fire eventually devoured 520 acres. Dispatching errors and delays have been a concern in Bonny Doon for years, firefighters say. They are a chief reason behind the community’s push to form an independent fire protection district.