Rapunzel & Repulsive

Left to right: Jim Munroe, Cuyamaca Volunteer Fire Depart-ment Chief Carl Schweikert, Vicky Farrar, Judy & Gary Kesselring. Munroe, Farrar and the Kesselrings were among the first volunteers to bring food and warm clothing to the station for fire victims.

by Rick Pearson

It was such a treat
to see smiling children on Halloween. I was returning from Julian and candidly, had no idea what day it was when I drove into Ramona. I had to pull over to take in the sight
of the finest thing I saw since
the fires’ onset: the kids trick-or-treating on Main Street.

Words alone cannot express that moment when the Ramona business community and
neighbors came together. And they were forced to smile, for the kids. 

But if you were in Escondido, the talk of the town was Rapunzel and Repulsive. I remember the year when the top two Halloween characters, save the witches, pirates and princesses, were Felix the Cat and Casper the Friendly Ghost. This is a certain testament to the times.

Cuyamaca fire station, photo taken October 31, 2003.

Rapunzel is Nanji, the lovely
5-year-old daughter of Carl and Vickie Schweikert of Julian. Rapunzel could not trick-or-treat in her neighborhood (it was gone) or hide some of her candy under her bed (it was gone too). And Repulsive? Of course, it’s none other than dad, Chief Carl of
the Cuyamaca Volunteer Fire Department. I have heard, from reliable sources of course, that he tried to dress up as some kind of tournament bass fisherman. If so, he failed miserably.

Now, Carl is my kind of guy.
I first met him after bumping into People Magazine photographer Oliver Stone on Nov. 7 in the smoldering ruins of Cuyamaca. Oliver asked that I stop in and
get a couple shots of the chief and the station. Funny, I thought the pictures of Chief Carl were great. The magazine was obviously
looking for a shot of Repulsive, and Carl just didn’t fit.

Upon entering the fire station,
I was greeted with a jaundiced eye. Another big-city media type in a place they don’t understand. But I met some wonderful Ramonans: Vicky Farrar, Jim Munroe and Gary and Judy Kesselring. They helped get me through that dang "who is this guy" phase. They were also among the very first to drop off boxes and bags of clothing,
blankets and aid for the victims, not to mention some fresh-baked goods, which I personally can attest to the quality. Thanks, guys.

Chief Carl is quite the card. No matter how bad the situation, or how much is going on, he maintains that positive attitude and can sure tell a story. He combines that slightly dry sense of humor and that calm monotone presentation and then adds that half smile-half grin thrown at the right moment. By the way, Carl asked me to make sure to mention that he gets first dibs on the use of "Hottest Auto Repair in Town," when he gets the chance to rebuild and reopen.

What he and his fellow
volunteers endured is beyond imagination. From what I
remember (dancing on thin ice here) they began fighting the Cedar in the Boulder Creek area, then to Cedar Falls and then to San Diego Country Estates. After two-and-a-half exhausting days, as Chief Carl recalls, "the winds then shifted and we came home." The chief was not reserved when he laid praise on his crew, the other local volunteer departments and the CDF in their valiant efforts during this disaster.

One of the worst times during the fire for Chief Carl was
when a local TV station aired a
live segment stating that the "Cuyamaca Fire Station burned...possible injuries."
Hours earlier, he evacuated his wife and daughter, who were
certainly glued to the television. He had no way to reach them,
or they, their husband and dad.

And a touching moment
for Carl during the fire?

"When we were done and the CDF guys who had been with us here all along were leaving town, they were handing us and shoving money in our pockets. Just to help."

I think if the folks from CDF Strike Team 9250C from Red Bluff, Calif. can dig a bit, so can we. Let’s help our volunteer fire departments.