Lodi firefighters share experiences battling wildfires

Locals headed to Carr Fire near Redding, Ferguson Fire in Yosemite to fight blazes

More than a week after returning from the Ferguson and Carr fires, several Lodi firefighters on Friday reflected on their experiences battling the blazes.

Engineer Dave Rabara and his fellow firefighters left Lodi on the morning of July 25 for the Ferguson Fire in Yosemite, as part of a strike team consisting of engines from several other fire departments in San Joaquin County.

Four days later the team made their way to the Carr Fire in Redding, Rabara said.

The Lodi crew focused most of their efforts on preparing and protecting structures, he said, as well as conducting controlled burns at night to cut off the fires’ fuel sources.

“There were times when we were a couple of miles away (from the fires), and there were times when we were right there,” Rabara said.

During the two weeks they spent fighting the flames, firefighter Tony Moore said he and his colleagues witnessed varying degrees of fire damage to forests and homes alike.

“Everything from garages burned off of houses to entire houses just gone,” Moore said. “There were areas in the forest where everything was torched from the ground to the tips (of the trees), and areas where just the ground burned.”

When they went into town to do laundry or restock on supplies, Rabara said evacuees lined the roads holding signs thanking the firefighters, police officers and military personnel for their efforts to combat the fires, with

some even making their way to the firefighters’ camp to show their gratitude.

“Every morning, there were two little girls that met us at the gate coming into the base camp,” Rabara said. “They would hand us little notes saying, ‘Thank you for your service.’ One said, ‘Thank you for kicking ash.’”

Moore estimated that the girls handed out a few thousand notes of thanks and encouragement over the course of a few days.

“There were 6,200 people assigned to the fire, and everybody got one,” he said. “Whenever you were going into the gate or out of the gate, she made sure you had one.”

“I must have got six of them,” engineer Grant Gibson added.

Although the Lodi firefighters all volunteered with the Stronger Than Carr Charity, Rabara said, staffing levels prevented them from doing as much as they would have liked, although they were still proud to have been able to do their part.

“We were honored to go up their and help with the effort,” he said.