A retired sheriff’s deputy ramped up his criticism Friday of the Orange County Fire Authority’s response to a Sierra Peak hot spot he contends may have caused the massive Canyon Fire 2, but fire officials said his theory is unlikely and part of a continuing “smear campaign.”
Jim Slikker, who is now a volunteer medic for the sheriff’s department, said an ember from a small Sierra Peak fire reported by an Anaheim police helicopter pilot the evening of Oct. 8 could have floated to the origin point of Canyon Fire 2, which ultimately charred 9,200 acres, destroyed 25 structures and injured four people, including two firefighters.
Orange County Fire Authority Battalion Chief Marc Stone, however, countered that such an ember would have had to fly up to three miles upwind to reach the starting point of Canyon Fire 2. The OCFA has ruled out the Sierra Peak flareup as the cause of the brush fire that burned for more than a week.
Slikker alleged this week that OCFA was told by an Anaheim police helicopter crew about the Sierra Peak flareup Oct. 8, but failed to respond. The flareup occurred within the burn area of the original Canyon Fire, which burned about 2,600 acres in late September.
Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson has asked OCFA officials to appear before the Board of Supervisors to discuss the allegation, which the Fire Authority strongly disputes. That meeting is set for Oct. 31.
Slikker disputed the OCFA’s assertion that U.S. Forestry Service officials had jurisdiction of the Sierra Peak hot spot and the federal agency declined any assistance from the Fire Authority.
“It’s still Orange County’s jurisdiction,” Slikker said. “They have a duty and obligation to protect and care for the county.”
He said residents don’t care about jurisdiction, and the OCFA did not need anyone’s permission to drop water on the spot fire.
“They still have a mutual aid agreement,” Slikker said. “They don’t have to say can we do this? They still should have launched a helicopter. Or they could have just put a couple of trucks out there just to watch it.”
Embers can travel a few miles and start a blaze elsewhere, and the OCFA should have reacted to the report given the forecast for Santa Ana winds the next day.
Slikker also said the sheriff’s department offered to help dump water on Canyon Fire 2 the morning it broke out on Oct. 9, but “they said no.” Slikker chalked up the rebuff to a protracted dispute between the sheriff’s department and Fire Authority on protocols for helicopter use for first- responders.
“They don’t want the sheriffs’ department involved in firefighting,” Slikker said. “They don’t want the sheriff’s department involved in rescues.”
Stone, however, said Slikker is running a “smear campaign” against the OCFA “without any facts.”
As for the possibility a drifting ember could have traveled to the Canyon Fire 2 flashpoint, Stone said, “That ember would have to travel three miles upwind.”
Fire investigators are confident “there is no connection whatsoever” to the hot spot reported by the Anaheim helicopter pilot and Canyon Fire 2, Stone said.
Stone also disputed Slikker’s claim that the sheriff offered to help and was told no thanks.
The OCFA asked a sheriff’s helicopter crew for help directing traffic among the 17 choppers and 14 fixed-wing planes in the air battling the blaze, Stone said. Initially, deputies said they would help and offered to launch another helicopter to drop water on the flames, the battalion chief said.
Fire authority officials, however, felt there was enough aircraft in the sky battling the blaze and turned down the water drop offer, Stone said.
“But even if we wanted to use them we couldn’t,” Stone said, adding that sheriff’s pilots weren’t authorized to drop water under those circumstances.
Slikker insisted all of the sheriff’s pilots are “Cal Fire carded,” meaning they have the accreditation necessary to make water drops.
After the OCFA declined the water-drop offer from the sheriff, deputies radioed back saying they didn’t have anywhere in the area to refuel so they didn’t send any helicopters to the fire, Stone said.
“We requested their help and they didn’t show up,” Stone said.
Orange County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Stu Greenberg, however, disputed much of Stone’s account. He said when deputies asked if they could use the fire authority’s refueling truck for the sheriff’s helicopter they never got a reply. The sheriff’s helicopter needed to use the fire authority’s refueling truck because the sheriff could not spare its own truck at that time, Greenberg said.
“They never got back to us” on the availability of the OCFA refueling truck, Greenberg said.
Sheriff’s officials wanted to help drop water because they believe the sheriff has the capacity to respond quickest to emergencies, Greenberg said. And all of the department’s helicopter pilots are fully qualified to make water drops, he said.
In fact, he said, when a blaze breaks out and the sheriff can respond, “Cal Fire told us we expect you to get water on the fire right now,” Greenberg said.
In all other respects, Greenberg added, the sheriff and OCFA worked “seamlessly” on the fire.
–City News Service