Chelan fighters return from fiery California

CHELAN – Firefighters from Chelan Fire and Rescue Station 7 returned home, Tuesday, Oct. 24 after assisting on the Central Sonoma-Lake-Napa-Unit (LNU) complex which include the Nuns and Tubbs fires in Sonoma County, CA.
Lt. Dale Rodman and Firefighters Troy Keene and Adam Jones were part of a 20-person strike team from Washington State that assisted in California. The strike crew caravanned down with five other fire vehicles - a structure engine out of Chelan County Fire District 1, three type five brush trucks from the City of Spokane, and one type five brush truck from Spokane County Fire District 8. Seventeen hours after departure, Friday, Oct. 13, the Chelan crew arrived in Ukiah, Calif. only to be reassigned to Santa Rosa, Calif. shortly after according to Firefighter Jones. The crew’s shift began Sunday, Oct. 15, with rotating 24-hour shifts. “It was devastating to see all the loss,” said Jones, “all the homes that were destroyed.” The California communities were welcoming though, and showed their appreciation for the crew’s efforts, “I went to K-Mart one night,” Jones explained, “and the guy in line told me to put my card away,” the man proceeded to cover the cost of the few items Jones was purchasing. “Another night, we went to pizza,” Jones added, “and was told that the dinner was taken care of.”
As of the date of this story, the Central LNU Complex fires spread through 17,357 acres, with approximately 6,768 structures lost and 90 percent containment according to the CalFire website, www.fire.ca.gov.