Guadalcanal veteran not afraid of Harris fire

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As the Harris fire pushed closer, John Smith, a public affairs official at the Veterans Home of California in Chula Vista, wasn’t taking any chances.

There were 372 veterans, average age 80, to look out for. So at 2 a.m. today, he and a home administrator drove 5 ½ miles up to the fire line to question the battalion chief directly.

“I wanted to talk to this guy eyeball to eyeball,” said Smith, 60, a special representative for the state Department of Veterans Affairs.

The battalion chief told him not to worry. But five hours later Smith drove up again. This time a different chief provided even more assurance.

Smith said the risk from the massive fires were dismissed by some home residents who itched to see it first-hand.

“One guy came up to me and said, ‘I was at Normandy. I was at Guadalcanal. I was at Iwo Jima.’ These guys are not intimidated by what they describe as a ‘little fire,’” he said.

-- Tracy Weber