Page 368 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong
P. 368

  Carr Fire damage in August 2018
sides of the road were completely black, with hous- es burned down to their foundations. And here I was heading up into the hills, watching the active burn as I drove towards it.”
AROUND THE CLOCK SUPPORT
When Lanphear finally got to Peterson’s yard that first night after outrunning the fire, he first had to get through the CHP roadblock.“They didn’t want me coming in, but I told them that they’d have to arrest me because I was going to run our business.” They finally relented.
By the next morning, the National Guard had tak- en over roadblock duty. “I went out there at 5 a.m. to tell them I needed them to let my people in,” re- calls Lanphear, a thirty-two-year Peterson veteran.
“That’s not going to happen, sir,” the guard told him. “I have orders. This is a hard closure. Nobody passes this checkpoint.”
“Well, I have orders too,” Lanphear told him. “It’s to get this business opened. I’m also best friends with the Northern Regional Commander for CAL FIRE. I’m going to call Danny Sykes right now
and tell him that I won’t be servicing his fire trucks or his dozers today because you won’t let us in.”
“You’re killing me,” the guard said. “I’m just fol- lowing orders.” Then he threw up his arms. “Fine!”
Peterson’s Redding shop repaired dozens of fire dozers and trucks during that initial phase and over the next several months. “I told my people that anybody involved in the fire had top priority,” says Lanphear. “I also advised our customers that if their repairs weren’t fire-related, they’d need to stand down so we could support the fire. That had to be priority number one.
Jim Lanphear lived in a mobile home at the Redding store for a week while evacuated during the Carr Fire of 2018.
   366 | PETERSON: 85 YEARS AND GOING STRONG
 






















































































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