Anaheim Fire Department firefighter finds gold

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Anaheim Fire Department firefighter finds gold

Off-duty firefighters unearth buried treasure in Anaheim

ANAHEIM HILLS - When the weekend fire approached Laureltree Dr., the Philblad family had no time to pack.

“I saw a big flame come over the hill… it was just unbelievable, and the heat was so bad, at that point, I knew it was time to go,” said Jeff Philblad. The home was destroyed.

Jeff, his wife, Dana, and their 11-year-old son evacuated the house, taking nothing with them but their pets and the clothes they were wearing.

Dana is six months pregnant, so she hadn't been wearing her wedding ring because it didn't fit. On Monday afternoon, at least seven firefighters painstakingly searched through the rubble to help Dana look for it.

The search continued during the week as off-duty firefighters dug through a gray and black mess about 2 to 3 ft. high and 6 to 8 ft. wide, the approximate area where the bathroom had been, looking for the ring.

On Friday, the efforts paid off.

“We were close to maybe putting in the last hour for today,” said Greg Fox, an Anaheim Fire Department firefighter who along with three colleagues searched for about three hours Friday. “But we actually ended up finding the ring intact. It was pretty exciting to find something like that; it was like finding a needle on a haystack.”

Dana Philblad cried when she saw the gold band with the princess-cut, 2-carat diamond.

“I was elated. I was so happy,” she said. “That's the one thing that I wasn't going to stop looking for. It felt great.”

Fox said that it was amazing to be able to give the ring back to Dana - something that means so much to her.

“She was just beside herself, ecstatic and crying, very grateful,” said Fox. “It was very rewarding, really a blessing to everybody who was there.”

Source: ocregister.com - link

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Sunday, November 23, 2008