Heroic Butte County firefighters have told how they fought the devastating Camp Fire – even as their own homes and those of friends and family succumbed to the flames.
More than 5,000 firefighters from across California are now battling the blaze, which has killed 74 so far and destroyed 9,700 homes, but local first responders were among the first on the scene.
Jessica Church, 25, a volunteer firefighter who lives in Chico – less than 15 miles from Paradise – said her best friend's home was among those destroyed.
Heroic Butte County firefighters (pictured in the wreckage of the California fire) have told how they fought the devastating Camp Fire – even as their own homes and those of friends and family succumbed to the flames
Fire crews have been working tirelessly to tackle the deadly blazes sweeping through the state
The crews, some of whom are volunteers, are pictured taking a well earned break from grueling shifts of up to 24 hours
Fellow firefighter Zak Phillips, 28, also of Chico, says he is currently hosting two displaced families at his own home while also putting in shifts of up to 24 hours at a time.
'Going house to house and not being able to give good news to people that their house is still standing there… That's been tough,' Church told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
'I think I've been able to say that two houses that we know were still standing. That's rough. Going back into town and your friends want to know what's going on and you can't tell them anything good - it's hard.
'It's really hard because this is our town, it's our home and it's gone.'
Phillips added: 'The toughest thing for me is seeing community members displaced, friends and family, just trying to do what you can to help them out.
'I don't know what else I could do but at the same time, it feels like you're not doing enough.'
On Saturday, as President Trump visited the stricken town, teams of search and rescue volunteers could be seen combing the wreckage for human remains
Fire crews (pictured outside a burning house in Paradise, California) have been risking their lives to save their neighbors
Harrowing images from Paradise on Friday show the heartbreaking search and rescue efforts where county deputies carried off deceased victims in body bags as the number of missing people mounted to over 1,200
Church added: 'My best friend lives up a road from where we first got in [to town]. He'd just got off of fire season.
'He was sleeping because when you work fire season, you get pretty exhausted after a while. He was sleeping and had his phone off.
'He woke up to his neighbor's house exploding and me calling him over and over, saying 'hey, get out there's a fire. I'm a street up from you and the fire's already here. You need to leave'.
'He just scrambled, grabbed what he could and left. His house is gone and I had to break the news to him that his house had gone. It was hard because it was like my second home.'
Church and Phillips are currently part of a crew working on clean-up operations in Paradise, where 97 per cent of homes and businesses were destroyed.
On Saturday, as President Trump visited the stricken town, teams of search and rescue volunteers could be seen combing the wreckage for human remains.
The exhausted firefighters take a break, lying on the hard ground, during their 24-hour-shift
Jessica Church, 25, (second from left) a volunteer firefighter who lives in Chico – less than 15 miles from Paradise – said her best friend's home was among those destroyed
Fellow firefighter Zak Phillips, 28, also of Chico, says he is currently hosting two displaced families at his own home while also putting in shifts of up to 24 hours at a time
But for the fire crews, the task of putting out still smoldering hotspots continues 10 days on while others continue to battle the main blaze which is 50 per cent contained but still raging to the north.
Waiting at a staging post north of Oroville was a crew from Sacramento, 92 miles to the south, who have been battling the blaze for more than a week.
They told DailyMail.com that they had worked without a break for the first 48 hours and have been working 24 hours on and 24 hours off ever since.
Like other crews, who come from all over California as well as from Nevada and Oregon, they have been sleeping in tents and mobile dormitories at base camp, which has been set up at the Silver Dollar Fairground in Chico.
But Rocco Davalos, 36, said the crews are used to the basic living conditions and are happy to put up with them in order to do the job they love.
He said: 'It's not the most comfortable, it's a lot of lack of sleep and microwave food but we knew what we were doing when we came here and it's not the first time so it's something we're accustomed to.'
His crew were among the first on the scene in Paradise, arriving at 3pm on the day the fire broke out and tasked with beating back the flames while the local crews got residents out.
'This is by far the worst we've seen,' Davalos told DailyMail.com. 'We were there doing the firefight so we spent all of Thursday and all of Friday fighting fire and going around trying to find anywhere where there was still something we were able to save in Paradise.
Church and Phillips are currently part of a crew working on clean-up operations in Paradise, where 97 per cent of homes and businesses were destroyed
For the fire crews, the task of putting out still smoldering hotspots continues 10 days on while others continue to battle the main blaze which is 50 per cent contained but still raging to the north
'We were there until Saturday morning. We come from Sacramento which is a bigger city and we do a lot of structure firefighting, so that played right into our normal role – we were able to do what we do.
'But I would say the next challenge is really turning off your mind. Almost that survivor's guilt. Talking to so many people that lost their homes and they're still working.
'People from PG&E [the electricity company] lost their homes and they're still working. People from the local fire department that lost their homes and they're still working with us.
'That would be the biggest challenge – focusing on what we had to do and turning off any feelings of guilt.'
Like Church and Phillips, Davalos said he appreciated the kindness shown to his crew by local people in the aftermath of the fire but said he is not a hero and just wants to help.
He said: 'We see the signs [thanking firefighters] and we're really appreciative of people coming up to us and saying that but nobody here feels like a hero or wants to have that hero role.
'We enjoy what we're doing. We're able to go to work and enjoy what we do and being here to help is just that little extra for it.'
Church added: 'I don't like taking credit for it at all. I'm just doing the job that I wanted since I was little.
'I don't like my friends paying for meals and stuff – I'll tell them no, I'll pay for it and we have companies that are willing to give firefighters free coffee and free food and couple of us just say, here, take the money and give it to someone else.
'If they insist we don't pay for it, we just give them money so they can pay it forward.'
All are now hoping the residents of Paradise will be helped back onto their feet as quickly as possible.
'I would just say, stay strong,' Davalos told DailyMail.com. 'There's so much work to do in there [Paradise] still and with the people missing going up every day.
'I can't imagine what they're feeling and going through. I've seen nothing but smiles from the people in Paradise thanking us. People who lost everything thanking us. I don't know what to say to that.
'So I would just say, stay strong and keep a positive attitude about it. It will figure itself out in the end. Just be thankful for being able to get out of there.'
[ends]
TENT CITY OF 'WALLYWOOD' ARISES AS VICTIMS OF WILDFIRE ARE MADE HOMELESS OVERNIGHT
Hundreds of evacuees from Paradise who have been encamped in a tent city set up on a Walmart parking lot have called it 'Wallywood'
Not only are authorities grappling with the grisly task of finding those who likely died in the Camp Fire, but there is also a brewing crisis as to what to do with those lucky enough to survive.
Officials in Butte County are struggling to come up with housing solutions for the hundreds of Paradise residents made homeless by the devastating wildfires.
In the last few days, a tent city has been growing in the parking lot of a Walmart in Chico.
The hundreds that have encamped at the location have even dubbed it 'Wallywood,' according to the Sacramento Bee.
'I just want to be safe and happy and in a home,' said DeAnn Miller, 57, one of the residents of Wallywood.
An estimated 50,000 people have been evacuated from Paradise - with 1,000 of those currently living in six shelters.
In three facilities, Novovirus has broken out, requiring officials to erect special isolation tents in hopes of containing the virus.
Even before the wildfires, Butte County was facing a severe housing shortage. Now it must rely on state and federal authorities to help with solutions in relocating those displaced by the fire.
Meanwhile, dozens of Camp Fire evacuees in Chico have been given a deadline of 1pm on Sunday to dismantle Wallywood.
Donation bins and portable bathrooms that were set up for residents who were forced to flee their homes will be removed.
More than 100 people are camping out in the tent city. They do not know where they are going to go as temporary housing facilities have not been made available to them.
'They’re taking everything on Sunday, the bathrooms, the lights, everything,' one evacuee, Carol Whiteburn, said.
'I don’t know what we are going to do.'
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has opened a disaster recovery center, but no arrangements for temporary housing have been made.
'What do you tell people who are sleeping in a parking lot and still have to wait 5-7 days to even get an answer from FEMA?' Whiteburn said.
It is expected to take days to process requests for emergency housing.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2018/11/18/how-hero-firefighters-battle-the-devastating-california-wildfires/
Main photo article Heroic Butte County firefighters have told how they fought the devastating Camp Fire – even as their own homes and those of friends and family succumbed to the flames.
More than 5,000 firefighters from across California are now battling the blaze, which has killed 74 so far and destroyed 9,700 h...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/11/18/04/6330150-6402265-image-a-19_1542515484011.jpg
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий