“The Wookie,” a 6x6 military truck converted into a firefighting engine, sits ready to be deployed. The truck is equipped with a 1,000-gallon water tank, professional hoses, and adjustable pressure tires. Photo by Robert Steffano
‘We’re on our own out here, man’
John Wilhelm, president of the board of directors at the volunteer fire department and operates Kingsview Farms in southern Humboldt County, and Steffano both said it’s not uncommon to see members of the community come out to help prevent wildfires and, as with last year’s fire season, stay behind and help put out the flames—sometimes just wearing basketball shorts and tennis shoes. “It’s really been the core of our community out here for over 40 years, the fire department,” Wilhelm said. “It’s kind of like your social outlet because when you go to these meetings, everybody is there. When we put on a benefit, everyone in the community is there. So everyone's involved loosely, either actively in the fire department or on the auxiliary, making food and sandwiches for firefighters or things like that, or writing grants—you're somehow contributing to it if you live up here.”
Volunteer firefighters stand by and scout in Humboldt County as the 2020 August Complex Fire comes closer to their community. Thick smoke from the fires and the red blaze of flames paints the sky in a reddish-orange haze.Photo by Robert Steffano
A fleet of modded fire trucks sit parked at the ready outside the Palo Verde Volunteer Fire Department. All of the trucks have been modded by community members to help fit the needs of the community in the area, all with the goal of protecting each other and their livelihoods.Photo by Robert Steffano