TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2024 Crews come together to save Olancha homes
No lives nor homes reported lost in blaze
At approximately 11:20 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3, the Olancha/Cartago Fire Department was dispatched for a power pole fire north of Crystal
Geyser, during a wind event.
Chelsea Benbrook, fire chief of the volunteer fire department, reported that she could see the glow of the fire when she stepped from her front door and called for mutual aid from neighbor agencies, including the Lone Pine Volunteer Fire Department, the Independence Volunteer Fire Department, Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service.
According to Benbrook, the fire was about 50 feet by 50 feet with 70-foot flame lengths and was spreading in heavy fuels driven by the wind.
However, Benbrook stated that three of the department’s 10 volunteers notified her that they would be unavailable so she left the scene to get a fire engine. Thankfully, she stated, Jeff Mills, OCFD’s engineer and only driver of the department’s 4,000-gallon water tender had just arrived at the station.
By the time Benbrook got back to the scene, about eight minutes later, the fire had increased four times its original size “and growing fast,” she stated.
The fire chief reported that as resources began arriving, the energized power lines that were downed in areas and arching, hampered the ability of firefighters to safely attack the fire in the belt of heavy fuels and trees.
Cal Fire took over command of the incident when department members arrived due to the fire’s location on Cal Fire’s responsibility area and brought in a dozer and water tenders for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, E-3 from Bishop Volunteer Fire Department, dozers from Calf Fire and the US Forest Service, including two engines from Bishop Cal Fire, an engine from
Bishop US Forest Service, two Cal Fire’s inmate crews and a crew from the Forest Service, plus a battalion chief from Bishop Cal Fire and Forest Service for the initial attack.
By 2:30 a.m., she reported, Cal Fire incident command had placed a massive order of more resources, including four strike teams that each came with five engines, four inmate crews, two dozers, 10 overhead, and air attack (two tankers and two helicopters).
Meanwhile, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office placed a mandatory evacuation order for Cartago and began going door to door and using megaphones to ensure the community was notified.
Initial attack resources, including all the volunteers, worked from their arrival time until 6 p.m. the following day.
Benbrook stated that “thanks to the speedy and effective response from all of our mutual aid agencies, we were able to protect the Crystal Geyser plants at Olancha and Cabin Bar (the newest CG plant that shares a fence with the south east homes of Cartago), the township of Cartago and the neighboring homes on the west side of U.S. Highway 395.
“No homes were lost, no jobs were lost, and no lives were lost or seriously injured,” Benbrook reported.
Inyo County Health and Human Services set up an evacuation center in Lone Pine and through the help and coordination of Inyo County Supervisor Matt Kingsley and the HHS team, they were able to supply the initial attack resources with some well deserved coffee, burritos, cinnamon rolls and other baked goods supplied by the Alabama Hills Cafe the morning of April 4.
Benbrook stated local families came together and made significantly more than 100 burritos and tamales, cookies and coffee for the crews the following morning on Friday, April 5.
The fire was determined 100% contained on Saturday, April 6, at 8 p.m., she reported. Four unoccupied, abandoned structures were lost along with some fencing and part of a coral used by a local cattle outfit.
“We couldn’t have had this success without the crucial written agreements in place with our cooperators: Cal Fire, USFS, BLM (Bureau of Land Management), and OES (Office of Emergency Services),” Benbrook stated.
She wanted to extend special thanks to all the first responders who assisted in this incident,
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Steve Elenburg, BC Matt Edmiston, USFS BC-41 Levi Ray, Inyo OES Coordinator Damon Carrington, Cal Fire Capt. Abrams, Capt. Clarkson, Kingsley, Inyo County Sheriff Stephanie Rennie, Inyo County HHS Director Anna Scott and Gina Ellis, CG Safety Manager Tony Moore, The Alabama Hills Cafe, The Serna and Luna families of Cartago, “and the many others who helped during the emergency.”