In love and memorial of USFS BDF Engine 57
Captain Mark Loutzenhiser, 43, from Idyllwild, California, Firefighter Jess McLean, 27, from Beaumont, California, Firefighter Jason McKay, 27, from Apple Valley, California, and Firefighter Daniel Hoover/Najera, 20, from San Jacinto, California.
Tomorrow will mark the five year anniversary that I lost a friend. That this world lost five firefighters. That this world lost five good men. That Idyllwild lost five protectors of life and property above themselves. That Alandale Forest Fire Station lost not just a piece of equipment painted green, but five human souls.
At approximately 1:00 AM on October 26, 2006 an arsonist started some dead vegetation on fire at the base of the San Jacinto mountains. Less than seven hours later, three firefighters were dead, two others were unsuccessfully fighting for their lives.
The fire was initially in the jurisdiction of Cal-Fire, the state fire agency. It rapidly spread and units from the U.S. Forest Service - San Bernardino National Forest (BDF) and local agencies were requested to assist. BDF E57 along with several other USFS engines and a water tender (tanker for you east coasters) from a local air force base were assigned to structure protection in an interface area above and to the west of the point of origin.
BDF E57 found themselves protecting the "octagon house", a structure that was a second home and was unoccupied at the time of the event. The other BDF engines were parked at other structures in the area.
The conditions for disaster were ripe, as the weather pattern was what is known as a Santa Ana wind event was in place at the location of the fire. Single digit relative humidity, severe winds and elevated temperatures were all present at the time of the burn-over. The weather conditions were compounded by the topography, and the location of the structure that E57 was trying to protect. A natural drainage ran from E57's location down to the area of origin. In a horrific twist of fate, the wind direction was in nearly perfect alignment with this drainage, pushing the fire up the drainage. Finally, a long term drought had dried the fuel to critically low levels.
The size of the fire was estimated to be approximately 3000 acres at the time of the burn-over, the fire behavior was extreme.
As none of the E57 crew members survived the event, we will never know what went through anyone's mind or why they reacted as they did. All we know is that we lost five firefighters as a result.
The official report was produced by Cal-Fire and by the USFS. It is a massive document, 114 pages in length. It goes into all of the details and makes the usual recommendations about how this tragedy could have been avoided.
While I believe that these events should be studied and lessons should be learned, I also know that the very nature of these major wildfires, especially during the initial operational period, prevent many of the usual recommendations from being implemented. Communications are going to be difficult, accurate intel is not going to be as accessible as we would like, sections of the 10 standard orders will be violated and the event will be loaded with the situations that shout "watch out!".
For me, it all boils down to two basic decisions, both of which turned out to be wrong. The first was the decision to send people into that area to defend those structures, the second being the decision to try to save the octagon house.
Both of those decisions were made by trained, competent professionals with years of experience. Both ultimately led to the deaths of five firefighters. Both turned out to be disastrous.
If those people made wrong decisions, so can I. That reality troubles me. It troubles me to the point where I have made the trip down to the site of the disaster and have viewed the remains of the octagon house, the unnamed drainage and the neighboring houses. I can honestly say none of it is worth dying for
Convicted and sentenced to death for five counts murder and arson.
In memory of the fallen I ask that all firefighting apparatuses and engines be temporarily painted USFS green (ID 16).
/carpaint 16 16
Tomorrow I will be going to USFS Alandale Station to leave flowers and to say my thanks. They helped save my home. I have a place today, thanks to them.
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