THE SOUTHLAND FIRESTORM: A SPECIAL REPORT : EYEWITNESS : DOMINGO OLIVA: Conservation Corps member : ‘They Tell Us Chop Lettuce, We Chop Lettuce’

Eighteen-year-old Domingo Oliva looked forward to fighting fires. But he had to settle for feeding firefighters. For more than a week, Oliva, who lives in East Los Angeles, and about 20 other members of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps worked 12-hour shifts, making a home for 500 firefighters at a makeshift camp at the Ventura County Fairgrounds . *

When we got called, it was the first time for many of us. We thought we would be closer to the action, next to the fire, so we were all excited. But then they brought us here to pick up trash and this and that. We got all depressed.

We help feed the firemen when they come in and make them feel at home. We have to clean up. We set up the kitchen. They tell us crack eggs, we crack eggs. They tell us chop lettuce, we chop lettuce. We set up the tables so the firefighters can eat. Make sure they are clean.

They go out there for 12 or maybe 20 hours. Then they come home to the camp and sleep six hours and then they go back out. That’s pretty hard for them. I think it would be a challenge for me if I ever (did) it.

I live with my wife and son. I’m missing them. I call them every other day and I just tell them I miss them. It’s like my first time away from them. She just wants me back. But she understands that I’m out here doing my job. She is just worried because she thinks we are close to the fire. I keep telling her, “No we are not.”

Then you got the headaches from the corps members. Some of them want to leave for home. They start nagging, like: “I want to call my mom. . . . What time are we going to leave?” It’s like having 16 little kids to take care of.

But we are all together to complete the mission and that is to feed the firemen. I guess if we didn’t feed the firemen they would all be weak and they couldn’t go out there and work. The better they eat, the (faster) we can turn off these fires and go home.