Page 365 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong
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WILDFIRES
THE FIREFIGHT AND THE BIG CLEANUP
Over the past several years, California’s wildfire season has grown to six months or more. In 2020, the threat pushed up into Oregon and Washington as well. Everyone has their own opinion on why. And there are no easy solutions. But one thing is obvious—somebody has to fight these fires. And
mop up after them. And help the survivors rebuild. There are hundreds, even thousands, involved in the years- long process. But it all begins with the first responders. On the morning of November 8, 2019, Peterson Chico field tech Pete Melchiori was one of those first responders. He was on the front line fighting the encroaching Camp Fire with two buddies, just down the hill from the town of Paradise.
The day had started out like any normal workday. Out the door by 5:30 a.m., pull into the shop by 6:20, clock- in, normal—until guys started noticing a plume of smoke in the hills to the east. They watched it grow to a huge towering cloud over Paradise. “When I got back up there, it was as black as midnight. There was so much smoke it was blocking out all the sunlight,” says Melchiori. After getting his family packed and out, Melchiori stayed to hose down his yard and roof, and then left. A mile and a half down the hill, he met up with his buddy Phil, who had three small tractors and some firefighting experience as a logger. Together, Melchiori, Phil, and Phil’s brother hopped on the tractors and headed back up the hill. It was 9:00 a.m.
“Nobody was there but us,” recalls Melchiori, who was on a Cat skip loader. “When they started evacuating the town, it was already too late. It went from firefighting to rescue, so they were all up there helping people who were stuck. That’s why we didn’t see anybody. But once the adrenaline kicks in, you just start doing what you’ve got to do.”
Embers were flying way ahead of the fire, catching and backfilling. It was moving three hundred feet per second, they heard afterward. Together the three men knocked over trees, cut fire lines, and cleared a path
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