Firefighters battling the Six Rivers Lightning Complex burning in Humboldt and Trinity counties became stranded after their vehicles and equipment burned over when the wildfire took an unexpected turn.
The fire complex started Friday, Aug. 5, ignited by thunderstorms that moved across the region. Firefighters from all over came into the region to help fight the fires, including the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians’ Red Hawk Crew of 19 firefighters. The crew from El Dorado County traveled six hours to report for duty, according to the American Red Cross.
The 19 firefighters were on the fire line when the U.S. Forest Service said the fire took an unexpected run and destroyed their two crew transport vehicles.
Thankfully the vehicles were far from the crew, and no one was hurt. But personal items, food, tents, sleeping bags, equipment and gear needed to continue fighting the fire had been in the transport vehicles and were all destroyed. The crew was left with only the clothing they had on, in the middle of the forest with no way to be transported out and nowhere to stay.
That night, after walking to a U.S. Forestry Service ranger station, the firefighters could only find lodging an hour away but still had no transportation.
When the American Red Cross found out about the firefighters’ dilemma, they quickly reached out to make arrangements to transport them to the Red Cross shelter in Willow Creek.
“I am very proud we were here to be able to assist the firefighters,” Red Cross shelter manager Angi Irmer said. “In a sense, they were also evacuees and lost what personal belongings they had with them. They were so gracious and very thankful for our help.”
“The Red Cross really saved our butts and we can’t thank them enough,” Chris McClendon, Fire Lead of the Red Hawk crew said. “We got beds and help as soon as we walked in. They set us up in our own little area in a gym and we were able to sleep all night. We were really well taken care of. The next morning, we met some of the evacuees and got to talk to them. They seemed pretty grateful we had traveled so far to help them. That felt pretty good.”
The 19 firefighters were waiting for a bus to take them home to El Dorado County so they could regroup, restock their equipment, replace lost personal items and get ready to redeploy to the fire, if needed, the Red Cross said.
Even with everything they went through, they still said they're ready to return to help protect the community.
“We go to this neck of the woods multiple times a year,” McClendon said, “so we’re ready to help, if needed.”
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Click here for the original article from Red Cross Volunteer Peg Taylor.