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.
Sunday, October 6, 2019
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.
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.
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.
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