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Lt. Herb is a member of the Strike Team for the busiest fire engine in the TVFR District: Clackamas County Fire Department.  He follows closely in the footsteps of his grandfather who was Chief of the Cornelius Fire Department. 

In November 2018, Lt. Herb got a late-night call to deploy three heavy brush riggs to fight the Camp Fire near Paradise and Chico, California.  Each fire truck carried three firefighters who would spend several weeks working 24-hour-plus shifts to help hold the line on the most destructive fire in California’s history, a fire that scorched over 153,000 acres and incinerated the small community of Paradise.  It was the deadliest fire in U.S. history since the Cloquet Fire in 1918.  In the end, the fire destroyed over 18,000 buildings and killed almost 90 people.

On scene, Lt. Herb’s priority was to help maintain an 80-foot wide dozer line cut by Cal Fire.  Moving at a rate of 50 MPH, the wind-whipped firestorm blew embers for miles, melted power poles and lines, leveled buildings, and left a ”moonscape” in its wake.  There was no power or hydrants; water had to be brought in by tanker.

“People didn’t know if they had a home to go back to,” remarked Lt. Herb.  Many were packed into RVs in a nearby Walmart parking lot.  Others slept in one of the many shelters set-up in Chico.

There were moments of grace during the hellish days:  A local homeowner whose well was powered by solar panels provided water to thirsty animals driven into an unburned clearing; The local Outback Restaurant offered free meals to all the firefighters, and Dutch Bros. Coffee comped gallons of hot, caffeinated brew;  Locals who had been forced from their homes bought meals for the firemen and women.

While fire deaths are rare in Oregon, Lt. Herb noted that the houses that survived the Camp Fire had 30 to 100-foot cleared areas around them.  Other fire-wise tips include trimming tree limbs up high, clearing limbs that overhang your house, and removing tall grass, leaves, and excess brush from your property.