Volunteer Firefighters First on the Scene at Witch Creek Fire
Help Continues at Intermountain Station
By Ruth Lepper

Volunteer firefighters with the Intermountain Fire & Rescue Department were the first responders on the scene Oct. 21 to battle the destructive Witch Creek fire that raged through the county.

"We could smell smoke but couldn't figure out where it was," said Chief Cary "Dusty" Coleman. "It was just east of the Star B Buffalo Ranch. We arrived on the scene when it was just crossing the road."

The first call came in at 12:42 p.m. About two hours later, the fire station was one of the structures threatened by the fast-moving flames. Coleman estimated the winds were gusting between 70 and 80 miles per hour.

"It burned right down to the station," he said. "At that point, I had lost complete track of it. It was heading down toward Ramona. I was just trying to save as many structures as I could."

The fire station served as an impromptu evacuation center on Oct. 21 when nearby residents could not get through on the highway. Others who were in the area also sought refuge at the fire station, including two firefighters with the Julian-Cuyamaca Volunteer Fire Department unable to reach their own station to report for duty.

"All 42 of my firefighters were at the station," Coleman said. "I had 20 to 30 evacuees from all over...I was actually instructed to send them to the evacuation center (in Ramona). I said, 'I can't do that. The roads are full of fire.'"

Coleman comforted the evacuees by telling them, "You're going to be safe here. Don't worry. We'll take care of you."

Coleman said 133 homes were lost in the immediate response area covered by Intermountain Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

"Everybody did the absolute best they could do with what we had available to us," Coleman said. "Honestly, I don't think you could be ready for this. If I had had every engine in San Diego sitting up in my station, (with the fire) three miles away, we would not have stopped it."

Coleman and his volunteers are continuing to help the people affected by the fire's destruction by establishing a relief center at the station at 25858 state Route 78 in the Witch Creek area.

FEMA representatives have set up a registration intake center. Assistance also is being provided by the Office of Emergency Services from both the state and county levels. Salvation Army and American Red Cross have been delivering food, water and needed supplies. Hot meals are being prepared and served at the station or delivered to people in the community. Cleaning kits also are available.

Coleman said the center has been visited by about 100 people daily since Oct. 27.

"The weekend after the fire, we started opening things up and getting things going," Coleman said. "I'm coordinating it all."

Most of the people coming to the relief center are from the area surrounding Witch Creek, as well as Mesa Grande, Santa Ysabel and Julian.

"We have all the basic immediate things to get the people over the hump," Coleman said. "We're developing a list of people who need help with cleanup or whatever."

Intermountain firefighters cover a 125-square-mile area from the Old Julian Highway east to the Inaja Monument on state Route 78, from Santa Ysabel to Lake Henshaw on state Route 79 and three miles east on state Route 76. It also doubles back toward Ramona to include Black Canyon and Pamo roads.

The department was formed in 1988 as a nonprofit corporation. All of the firefighters are volunteers, highly trained in the latest fire-fighting skills and techniques.