Fighting fire, backyard by backyard

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Poway:

Jimmy Fiero, a battalion chief for the San Diego City Fire Department, sat wearily on a hydrant in a tony neighborhood near Lake Poway. A blood-red sun hung low in the sky, nearly blotted out by the thick smoke and ash swirling in the air.

He and his men hadn’t slept on Sunday, and worked all the way through Monday as the fire made its way through Poway. ‘We got ahead of it a few times. Then it got ahead of us. It was a serious game of leapfrog,’ Fiero said, rubbing his eyes wearily underneath his spectacles.

His men had backed about 10 fire engines into the driveways of several houses in the Bridlewood community to make another stand as the fire tried to blow through the gated community. They were well-aware that only an hour before, fire had destroyed several multimillion-dollar homes less than a mile away.

The houses back up to a steep gully, and the fire was racing down the ridge on the far side. Firefighters waited in the backyards, watching it make its run as the wind picked up and dropped off.

Stockton Fire Department Capt. Dwight Lindsey, assisting Fiero in Poway, stood in a backyard with two of his men and watched it begin its climb up toward the houses. In the backyard, a tattered American flag whipped in the wind and two lawn chairs sat on the lawn staring out over the devastation.

After several minutes of relative calm, the gusts whipped up again, sending flames swirling into the air. Two of the men picked up their hose, ready to send water coursing from the truck. Lindsey spoke to them in calm monotones, pointing to trees and bushes that could cause them problems. With the sun no longer visible in the sky because the smoke was so thick, Lindsey gave the order to turn the water on a patch of trees that exploded to their left, sending flames 50 feet into the air.

He and his two men then carried the hose down the steep slope, trying not to trip in the thick underbrush, beating back the flames in front of them. The only illumination came from the skeletal remains of burning trees. After several minutes, Lindsey had the men pick their way back up the slope, dousing hot spots as embers continued to jump. ‘We do as much as we can and then move on,’ Lindsay said. ‘It’s nonstop; as soon as you say ‘done’ there are five more people begging for us to go to them. You save as many as you can.’

-- Joel Rubin