Nevada teams await call to action

Jen Lawson

Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003 | 11:26 a.m.

RAMONA, Calif. -- The second team of Nevada firefighters was awaiting orders this morning and hoping they could do more to help Southern California than the first team did Wednesday.

Las Vegas Valley firefighters in the San Diego area to battle the raging Cedar Fire were excited Wednesday when they were told they'd be going to Julian, a historic mining town that was being overrun by flames.

But plans changed.

"I've got some bad news and some bad news," Las Vegas Fire and Rescue Capt. Rusty McCallister told the strike team composed of 23 firefighters from Las Vegas, Clark County and Henderson gathered at a California Division of Forestry and Fire Protection station near their base camp in Santee.

He told them they would instead be protecting Ramona, a rural San Diego County community 22 miles east of Julian, by ensuring that wind-blown embers from the Cedar Fire did not turn into flames.

Afterward, Capt. George Goldbaum of Las Vegas Fire and Rescue said he was disappointed. "We'll see what happens. It's only the first day," he said.

Meanwhile Gov. Kenny Guinn this morning sent 10 prison crews to California to join in the firefight.

About 240 inmates trained in fighting wildfires left from Stewart, outside Carson City, at 5 a.m. today, accompanied by 33 correctional officers and 30 Division of Forestry supervisors, as well as two National Guard helicopters.

They were headed to the San Bernardino Airport command post, where they would be dispatched to fires in San Bernardino County, state officials said.

"These crews have become an integral part of Nevada for fighting fires," Guinn said this morning. "I appreciate their sacrifice and hope they remain safe."

The Southern Nevada firefighters in California wound up spending the day chasing down reports of hot spots that turned out to be unfounded and worked through the night and into this morning doing the same thing, getting little sleep along the way.

This morning Southern Nevada firefighters were awaiting orders and hoping they could do more to help.

The firefighters Wednesday afternoon drove their engines -- two from Henderson, two from Las Vegas and one from Clark County -- to an unpaved area on Mussey Grade Road and Highway 67 and talked strategy while waiting to be called out.

A field of horses was across the road and smoke billowed up from distant mountains. The smoke served as a reminder that with a shift in the winds a fire could erupt within their area.

Bill Ryan of Ramona pulled up to the firefighters in his red Cadillac and told them he saw a small amount of smoke rising out of a nearby canyon.

Numerous other people also stopped and reported seeing or smelling smoke in their neighborhoods. But with smoke lingering throughout the region, it was hard to pinpoint its origin.

Curt Harper, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue battalion chief and commander of the strike team, gathered the firefighters together and said he wants, "a presence out there so the public can see we are doing our thing."

As Henderson firefighters drove through a small subdivision to check on a report of a hot spot that turned out to be unfounded, residents stood in their driveways and waved. They were 25 miles from the huge fire.

Rangers at Dos Picos Park in Ramona who reported a possible hot spot treated the Las Vegas firefighters as celebrities. Rangers said they never thought they would see Las Vegas here.

Ranger Kyle Icke came running out of the ranger station with a camera.

As he snapped pictures of the red Las Vegas Fire and Rescue truck, which is emblazoned with dice, Icke said, "I keep looking for a slot handle."

"Everyone is just flipped out about Vegas being here," Las Vegas Fire and Rescue Engineer Kevin McNeill said.

Throughout the day residents of Ramona dropped off water, crates of oranges, sandwiches, bagels and potato chips and offered the Southern Nevada firefighters plenty of encouragement.

Jay Kawamoto of Poway, a nearby town, pulled over and handed firefighters a case of bottled water, saying his parents' and brother's homes were destroyed earlier in the week.

A man in a pickup truck drove by, gave the thumbs up sign, and said, "Yea, Las Vegas!"

Another group of 23 firefighters from Nevada arrived in the San Diego region early Wednesday.

They are the second strike team from Nevada and include firefighters from Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, Nevada Test Site Fire and Rescue and the Fallon and Pahrump fire departments. They are working independently from the first group, which was being allowed to rest today.

Gov. Kenny Guinn said Wednesday that 127 Nevada firefighters with 24 fire engines and two Chinook helicopters are in Southern California battling raging wildland fires.

"We're working very closely with them," Guinn said of California officials who requested Nevada's aid in fighting fires that started scorching forests and suburbs alike on Oct. 21.

"Hopefully we will not have to send more because we are protecting our own flank here," Guinn said on "Face to Face with Jon Ralston" on Las Vegas ONE, Cox Cable channels 1 and 39.

Nevada will feel no financial impact from the massive firefighting effort, Guinn said, since the federal government is expected to pay for up to 85 percent of the costs. "We have it in writing," he said.

Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said that since President Bush has declared a state of emergency in California, federal funding will be provided to pay for firefighters and equipment costs.

"The cities and Clark County will be reimbursed," Szymanski said.

How the bills will be paid was of little concern out on the front lines Wednesday, however. There were much more important matters on the minds of the firefighters.

When word came that a San Francisco Bay area firefighter had been killed and three others injured while fighting the Cedar Fire near Julian, Goldbaum said he was "disheartened."

John Rynes, deputy chief of Nevada Test Site Fire and Rescue, said he felt sick when he heard about the tragedy.

"I always say a little prayer," he said.

Sun reporters

Mary Manning and Cy Ryan contributed to this report.