Local fire crews experience gusty Santa Ana winds
Christopher Quirk – Staff Writer
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GILROY
When Ed Bozzo went down south to help battle wildfires, he saw something he had never seen before – flames quick as a car.
“We were coming in to the fire at 35 to 40 mph and the fire was just a ridge over, and it was keeping up with us,” the battalion chief said.
The blaze – part of the Buckweed Fire that ravaged Santa Clarita in central Los Angeles County – was made speedy by ferocious Santa Ana winds of 30 to 40 mph that gusted up to 70 mph.
“Those Santa Ana winds, it basically pushes the fire along,” Bozzo said.
Bozzo was among six Gilroy firefighters and 30 county firefighters sent south Oct. 21 to battle more than two dozen blazes that ravaged Southern California. The Gilroy firefighters, accompanied by one Gilroy engine and six county engines, spent 10 days helping local fire crews battle infernos in central Los Angeles and northern San Diego counties.
Their first stop was at the Buckweed fire, where they prevented the blaze from crossing a snaking road. Then, as winds relented, the crew mopped up hot spots by dousing them with water so that flames didn’t flare back up when winds returned.
By the time the Gilroy crew was called off the blaze Oct. 25, the fire was 100 percent contained. However, it had already scorched 38,356 acres, destroyed 21 residences and 40 outbuildings, and damaged 13 residences and 17 outbuildings.
The firefighters’ job was not finished and they continued south to the Poomacha Fire, which was wreaking havoc on four Native American reservations in northern San Diego County. When the crew arrived, the fire had already done more damage than the Buckweed Fire, was only 30 percent contained and threatened 2,000 residences.
Firefighters spent their first 63 hours at the fire awake, protecting structures and mopping up hot spots.
“You’re driven by adrenaline,” Bozzo said. “You just get out there and you work, catch a little catnap here or there.”
As the fire was brought under control early in the morning Oct. 30, Gilroy firefighters were sent home. State fire officials were worried that the Bay Area – which was experiencing low humidity levels and high winds at that time – might see a major fire and would need their own crews to battle it.
As of Thursday morning, the Poomacha Fire continued to burn, having merged with the nearby Witch Fire. However, it was 98 percent contained, having blackened nearly 50,000 acres and destroyed 138 homes, one commercial building and 78 outbuildings. Fifteen firefighters were injured, but none of them from Gilroy. Firefighters expect to have the blaze fully contained by Saturday.
Back home, firefighters took time to eat, shower, spend time with family and sleep. However, the fires did not leave firefighters’ minds, Bozzo said. Despite years of fighting fires, the southern fires left an indelible mark on firefighter memories, he said.
“That’s my first experience with Santa Ana winds and I was pretty impressed,” he said.
