From Ashes to Action : Silverado Canyon Pulls Together After Blaze That Ruined Fire Station

Watching helplessly a week ago as flames incinerated much of Fire Station 14, many residents of remote Silverado Canyon felt a sense of loss that went far beyond the $750,000 in damage from the blaze.

The destruction was a sudden and unsettling reminder of a horrific disaster 23 years ago, when five canyon residents died as they huddled inside the fire station during a once-in-a-century mudslide and flood.

Ironically, last week’s blaze came just as the community was readying a celebration for early next year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the fire station and its volunteer firefighters, who provide a margin of safety for this far-removed mountain hamlet.

Such a confluence of events might shake any community. But it was all the more jarring in this close-knit canyon dotted with homes, cabins and small shops near Cleveland National Forest.

In Silverado Canyon, “small-town feel” is not the hyperbole of real estate ads but a way of life. It’s a place where the sound of a siren brings people out of their homes and where the 16 members of the volunteer Fire Department know most of the people they serve.

As the area’s 3,000 residents pick up the pieces from the fire, many insist that Silverado Canyon’s sense of community will help them weather this latest storm.

“When you live in the mountains, you live with the idea that something big can happen. People have to live with it or leave,” said John Sleppy, a retired firefighter who worked in Silverado Canyon for 12 years and whose home was claimed by the flood. “Everyone in the canyon is very close. When something comes down, they band together.”

This camaraderie was evident all during he week, as residents both young and old shared tears, hugs and stories while surveying the fire damage.

“It was terrible. But we have to move on together,” said volunteer Firefighter Cheryl Carpenter as she sat with other volunteers looking over historic pictures of the fire station. “We’re going to put this behind us and make a new beginning.”

To that end, the 50th anniversary celebration will go ahead with a new emphasis, say residents and firefighters. They hope publicity about the fire will lure more former volunteers to the event.

Within 24 hours of the blaze, residents held an emergency town meeting and set up a donation box at Del Clark’s Shadybrook Country Store just up the road from the fire station.

Nonetheless, many longtime residents couldn’t help being jolted by the twin tragedies that struck one of the community’s most beloved institutions, albeit 23 years apart.

“You begin to wonder. A fire station is something that is good and helps people,” said Bob Schrowe, pastor at the Silverado Community Church. “Why is this happening here?”

Schrowe’s wife died inside the station in 1969 as she was attempting to save a pregnant woman from the wall of mud. Schrowe served as a volunteer firefighter there for nine years.

Most residents admit they have come to accept unexpected setbacks as the price for living in the pristine yet isolated canyon country.

Much of this uncertainty comes from the canyon’s unforgiving climate, where the dry chaparral can become combustible during the summer and hillsides can collapse under the weight of heavy rains in the winter.

The fire station and its volunteers are one of the bulwarks against nature and disaster.

The people of Silverado Canyon established the county fire station in 1943. Staffed by residents, the fire station soon became the pride of Silverado Canyon and for years was considered one the best volunteer operations in the county.

It was no surprise that on February 25, 1969, when a series of rare and devastating storms transformed the canyon into a river of floating cars and debris, about 35 frightened residents sought shelter inside Fire Station 14.

For a while, the station held sturdy. Then tons of mud from the steep canyon slope crashed down toward the small adobe building. The mudslide uprooted an oak tree that smashed through a station wall, sending the mud flowing into the building.

The five victims “never had a chance,” said survivor Jean Farr, a sturdy and energetic woman who despite suffering several broken ribs was able to care for more seriously injured victims.

Farr was out of town when the fire struck. “I’m glad I wasn’t here. I’ve already seen one (fire station) destroyed. I didn’t want to see another.”

By comparison, the fire was less of a catastrophe. No one was injured in the blaze, which burned the station’s auxiliary room but left the small office intact.

“You can replace equipment. You can’t replace people,” Farr said. After the mudslides, “I had to go to five funerals in five days,” she added.

Fire investigators haven’t pinpointed the exact cause of the blaze, but they believe that a space heater and a some sort of a propane leak might have started it. Arson has been ruled out, County Fire Department spokeswoman Maria Sabol said.

A fire engine and a four-wheel-drive emergency vehicle were destroyed by the flames, but a second engine, which happened to be on loan to a station in Villa Park at the time, was spared. For now, volunteers will continue to provide emergency service from a nearby U.S. Forest Service office. Eventually, county officials hope to construct a new station, though there is no estimate yet of its cost.

And as they did after the mudslide, residents this week vowed to focus on building a future rather than mourning the past. Volunteers are already talking about when a new fire station will be built and continue to plan the 50th-anniversary celebration.

For many, the event now will feel even more like a family reunion.

“When you have a volunteer situation,” Farr said, “it’s not just a fire department. It’s a family. It’s friends and neighbors. You put a lot of yourself into this place.”

A Silverado Story

1942-43: Silverado Canyon residents form a volunteer fire service. It soon becomes a social center for the remote mountain community.

1969: About 35 residents seek shelter inside the station as a series of rainstorms batter the area. A mudslide sends tons of mud into the station, killing five.

1970: A new fire station is built to replace the one destroyed in the mudslide.

1992: More than half the station is burned in a fire that also destroys an engine and emergency vehicle. Damages total $750,000.

Source: Times reports