Nature’s fireworks reveal true heroes

Mother Nature’s fireworks trumped any and all plans for man-made July 4 celebrations in much of Northern California. Instead, thousands of firefighters continued to place their lives on the line daily in an effort to protect homes, property and wildlife habitat.

Following a widespread lightning storm June 21 and 22 that touched off hundreds of wildland fires in the surrounding hills and mountains, the Shasta District Fairgrounds in Anderson sprouted a tent village June 23 that quickly grew into a small city by Friday, June 27.

Weather forecasters were predicting another round of even drier lightning storms for the weekend of June 28 and 29, challenging the best armchair prognosticators to make educated guesses as to whether members of the public would even be able to see a fireworks display, let alone survive the airborne pollutants that filled the normally blue skies with rust-colored smoke and ash.

The executive committee of Anderson Explodes!, a semi-independent arm of the Anderson Chamber of Commerce that sponsors the South County community’s annual fireworks display, finally pulled the plug Sunday on their $30,000 extravaganza, at least for the period of time that the Cal-FIRE crews occupy the fairgrounds.

That was a difficult, yet prudent decision considering several self-evident factors:

The fairgrounds’ parking lots were all filled with emergency response vehicles so there was no place for the public to park even if they were brave enough or foolish enough to stay outdoors for several hours in the heat and smoke.

More than 400 male prison inmates from 18 hand crews — under the watchful eyes of the California Department of Corrections — were eating, sleeping and otherwise relaxing while away from the dangerous fire lines. All this not more than 100 feet from the prime fireworks viewing areas near the grandstands.

And the remainder of the fairgrounds was filled with seemingly endless piles of emergency equipment, dozens of tents containing personal belongings and large caches of food and supplies that are required to feed, clothe and protect the small army of 2,099 firefighters, 263 fire engines, 88 water tenders, 61 bulldozers, nine helicopters and four fixed-wing aircraft brought in to help control 158 fires that have so far charred 48,000 acres of privately owned land just in Trinity and Shasta Counties since last weekend.

There will be time end energy enough to celebrate our nations 232nd birthday once the fires are safely out and the firefighters are on to other conflagrations.

Instead of wringing your hands and bemoaning the lack of an outdoor fireworks display, thank a firefighter. Wave whenever you see their bright red, yellow or lime-green vehicles. And offer to buy their meal whenever you see them sitting in a restaurant, hours away from their own families, yet willing to breathe dust, ash and smoke, brave poison oak, rattlesnakes and temperatures well over 120 degrees inside their protective fire suits as they slog up and down the rugged and often steep terrain of our beloved North State.

America, if you are looking for a hero, look no further.

They stand amongst us, paid and volunteer alike, dressed in their yellow and khaki Nomex fire-retardant turnouts, safety helmets, boots, and goggles, ready at a moment’s notice to drop personal plans and race off to save the belongings, property and even lives of total strangers.

Firefighters, we salute and thank you, one and all. May God bless you and keep you safe.