Student Volunteer Firefighters Reflect on Glass Fire

While students and community members evacuated from Napa and Sonoma counties, PUC student volunteer firefighters Alex Nelson and Gil Fayard made their way toward the Glass Fire.

A Challenging Start Nelson received a call about the fires while camping in Bodega Bay, prompting him to pack and drive to Angwin. When he arrived, Nelson was assigned to Patrol 18 along with fire Capt. Aguilar for the first two days on Task Force 2. They spent their time protecting houses on Silverado Trail, Glass Mountain Road and Deer Park Road. “At 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning [Sept. 29], we were assigned to protect houses on Oak Street near Foothills Elementary,” he said. “We watched a massive wall of flame race towards us as we hurried to pull a hose and protect a house. I started spraying water on a spot fire that had ignited near the house, but within seconds everything around me was on fire.” With the help of his adrenaline, Nelson made his way out when he heard his captain shout “We need to go now!” Nelson recalls feeling “powerless” during those first two days of the fires. With minimal sleep and little food to eat, he relied solely on the energy bars that community members had left at the Angwin fire station. “It was unusual to be defending our own home territory, working around places I knew such as Elmshaven, St. Helena Hospital and Foothills Elementary,” Nelson said. “It was sobering to think about losing everything I own; but as I watched houses around me burn, I knew that many families were in that very position.”

What It’s Like To Fight A Fire Emergency Services major Gil Fayard has been volunteering with the Angwin Volunteer Fire Department for almost a year. He was at home in Roseville, California, when he heard about the Glass Fire through Instagram the morning of Sunday, Sept. 27, from PUC friends who were evacuating. He arrived in Angwin on Monday afternoon and was assigned to Engine 18. For the first two days, he patrolled neighborhoods and put out spot fires to save residential properties. Although this was Fayard’s first fire, he stayed focused on his tasks despite his fears. “I would often hike up to the flames while carrying the hose. I then would spray the flames down and eliminate the remaining hot spots with a hand tool,” Fayard recalled. “This was quite tiring, especially during the night. Enduring the heat of the flames and accidentally inhaling smoke was also not very pleasant.”

A Community’s Resilience Fire Chief J.R. Rogers of the Angwin Volunteer Fire Department has been volunteering for over 16 years. The department was the first out of five units to arrive on the scene for the Glass Fire. Chief Rogers remained on a fire engine as the Engine Boss for 16 days—the entirety of the fire. An Engine Boss leads a single fire engine, and is responsible for the firefighters on the engine and their safety on the grounds to which they are responding. Rogers shares his gratitude for the community of Angwin and other surrounding towns for their support. “We got to see an incredible collaboration with Pacific Union College, St. Helena Hospital Foundation and ADRA to provide meals, water and hygiene kits to the community of Angwin for the first four days after the evacuation order was lifted,” Rogers commented. “People come together through adversity, and it’s amazing to see what our community did for Angwin.” The Glass Fire, which has burned approximately 67,484 acres of land, is now 100% contained. ■