LVVFD Calls: Summer 1996

I was on the Lee Vining Volunteer Fire Department for 15 years (1996-2011). The calls recounted on this page occurred during spring, summer, and fall 1996, and hopefully give a sense of what it is like to be on a volunteer fire department and also intersect with some Mono Basin historical names and places and events. Some names may be changed.

Woman on Stairs at Mono Vista

We responded to the Mono Vista RV Park, where a woman slipped on icy stairs and hurt her back. We put a c-collar on her, gave her oxygen, and put her on a backboard. The medics arrived and we carried her on the backboard to the gurney. They took her away and we we returned to quarters. It went very smoothly.

Smoldering at Alpine Village

We responded to Alpine Village, where there was smoke coming out doors and out from under the eaves of a building. It was a thin grey smoke, and there was no fire. Faulty wiring had caught some laundry on fire, and it was out already. After looking around and making sure it was out, we returned to quarters.

Snake Bite at Ranger Station

I was the first one to the fire hall, and I got the Suburban running. Cedar, Mike, and Matt showed up, and I drove to the Ranger Station. It was hot, and I was wearing shorts with my turnout jacket. Larry Ford had the kid's arm bandaged, and his dad was telling what happened. The medics came and took the kid away. It did not seem serious. We returned to base.

Car Fire at Hess Park

Mid-day we responded and found a burned-out dash, but the fire was out already.

Lightning Fire at Simis Ranch

We'd been having some pretty amazing thunderstorms, one that started a fire above Tioga Lodge. They were dropping Mono Lake water on it from a helicopter to put it out, and somebody said over the radio "put another shrimp on the barby."

A week or so later, we were having a raging thunderstorm, and after it passed, the fire siren went off. You could guess it was a lightning fire.

We headed north, and saw the smoke coming from the Simis place. We also saw lightning strikes still hammering the area. By the time we got to Old Hwy 395 at Thompson Ranch, things had quieted down, and we headed up the old road. We passed a California Department of Corrections fire crew heading up the hill, and we drove to within 100 yards of the fire.

An area a little over an acre in size had blackened sagebrush that was smoking. Sagebrush a few feet away was untouched. It was pretty unique-looking. Dave had already been shoveling dirt on the embers, and Connie was nearby (she took a picture of Geoff and me).

The CDC crew arrived on foot, and like an army began finishing off the fire. They fired up chainsaws and cut the blackened brush, and ripped up the soil. It seemed a little excessive. The Forest Service arrived, and we left our water tender there.

What was impressive was the defined area that had been hit by lightning, and the untouched area around it, and the war-zone mentality that attacked it, even though it looked like the fire wasn't going anywhere and was mostly out and just smoldering.

Auto Accident at the Mono Inn

We responded, and in front of the Mono Inn two mangled cars blocked the highway. Injuries in one seemed minor, but a woman in the other car seemed to be in more serious condition. She was sitting in the passenger side alone, saying that the driver had left. She was on something, and somewhat uncooperative. I was trying to get a c-collar for her, but couldn't find one that fit. She was bleeding, and blood got on the c-collar. Finally someone helped me get one that fit. A doctor stopped and helped, and when the medics arrived he left. I got recruited to direct traffic, since only one lane was open. We took turns letting traffic through in each direction. Shelly finally removed both cars from the roadway, and we let traffic go. I drove Mike's truck back to the Best Western, since he drove the ambulance to Mammoth.

Old Hiker at Tioga Lake

I was having dinner with my then-girlfriend at Bodie Mike's when we got a call about someone hurting his back on the Mt. Dana Trail at Tioga Lake. We picked up his friend at TPR. It had just gotten dark, and the RP (reporting person) took us to the victim. We carried oxygen and our first-out bag with flashlights to the other side of the lake, and then 100 yards off the trail, where we found an old man (79 years old) sitting on a rock. He seemed fine, since he had time to rest. We checked him out, got him on a backboard, and gave him oxygen. He said his back had given out, and he could barely walk because he was so exhausted. The medics arrived, and checked him out while we waited for Search and Rescue to come with "gurneys on big tires." The RP was exhausted too and was starting to get cold. They checked him out, and decided he was of greater concern, since he had a medical history of heart conditions. They started an IV on both patients, and both had oxygen going. One of the patients said that since they started an invasive procedure, he felt he should tell them that he was HIV positive. The medics said it didn't matter, since they take body substance isolation precautions anyway.

Finally, after a lot of waiting, Search and Rescue arrived with the gurneys. Meanwhile, people had brought more oxygen to resupply us. We got the patients in the gurneys, and rolled them back over sometimes tricky terrain (it was strenuous, and we had 4-5 guys holding each gurney). I held the IV much of the way. Sometime in the next year or two LVFD got our own "gurney on a big tire" so that we could handle a call like this without waiting for Search and Rescue.

When we finally got back, my girlfriend (and Wendy) were on my computer at work. When I had left, everyone at Bodie Mike's was staring at her sitting there alone. She said someone said "I hope its not a first date" and someone else said "no sex tonight."

Motorcycle Down on Tioga Road

Near the bottom of the grade, at one of the turnouts, a motorcycle had gone down because a car hit a rock and leaked oil on a curve. The motorcycle had skidded in the dirt a ways, and a big biker dude was lying on his back in the turnout. People were holding a blanket over him to shade him from the sun. He had blood on him. We put a c-collar on him, gave him oxygen, and the medics arrived. We put him on a backboard, and got him on a gurney.

My sister and future brother-in-law were going to meet me for lunch on this Labor Day before heading home from a weekend visit. As we returned to town, I saw them sitting at Bodie Mike's, and I hurried over. They had arrived at the restaurant right after I had left on the call, and were just finishing eating. They stayed while I ordered and ate, then they returned home to the Bay Area.

Fire near the High School in the Caltrans Yard

We responded in two trucks to the High School, with Dick in Laura in #2 (or #4?) and Geoff and me in #3. Geoff and I drove around the back, looking for the fire, and I spotted it in the Caltrans Yard when we came around the front. I radioed Dick that we found it, and we stopped next to the fire. A Caltrans guy was standing next to a small pile of trash that was burning. He said "I can't believe that someone called this in. Sorry, guys." We left.

LVVFD Calls: Car thieves caught partying at an illegal bonfire

I was on the Lee Vining Volunteer Fire Department for 15 years. This was one of my first few calls after joining. Some names may be changed.

Monday May 6, 1996, 9:00 pm

Several of us arrived at 6:00 pm to take a CPR refresher course from the medics. All evening, during the class, we were hearing on the radio that the Sheriff's Department was looking for a couple of women in a red pickup truck, and they called out off-duty officers and deputies to take a look. Somebody mentioned a bonfire out at the new Mobil gas station under construction on Hwy 120, but it was under control so they didn't call us out.

After a while, our siren went off, and we were called to put the bonfire out. We all ran downstairs, got our turnouts on, piled into three separate trucks. Tom and I were the last ones to arrive--by then there was already water from a hose hooked up to a hydrant on it. It wasn't out of control--the deputies just wanted us to put it out.

The backstory was that they didn't have a fire permit, and the USFS had told them they would give them one, but they didn't accept. The deputies arrested the caretaker while we were there. Also, around the same time in early 1996, a windstorm blew down the framing of the gas station building while it was under construction, setting back the construction schedule to the (temporary) delight of those of us who valued the Mono Basin's dark skies.

Also, the two wanted women were found there after they stole some blankets. The truck was found abandoned. After running the license plate, deputies found that it was stolen five days ago in Redding, PA. Deputies looked everywhere, found one woman, and then found the other one at this place partying with the workers who had lit the fire (there were beers on the ground next to the fire). The Forest Service was going to bill them for suppression costs for us.

After we put it out, we hosed it down even more, and then set the hose on it (weighed down with some rocks) to spray on the smoldering pile all night. We headed back to the barn, took our CPR tests, chatted, and headed home at 10:15 pm.

LVVFD Calls: Treacherous ice injures a responder to another canceled call

I was on the Lee Vining Volunteer Fire Department for 15 years. This was one of my first few calls after joining. Some names may be changed.

Thursday April 18, 1996, 7:10 am

All week a series of storms had been dropping snow and rain in Lee Vining. They were pretty wimpy storms: no accumulation in Lee Vining, however each morning Tom's car (from June Lake) had some snow on it. This was not the Fire Chief Tom, but former-Grand Canyon Ranger-turned-Mono Lake Committee Bookstore Manager. I remember an Easter gathering that spring at the County Road crossing of Lee Vining Creek, where he found all the hidden Easter eggs in the sagebrush by using his tracking skills.

Mammoth had gotten about ten inches of snow that week, with 18" on the mountain. The storms brought more wind than anything else.

The previous night it had been very lightly snowing--and melting when it hit the ground. Everything was wet, and there was no snow on the ground. When I went to bed at 11:00 pm, it wasn't snowing, and the ground was bare.

At 3:00 am, I looked out the window and saw 2-3" of snow on the ground. The landscape had been magically transformed while I slept over the last four hours. It had stopped snowing and I could see a few stars.

I got up at 7:00 am and took a shower. As I shut off the water and began to dry off, I heard the fire siren. I finished drying off, got dressed, and decided to take my bike, since it hadn't snowed that much.

I rode up the driveway and it was amazingly slick. There was no snow on the roads--it had blown away--but the coating of ice on the pavement was thick, loud (my bike tires generated loud cracking noises), and slippery. I made it to Hwy 395 and crossed too fast. I tried to turn and my wheels slipped out from under me. I slammed into the icy pavement with my lower back and right elbow, and scratched and bruised my right hand. I quickly got up and carried my bike to the side of the road, out of the way of an oncoming semi truck. I was aching.

Others were there, but everyone was arriving a bit slow due to the snowy and icy conditions. Those who drove did so with their doors open so they could see around the snow on their windshields. Geoff and Stewart just ran.

They were trying to jump start the Suburban. I stood around and waited. They finally got it started, and we piled in, waited for Tom and Billy to get in, and then we drove out onto the ice.

The call was for a pickup truck rollover at the Mono City water tank. We found the marks in the embankment when we got there, but it looked like the truck had been righted and driven away. We returned to base. My arm had stopped hurting, but my back was aching. We got back at 7:45 am, and I was amazed at how slippery it still was. I walked my bike home.

LVVFD Calls: It's a pity we couldn't go to Mono City

I was on the Lee Vining Volunteer Fire Department for 15 years. This was one of my first few calls after joining. Some names may be changed.

Monday April 15, 1996, 5:30 pm

I had just come home from work and had just opened my REI mailorder when the beeper went off. I ran to my bike, and was out the door before I heard what the call was: a traffic accident in Mono City.

I arrived at the same time as others did, and hopped in the Suburban with Dick, Geoff, Laura, and Stewart. Tom and Matt arrived as we were driving away. We weren't sure of the address. Mike was ahead of us in his truck.

As we passed the Visitor Center, Mike pulled over and we passed. Moments later we were told to 10-22 (cancel our response). We turned around and returned to base.

The whole time we were laughing and joking--it was a pretty enjoyable call. After we got turned around, the others started telling amusing stories of Mono City fire calls--it was pretty funny.

As Dick backed in, he almost hit #3, which elicited the most hilarious shocked look from Tom.

Nobody walks to... San Mateo County Parks???

Cities are for people. Unfortunately, they are rarely designed for people. It is usually apparent that those in power--and those designing cities and putting up signs--are not thinking like pedestrians. No wonder it is hard to get people out of their cars--people keep designing places for cars and not people. See my previous post about this.

On Tuesday, I walked from Emeryville to Oakland. As I approached a bridge that clearly had no sidewalks, I began looking for alternatives. The expected "no pedestrians on bridge" sign was very clear, and included an apparently helpful "use walkway" directive. As I got to the sign, there was no indication of what direction the "walkway" would be in, and no obvious place for pedestrians to go. So I walked across the parking lot of a private business, and reached another street that had sidewalks, although not exactly going in the direction I was hoping for. After going down that street a ways, I crossed it, and walked on the other side, eventually reaching a walkway that ramped up next to a wall and dead-ended at a locked maintenance entrance of a large building. No signs had indicated this sidewalk would dead-end at a private business with a locked door. I guess no one unfamiliar with the area ever walks there. I walked back to the intersection, went around the wall into the street, and walked down the bike lane for a block or so until a sidewalk resumed.

On Thursday, I was part of a group of young children, parents, and teachers that were walking from Redwood Glen Camp in Loma Mar to Memorial Park. We wanted to walk to the Mt. Ellen Trail through a campground that was closed for repaving, but since many in the group had walked through the campground the previous day, and since we weren't trying to camp there, we assumed it was okay as long as we stayed out of the way of the workers and off the fresh asphalt.

A short walk on a trail past the closed sign led us to a campground loop, with a San Mateo County Park Ranger vehicle parked on the freshly paved asphalt at a water treatment building. Our leader walked over to the ranger, telling him we were trying to get to the Mt. Ellen Trail. The ranger, clearly not happy that we were there, told us that closed means closed, and began to say "You need to get back in your cars and..."

LVVFD Calls: 3rd call in two days and 3rd early morning call of the past week

I was on the Lee Vining Volunteer Fire Department for 15 years. This was one of my first few calls after joining. Some names may be changed.

Tuesday April 9, 1996, 6:45 AM (a reasonable hour!)

The pager woke me up, and my first thought was, "not another one!"

As I dressed, the dispatcher said there was an overturned vehicle "15 miles south of Lee Vining, no more."

It seemed far--too far, actually--since the June Lake Junction is 11 miles, and well-within the territory of the June Lake Volunteer Fire Department. But I decided to go anyway, since I figured that somebody should show up.

I was the first one there, and opened the door and got my turnouts on. Nobody else was there yet. It was quiet. I fired up the suburban, got out, got my helmet, and got back in. Still no one.

I got out, went to the front, looked outside, didn't see anyone, got back in, and waited.

Finally, Matt drove up. He came in, and Tom followed soon. I got out, asked them where everybody was as they grabbed their turnouts. Tom hopped in with me, and Matt got into #3. I pulled the suburban out, and Tom told dispatch we were responding.

I headed south, and just south of town we heard a 10-22, which means cancel your response. I pulled into the old Hwy 120 intersection to turn around. The medics were told to continue responding, since there was an elderly man walking around the vehicle.

I drove us back, passed Matt, and I backed into the garage. I nearly clipped the left-side mirror, but parked it on my first try, no forward/backward stuff. It was easier because #3 (which shared a bay) wasn't in the way. Matt then backed #3 in.

We discussed the weirdness of the call, and why no one else showed up--because they heard where the call was on the pager (Tom didn't hear it).

Tom said his wife told him not to set his alarm this morning--he wouldn't need it. She was right.

LVVFD Calls: Sports car in Lee Vining Creek; Dawn over Mono Lake found instead of a mobile home on fire

I was on the Lee Vining Volunteer Fire Department for 15 years. These were some of my first few calls after joining. Some names may be changed.

Tuesday April 2, 1996, Afternoon

Geoff, Laura, and I responded from work (again), and I rode with Nick. A car was reported in the water below the Scenic Area Visitor Center, and we weren't sure where to go. We went to the Visitor Center and discovered everyone was out. We returned. Grif showed us a polaroid of a red sports car in Lee Vining Creek at the County Road crossing.

After work, I drove down there and saw the creek looked higher, and looked deeper and like it changed course since the last time I had been there.

About a year later, Mono County applied for FEMA disaster funding to replace the culvert at that location, which had washed out in 1995. They didn't get the funding when FEMA discovered the culvert had washed out a-year-and-a-half prior to the disaster declaration. Twenty years later, that crossing is still a low-water crossing suitable only for four-wheel-drive vehicles--had FEMA funded a new culvert, it is doubtful a culvert of a large enough capacity would have been installed to have lasted through several large floods.

Monday April 8, 1996, 5:30 AM

I woke to the beeper that I borrowed from Mike going off, and then I heard the fire siren. I dressed and listened to the dispatcher tell of a mobile home on fire halfway up Conway Summit. I rode my bike to the fire hall as Dick got there, and he started up the big 1967 truck while I put my turnouts on.

Matt and Tom arrived and took #3 out, while Dick and I waited a couple more minutes for anybody else to arrive. No one showed so we took off.

It was just starting to get light, and the brightening sky was reflecting off Mono Lake. We didn't find anything on Conway, and Matt and Tom didn't find anything as far as the Bodie Road. We turned around, so did the medics, and I went home before Tom and Matt got back. It was getting pretty light, and I was really tired.

The next call was my first experience with a real-life CPR situation. Names and some graphic details have been left out of this account.

Monday April 8, 1996, 9:15 AM

A busy morning! I got to work at 9 AM, and was sitting at my desk when my beeper went off. I ran to the fire station, and heard the dispatcher say something about a medical call at the SCE substation. I got to the fire hall first, opened the door, and put on my turnouts. Dick, Tom, Mike, and Cedar all piled into the suburban, and we drove to the substation.

It was at the house across the creek, and a woman was outside. We were informed over the radio that CPR was being attempted. We got inside to find an SCE employee wearing a June Lake Fire hat administering CPR to the white and grey-bearded victim who was lying on the floor in front of the bathroom. He had found him when he didn't come to work at 9 AM, and the victim's wife last saw him at 6:30 AM.

We had problems getting the oxygen going as CPR continued. The medics arrived and administered drugs, an IV, and hooked up their heart monitor. I helped Cedar hold the IV. The victim's feet were turning blue. They put him on a backboard and lifted him onto a gurney. They wheeled him into the ambulance, and we cleaned up inside.

When we got outside, the ambulance was getting a jump from an SCE truck. Dick drove the ambulance and we returned to base.

Matt complained about not hearing where it was, and nobody writing the call/location on the chalk board or answering his questions on the radio. When I mentioned I had CPR training, Tom asked why I didn't speak up. I said it looked like they had it under control, and since they had more experience, I didn't want to get in the way. Cedar (who also didn't help with CPR, but was an EMT) said it would have been good practice, since I couldn't have messed anything up--the victim had been down for two hours already. It is a good reminder that anytime CPR is needed, the victim is already dead--your interventions can only help bring them back to life, so you shouldn't be shy about jumping in.

Two years later I became an EMT, and then I was a first aid/CPR instructor for a few years.

LVVFD Calls: Driver under the influence with no seatbelt goes off the road

I was on the Lee Vining Volunteer Fire Department for 15 years. This was one of my first few calls after joining. Some names may be changed. After this call, I realized that if you do two things, you greatly reduce your chances of being in an accident and being injured: wear your seat belt and don't drive under the influence.

Sunday March 31, 1996, Afternoon

I was at work, and the fire siren went off. Geoff and I responded. He rode with Steve and Matt, and I rode with Dick. A pickup truck with Washington plates ran off the road at the SCE substation near Hwy 395 and Hwy 120. Matt was the first one on scene. The truck's engine was still running. He found a woman slumped over without her seatbelt on. He tapped on the window and she came to. She was totally out of it and was mumbling. We got her on a backboard and pulled her out--she moaned and reached for a hand. I held her hand and told her it was okay.

We put her down in the shade of the suburban, gave her oxygen, and the medics arrived. Matt found speed in the truck--she was way high. When the medics started working with her, she started yelling "no needles!" for seemingly no reason. We got her in the ambulance.

CHP arrived and began investigating. They found drugs and associated paraphernalia, and $3,000 cash. There was a cat box in the back, but no cat to be found. Shelly pulled the truck out of the brush, and an SCE employee drove it over to the 76 station. We returned to quarters.

A newspaper article contained the following information:

   A Shelton, Wash. woman was
arrested Sunday afternoon on charges
of driving under the influence and
possession of methamphetamine,
marijuana, and paraphernalia.
   E.R. MacBeth, 32, was
found unconscious in the driver's seat
of her 1989 Ford pickup by Lee Vin-
ing volunteer firefighters after the
truck ran off the roadway.
   The California Highway Patrol
said that for unknown reasons Mac-
Beth ran off the east side of U.S. 395
two-tenths of a mile north of state
Route 120 west. MacBeth received
minor injuries, was treated at Mam-
moth Hospital and later booked into
the Mono County Jail. Bail is set at
$10,000. Her arraignment was set for
Tuesday, April 2.

She ran off the road for "unknown reasons"? Um, she was too high to drive.

LVVFD Calls: Single vehicle rollover

I was on the Lee Vining Volunteer Fire Department for 15 years. This was one of my first few calls after joining. Some names may be changed. Single vehicle rollover accidents are exceedingly common on Highway 395. An inattentive driver (often sleeping) will go off the road at a high speed, and as soon as a tire goes off the pavement the driver snaps to attention and over-corrects, flipping the vehicle (often an SUV with a high center of gravity).

Thursday April 4, 1996

The siren roused us at about 2:45 AM. I put on socks, jeans, shoes, shirt, hat, glasses, grabbed my keys and wallet, and ran out to the garage. I rode my bike over to the fire hall just as a couple of other trucks were arriving. Others were already there.

As we put our turnouts on, I discovered that it was a single vehicle rollover, but that we didn't know where. We were in the trucks waiting to go when finally the dispatcher told us it was between Lee Vining and the Grant Lake turnoff. Steve and Geoff rolled out in #2 ahead of us, and Tom was ahead too. Cedar hopped in with Dick and me, and we followed in the Suburban, which was our medical response vehicle.

A bright full moon lit up the early-morning Mono Basin landscape as we headed south on Hwy 395 with lights flashing, looking for an overturned vehicle. We reached Hwy 158 and hadn't found it, so we took the June Lake Loop while the other truck headed back north. We reached Grant Lake Reservoir and were halfway down the length of it when the radio told us it was found on Hwy 395 near the Parker Lake turnoff. We turned around.

We next heard that the found vehicle was just pulled off the road with people sleeping in it. So we kept looking.

The medics had arrived at the junction when we did, and had turned around. We were now back at the junction, and Dick went over to Billy's truck, then came back and said we needed to go all the way to Silver Lake.

Just as we left, the medics radioed that they found it on Sandhouse Grade about a mile south. We turned around again, radioed to Geoff and Steve, and arrived at the scene.

There was an overturned minivan on the right side of the road with its rear sticking into the right lane. It had gone up the right embankment and rolled. The medics were already there with a woman in back. Five other Hungarians and Germans were standing around in the cold, but looked bundled enough. The medics told us they only needed us for traffic control. There were a few beers sitting at the edge of the road--unopened.

Flares were put out, and we waited for CHP to show up. The minivan was slightly dirty and dented (and on its roof!), but was amazingly intact. Its parking lights were on. It was incredible that five out of six people had virtually no injuries. One guy's shoulder hurt in addition to the woman in the ambulance. He didn't want to go to the hospital, though--as was made clear by the only woman who could translate. They requested that their friends at Motel 6 in Mammoth be notified.

CHP arrived, the ambulance left with 3 victims, and we put the others in the suburban (2) and CHP car (1) to keep warm. We stood around, lit more flares, and finally got them all in the CHP car so we could leave. Shelly was on his way with the tow truck, and Tom and Steve stayed behind in the #2 truck. Dick, Geoff, Cedar, and I returned in the suburban.

LVVFD Calls: German tourist with chest pain; Wearing pink slippers to a call

These were some of my first fire calls after I joined the Lee Vining Volunteer Fire Department. Some names may be changed.

Wednesday, March 20, 1996, 10:30 pm

It was after a big meal at a birthday party at Angel's Restaurant. I was relaxing at home, reading and almost falling asleep, but deciding to stay awake to finish the book I was reading, when the siren went off. I put my shoes, hat, and glasses on, and ran into the garage, untangled my bike, and rode out. Geoff sped by, and I heard Stewart  taking the other street. Geoff and I arrived at the fire hall at the same time, and we put our turnout gear on. One of the nice things about a small town is that bicycling can be as fast or faster than driving. Geoff started the suburban, and we drove across the street to Murphy's with Cedar. The other nice thing about a small town is the quick response times, especially when the call is right across the street. Others arrived (Stewart, Matt) and we carried our gear upstairs to the room where a German tourist was having chest pain.

He was lying in bed, 29 years old, with his friend sitting nearby, and other people (motel proprietors) around. I carried up a medical bag while Cedar talked to him and gave him oxygen, and Geoff filled out a form on the clipboard. I practiced taking his blood pressure and pulse, and was trying to count his respirations when the medics arrived from June Lake. They treated him, got an I.V. going, and preparations were made to transport him.

Meanwhile, while we were standing around waiting, I knocked over a beer bottle next to the TV. Matt joked about me bringing beer on a call and being "four-eyes" with my glasses on.

Finally the patient was ready to go, and we carried him in a stair chair down the steep narrow stairway, strapped him to a gurney, and loaded him into the ambulance. We refilled the oxygen bottle and went home.

The following call was another one with an "oops".

Monday April 1, 1996, Afternoon

It was raining. Geoff, Laura, and I ran over from work when the siren went off. I missed a boot, and we drove across the street to Murphy's. I had a boot on one foot and a sock on the other. We went inside, gave oxygen to a woman who was having pain in her back, shoulder, and arm, and waited for the medics. I got ribbed for forgetting my boot. I held the I.V. while we were inside and as we went outside to the ambulance. After we got back to the barn, others told a story about a guy who responded to a call wearing one of his wife's pink slippers.

LVVFD Calls: My first fire call

I finally let my EMT certification expire last year after 20 years. In honor of that, and my 15 years on the Lee Vining Volunteer Fire Department (1995-2011), I'm going to blog about some old fire calls. Being on a volunteer fire department was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done--I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance. I wanted to write a book, but someone already wrote an excellent book that a few of us passed around when it came out (Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time). Some names may be changed.

December 27, 1995, just after 4pm

I was sleeping. I was tired after walking in the snow down to Mono Lake with my sister, and we had just finished lunch and the woodstove had made it pretty warm inside the Mono Lake Committee intern house.

The siren had reached its peak by the time I roused myself and got moving. I grabbed my jacket and put on my shoes, and went into the garage to get my bike. By now the siren was wailing for a second time, and it was quiet when I got out the door and rode up the driveway. I rode into the fire station just as Stewart was firing up the number 3 "squad" fire truck. He was the only one there. I leaned my bike against the wall, walked over to Stewart, and yelled "what's up?" over the roar of the engine.

He asked if I saw anyone else coming, and I said no. He yelled to me to get my turnouts on. I ran over to the wall where the turnouts were hung, took off my jacket and shoes, and put on my boots and pants. I grabbed my jacket and helmet and went over to the passenger side of the truck. By now Grif had arrived, and asked Stewart if he knew how to pump water with this truck. Stewart replied no. They grabbed their turnouts, Grif drove, and I was in the middle.

Grif had our lights flashing as we headed north out of Lee Vining on Highway 395. Whenever he came up behind a car, he gave the siren a short wail. We were providing assistance to Mineral County, Nevada, on a car fire 9 miles into Nevada on Highway 167. Apparently one other firefighter had already headed out ahead of us in his own car.

Stewart solemnly said, "I hope we don't have any crispy critters. I don't need to see any more of those." It seemed slightly morbid, and at the same time slightly funny. But more morbid than funny. I later learned that Lee Vining Fire had recently lost one of its own in a car fire on Highway 120 East.

Grif used the radio to ask that we be notified if we weren't needed, since it was such a long drive. The firefighter ahead of us also said he'd let us know once he got there.

Once we reached Highway 167, the dispatcher told us to cancel our response. We turned around, and wondered why we were called, since we were just as far (if not slightly farther) than Hawthorne, Nevada. They must have been short-staffed too.

Grif talked about other car fires, and about how fast they happen and how if you aren't near a town, your car will probably be totaled. I resolved to buy a fire extinguisher for my car. It would suck to be trapped in a car and be burned alive, but with a fire extinguisher you could at least keep yourself and the inside of the car from burning.

We got back to the station, and Grif showed Stewart how to pump from that truck. Stewart told me about the last car fire they had--a firefighter died when his van burned up. I returned home, and was glad that I had joined the fire department, since it looked like I was needed. Only four people showed up. And this was the only day this week that I was going to be home.

The Ten Policy Solutions in the New Mark Arax Book

I just finished the big book (The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California) yesterday. And what a book it is, in size (528 pages) and in quality. I even read the first fifty pages to my son, but stopped because at the end of the school year he became a reader on his own, spending long periods devouring age-appropriate books. When I saw that, I knew I had to press on without him. He was a cheerleader all the way.

We saw Mark Arax at Book Passage in Corte Madera on Thursday night. We both loved it. For me, Arax is an inspiration for what I aspire to do--write a book about my dad, while weaving in and out of California history. Mark's storytelling strikes exactly the tone I'm going for--tell it like it is (or was), with a sense of humor and poetry, and connecting all the dots. For a book about water, he usually doesn't come off preachy. He is an observer of people and people's habits and actions, and draws logical conclusions that almost any reasonable person (who cares about good public policy and natural resources management) would agree with. He doesn't pull any punches, except when he treats Delta farmers with kid gloves, who are farming just as unsustainably as the San Joaquin Valley farmers. But he does briefly acknowledge that, and I don't want to be too critical, since in Corte Madera he said that it is hard to write a book about water because it makes everyone mad at you. Let's not make the perfect be the enemy of the good. Overall, I think he nailed it.

The end of the book is spectacular. Everyone should read the last chapter and the epilogue. He sums up the choices facing California in a nutshell.

I agree with 8 of his ten solutions, all of which I paraphrase here:
1. Thin Sierra Nevada forests to reduce wildfire intensity and improve retention of water
2. Stop building more dams and store water in the reservoirs we already have underground
3. Restrict groundwater pumping to safe yields
4. Retire 2 million acres of San Joaquin Valley farmland, move mega-dairies to cooler climates, and only irrigate the best soils
5. Build a scaled-down twin tunnels, flood the Yolo Bypass more often, and send a just amount of water to the Estuary
6. Remove obstacles to water marketing, and prohibit water transfers from farms to cities
7. Use urban limits to protect farming and let the state government limit growth
8.  Build ocean desal plants with state bond funds
9. Tax users of water and farm chemicals and use the funds to build and maintain water treatment plants
10. Continue statewide conservation measures that encourage residents to cut their water use.

Can you guess which two I disagree with? Which two are the most "business as usual," using new expensive concrete and steel water projects as the silver bullet that will solve our water problems? Yes, that's right, numbers 5 & 8.

Number 5--build a scaled-down twin tunnels--is tricky. New water projects, if operated properly, often can be designed to have positive benefits and minimal impacts. And the smaller the better--a balance is harder to achieve the bigger and more expensive the project. I'd amend that one to go back to a process more like BDCP (Bay Delta Conservation Plan) in its initial stages, and look at the Delta and plan the best projects in a comprehensive, unbiased, science-driven way. That may end up looking like a scaled-down twin tunnels, but it is presumptuous to make that a foregone conclusion. There are a lot of problems and a lot of ideas out there, and we need to move quickly and invest in the right things. Massive billion-dollar projects are probably not the answer. But a prerequisite to this is getting the Water Board to finish its work updating the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan. The lack of adequate flows is killing the native beneficial ecosystem and generating uncertainty, which is encouraging water agencies to submit completely inadequate voluntary agreements that are a distraction and time delay. The Water Board needs to do its job quickly so we all can move on. Voluntary agreements will never work in this context (what if we tried voluntary agreements to stop groundwater mining? that wouldn't have worked either)--we just need a strong regulator to do its job.

Number 8--build ocean desal plants--is more of the same approach that has already failed us: Reaching out to new expensive supplies, paid for by state taxpayers. In the book, Mark Arax even says "imagine California with an unlimited water supply". Well, I can--I grew up in L.A.--and to make a long story short, we are making more and more parts of California places people don't want to live because so many people want to live there. Turning energy into an unlimited water supply is not the answer. The entire book chronicles the pitfalls of the approach of feeding unlimited growth with more and more water. We have already destroyed too much of California using that approach. The silver bullet solutions, while enticing, are never the best answer. The best approach is usually more complex, requiring a portfolio approach that doesn't fit well into a soundbite.

Governor Newsom: Time to enforce the law

It's the wild west out there. It feels like no one is protecting the health, safety, and welfare of Californians.

Governor Newsom's administration is holding "listening sessions" about how to improve California water management. How about starting by simply enforcing our laws?

If the governor suddenly started enforcing the speed limit, you can imagine the outcry from speeders. But there would be a cultural shift. Not to mention a safer, more organized transportation system. People would get used to it. Obeying the law would get easier, especially when people see the decline in accidents and deaths. Take away driver's licenses from dangerous drivers and beef up public transit.

California's water and environmental laws are enforced just about as effectively as the speed limit. So which laws should we start enforcing?

Rime Ice Rivers: How many ways can water flow down a mountain?

Two years ago, I joined a couple of friends on a climbing trip to Mount Shasta. We failed to summit due to high early morning winds, and turned around at sunrise when we noticed no climbers above us were advancing to the windblown ridge. On the way down, we encountered incredibly beautiful rime ice rivers, coursing down the steepest part of the route, pushed by the incessant downslope wind.

Rime ice coating the rocks the day before.

125 years ago L.A.'s first outfall sewer system was completed

125 years ago, on March 9, 1894, the City of Los Angeles opened its "great drain," according to the March 10, 1894 Los Angeles Herald. This historical event is interesting to look back upon due to the current news that L.A. is on track to recycle 100 percent of its wastewater by 2035--141 years after the outfall sewer came online. The required improvements at Hyperion will cost $2 billion over the next 16 years.

Los Angeles Herald, March 10, 1894

We don't need a Green New Deal. What we need is World War III on carbon.

The term "Green New Deal" invokes images of a U.S.-only social welfare and jobs program. Entitlements to those who didn't get a fair shake. That isn't going to engender bipartisan support, and it isn't exactly what we need right now.

What we need is World War III.

World War II transformed our nation and the world, and united everyone against a common global enemy. We mobilized, fought, and won World War II in far less than ten years.

I know, "The War on..." (fill-in-the-blank: drugs, poverty, crime, etc.) is cliche. That overused term--implying a U.S.-only national mobilization--is not what we need. But the imagery and momentum of a war is useful. Look at all the Senators who couldn't keep themselves from voting for the War in Iraq. Spineless sheep who care only about money and power--many of whom are currently holding up humanity's efforts to stop Global Warming and save our only home--will go along with a just war that has popular support. And if those in power continue to thwart the will of the people, then our federal government would continue to be the global bad actor that an allied world along with a local resistance would continue to mobilize against to save humanity from a horrible future. Californias of the world vs. the Trumps of the world. Kids of the world vs. the Feinsteins of the world.

What tactics will win this war? We need to focus on shutting off the supply of carbon-based fuels, not just the demand or the pollution they cause. As we know in California, you can't force water conservation in a wet year--you need a drought to motivate the masses. Steadily shutting down the world's carbon mining on a well-publicized schedule (i.e. cap and trade with a slowly decreasing cap), starting with the largest and dirtiest operations, would give businesses certainty and let market prices do the work of shifting demand to alternative fuels and sparking innovation. Carbon taxes would work in tandem to decrease demand and could be used to ameliorate the pain of transition. Then focus enforcement efforts on the black market, as well as maintaining a well-respected accounting system for the small amount of carbon mining, use, and sequestration that is sustainable and permissible.

This war can be won and ended quickly, unlike the war in Afghanistan. Maybe we would need joint strike teams to continue to shut down rogue oil and gas drilling and coal mining operations. But the "war" would happen quickly and be over in less than a decade.

January 6th and 16th storms compared

The weekend of January 5-6, 2019 was a very wet one, and San Geronimo Creek reached 1,000 cfs for the first time since February 2017. 2018's peak flow was 753 cfs in March.

About a week and a half later, on January 16, 2019, there was another big storm--more well-advertised than the first, and windier, but not necessarily wetter. The storms were similar in many ways, but San Geronimo Creek peaked higher during the second storm, at 1,304 cfs.

Jan 6th storm, with day.hour on the x-axis.

Jan 16th storm, using the same day.hour as the Jan 6th storm, lining up
both peak flows between hours 17 and 18 on day 2. The Jan 6th peak was
at 5:30 pm and the Jan 16th peak was at 9:15 pm.

The graphs show the different patterns of rainfall and creek flow. The January 6th peak was broader, with a longer duration at high flows (over 400 cfs), however the January 16th peak had a longer duration at about 200 cfs. The antecedent conditions were wetter on the 16th--36 cfs 16 hours before the peak, vs. only 7 cfs 16 hours before the Jan 6th peak.

How do the total volumes compare? The typical pattern in San Geronimo Valley is for the Woodacre precipitation station (to the east) to be wetter than Mt. Barnabe (to the west), and that pattern held on the 6th. It was reversed on the 16th--Barnabe was wetter than Woodacre. Although the volume of runoff during the 16 hours prior to the peak was only 3% higher on the 16th, the magnitude of the peak flow on the 16th was 23% higher than on the 6th. The table below shows well how similar the storms were. Note the 6th was wetter in Woodacre, and the 16th was wetter on Mt. Barnabe.