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    Stop The Burn: The Best Solution for California's Wild Fire Epidemic and much more
    Stop The Burn: The Best Solution for California's Wild Fire Epidemic and much more
    Stop The Burn: The Best Solution for California's Wild Fire Epidemic and much more
    Ebook63 pages52 minutes

    Stop The Burn: The Best Solution for California's Wild Fire Epidemic and much more

    By Ryland Williams

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    About this ebook

    STOP THE BURN is a book chronicling California's destructive and deadly firestorms of 2017-2018, and the conditions leading up to this wildfire epidemic. Beginning by referencing the Northern California Hanly Fire of 1964, the author brings us to the present by specifically addressing the issues creating these hazardous conditions, and then providing the best solution for preventing the majority of the state's wildfires in the future.
    The book quotes, summarizes, and compares many of the experts' disappointing solutions, and reviews PG&E's bankruptcy and their fight to survive this company's most turbulent times.
    The author has created a recipe for the funding and staffing of his plan that is realistic, affordable and sustainable. If adopted, the plan will not only provide California with fire protection, but will provide several extremely positive social and economic benefits as well.
    If something is not done immediately, California will continue to burn, and the fires will only become worse. Stop the burn!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTablo Publishing
    Release dateJun 28, 2019
    ISBN9781925939705
    Stop The Burn: The Best Solution for California's Wild Fire Epidemic and much more

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      Book preview

      Stop The Burn - Ryland Williams

      Chapter 1

      The Hanly Fire

      From the Eyes of a Teenage Firefighter

          The year was 1964. As an odorous and toxic smoke clouded Santa Rosa’s airspace, a wildfire, propelled by warm, dry, and unrelenting 70 mile per hour Diablo Winds, raced into Knights Valley, down Franz Valley, and into Mark West Canyon. A few miles away, the City of Santa Rosa stood directly in its path.

      It was a warm and windy early Tuesday morning on September 22. I should have been preparing for class at Santa Rosa Junior College, but along with friends, twins Jon and Clive Endress and Allan Miller, I had decided to help fight the fire that was threatening our city. We had not actually seen the flames as yet, and certainly had no idea of the fires magnitude, but I have to admit that I was more than a little frightened. I don’t know how my friends felt, but none of us showed fear, and we knew absolutely nothing about fighting fires. We threw shovels in the bed of Jon and Clive’s rusty old 37 Chevy pickup and headed to Carter’s Rincon Valley Feeds for burlap sacks. Off we went down Middle Rincon and onto Brush Creek Road. As we approached Wallace Road, we saw the first of the flames, and wildlife, mostly deer and rabbits, frantically running in all directions to escape the flames. We joined a group of volunteer firefighters that had kept the burn to the west side of Wallace Road. Backpack sprayers, shovels, and burlap sacks were the tools of choice, or I should say, probably the only tools available. Being young and fresh, we rushed to put our tools to work, but the freshness soon wore off as we worked our way down Wallace Road with a feeling of little accomplishment. The fire continued to burn, but the vegetation along the road was not high and the flames were six feet at best. With a powerful northeast wind, there seemed little danger of the fire jumping the road, but the fire was growing and accelerating rapidly up the hill to the west. We threw our tools in the truck and prepared to vacate the area just shy of Riebli Road.

      Hanly Fire Volunteer Firefighters, 1964

          Before departing, I gazed into the fire. There, surrounded by flames, was a doe with her two fawns. They appeared lost, and made no attempt to run. They were about to burn! I stood helpless with a sadness and heartache never experienced before. The mother was looking directly into my eyes, and I was looking directly into hers. She appeared to have tears in her eyes, and I know that I had tears in mine. Her babies were looking at me too. The mother could not speak, but her eyes said it all. Help us, please help us! But I couldn’t help, and I could not stay to watch these beautiful animals suffer such a painful death. I left a piece of my heart on the side of the road that day. That defenseless mother and her beautiful babies would never be forgotten.

      Communication was poor in 1964. We had a transistor radio tuned to KSRO for updates on the fire. The situation had become extremely ugly. Fueled by rugged vegetation and tall timber, and propelled by relentless winds, the fire had raced up the hill to become an unpredictable and uncontrollable raging inferno. At unbelievable speed, the fire was headed directly towards the County Hospital and Lomitas Heights, a new upscale residential subdivision at the north end of town, and of particular interest to Jon and Clive. Their older brother had purchased a home there and was presently out of town. We headed directly to his home. Al took the truck to Thrifty’s to get batteries for the radio, but I, along with Jon and Clive, grabbed every hose and sprinkler available. We soaked everything from the landscaping to the ridge of the roof. From the roof we could see everything. A massive one hundred foot wall of flames, capable of taking out our city, was rapidly approaching. The hospital was ready to evacuate, and most of the residents of the subdivision had left. Behind the hospital and subdivision of homes, the professionals, several hundred strong, and from all available

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