{"id":123883,"date":"2017-10-15T01:14:12","date_gmt":"2017-10-15T05:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=123883"},"modified":"2017-10-15T01:14:12","modified_gmt":"2017-10-15T05:14:12","slug":"an-army-of-firefighters-brave-deadly-epic-firestorm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/10\/15\/an-army-of-firefighters-brave-deadly-epic-firestorm\/","title":{"rendered":"An army of firefighters brave deadly, epic firestorm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Palmer<\/a>
Palmer is one of more than 10,000 firefighters working this week to control the most destructive group of fires in state history. Dozens of people have been killed, and more than 5,000 homes and other structures have been damaged or destroyed. (Photo<\/a>: City of Santa Rosa Fire Department\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SONOMA, Calif. \u2014 Santa Rosa firefighter Brandon Palmer has fought big blazes in his 20 years on the job, but the 81-hour shift he spent fighting the fire storm in his own neighbourhood this week was still stunning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s crazy to watch your hometown be annihilated by fire,\u201d he said, back at his Santa Rosa firehouse. \u201cIt just takes your breath away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palmer is one of more than 10,000 firefighters working this week to control the most destructive group of fires in state history. Dozens of people have been killed, and more than 5,000 homes and other structures have been damaged or destroyed.<\/p>\n

Fighting the fires has been exhausting, days and nights dragging heavy hoses through thick smoke, hiking over steep terrain, hopping on and off trucks. More than 200 hand crews are also on the scene, building fire lines with shovels and bulldozers, slashing through brush with chainsaws and pulaskis, hiking for miles with heavy backpacks.<\/p>\n

When the fire broke out above Santa Rosa, Palmer \u2014 who was off duty \u2014 hurried into the station, grabbed his gear and went to work, dragging hoses through vegetation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could hear explosions. The sky was glowing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After his wife and children safely evacuated, Palmer said he lost track of time over the passing days as they rushed from block to block. Although residents were largely out of the area, in one backyard, he came across a big, yellow Labrador.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was freaked out. We tried to grab his collar. Usually they’ll lick you to death, but he was a little nippy,\u201d Palmer said. With the road open and safe, they called Animal Control and moved on.<\/p>\n

The firefighters rest when they can, catching short naps, sometimes sprawling on the ground in front of their trucks. They fuel up with quick meals and chug coffee at their fire camps donated by local businesses. While the missions are co-ordinated by commanders, crews said the radio chatter about new fires, high winds and a rapidly moving front line had them changing tactics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was hot, it was steep, we got into some thick smoke a couple of times,\u201d said seasonal firefighter Christina Barker, 30, of Turlock. Hoses were burning up, she said, and at one point they were separated from their engine during a shift that went on for more than 50 hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us are thinking about the fear or the challenge. We’re just focused on how to be efficient,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

On her seventh day of almost nonstop work, Barker said Saturday that community support is keeping her going. During one exhausting shift, her crew was invited in to a home for cold sodas. On Friday night, as she was settling down in her truck for a short rest, a neighbour brought her a cot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn’t have to sleep in the engine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

While local firefighters have hit it hardest, 2,100 members of the California National Guard, 425 law enforcement officers and crews from more than 100 supporting agencies from around the U.S. are also working to stop the blazes, control traffic and protect property. Firefighting helicopters and air tankers are also up, dropping fire retardants and assessing damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m completely exhausted. I can barely think right now,\u201d said Capt. Jimmy Bernal of the Rancho Adobe Fire District, taking a break during what he described as a very intense week. He said at one point he couldn’t manage to spell his last name.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was dispatched to a grass fire and got sucked into a structure fire,\u201d he said. \u201cThey didn’t have any units to relieve us, so I worked four days straight.\u201d<\/p>\n

State officials said that while they seem to be gaining control over some fires, others are still erupting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still at it full tilt. But we’ll get ahead of these flames and preventing more loss of property and life throughout the weekend and into next week and as long as it takes,\u201d California Office of Emergency Services director Mark Ghilarducci said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SONOMA, Calif. \u2014 Santa Rosa firefighter Brandon Palmer has fought big blazes in his 20 years on the job, but …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":123884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24157,16,17],"tags":[27825,27824,10779,27823],"class_list":["post-123883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-american-news","category-news","category-news-w","tag-brandon-palmer","tag-brave","tag-firefighters","tag-firestorm","mauthors-terry-chea","mauthors-martha-mendoza","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}