LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Three men who risked their lives to save people in the path of last year's Valley fire in Lake County were among more than a dozen state employees who received the California Governor’s Medal of Valor award on Tuesday.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers Timothy Little and Ryan Stephenson, and Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Division Chief Jim Wright received their Medal of Valor awards at a ceremony in Sacramento.
The Governor’s Medal of Valor award is the highest honor that California bestows on its public servants, recognizing “an extraordinary act of heroism by a state employee extending far above and beyond the normal call of duty or service performed at great risk to his/her own life in an effort to save human life.”
Little saved the lives of two women and one infant, Stephenson saved the life of an elderly woman and her dog, and Wright rescued the entire helitack crew of Copter 104.
The Valley fire burned 76,067 acres in Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties and was fully contained in early October. Altogether it burned some 1,300 homes, with four confirmed casualties.
Fish and Wildlife officers race to save residents
Both Little and Stephenson were on patrol in the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015, when the Valley fire ignited on Cobb Mountain.
Little was working as a safety patrol in the town of Cobb as he and other first responders scrambled to evacuate or assist residents during the Valley fire.
As the fire began to consume the town of Cobb, an emergency call went out about an elderly woman trapped in her home and in need of immediate rescue.
Hearing radio calls from other rescue personnel saying they were unable to respond because of fire and debris in the roadway, Little immediately headed toward the woman's home.
Driving his patrol vehicle through raging flames and burning road hazards, Little found the house and entered the home where he found an elderly woman trapped with her 11-month-old granddaughter.
Little rescued both the woman and child, getting them out of their home safely just minutes before fire incinerated her home.
Shortly afterward, Little learned that another elderly woman was trapped in her house and needed serious medical attention. He also learned that no medical transport crews would be able to make it there in time.
He raced to provide aid. After locating the house, he found the woman trapped on the second floor, unable to walk. Little carried her down a flight of stairs to a waiting vehicle and escorted them to the hospital. Little then continued to assist in other searches.
After the fire burned through the Cobb area and headed toward Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake, Stephenson raced ahead of the inferno to warn people about the fire and help them evacuate so they wouldn't be trapped by the flames.
Working door to door, he had evacuated several homes and escorted eight people to safety when one of the residents realized their neighbor had been overlooked.
The neighbor, an 88-year-old wheelchair bound woman, was still in her home, lying on the couch, unaware of the approaching fire.
Stephenson quickly returned to her street, which was now engulfed in flames, identified the woman's house, entered, and found her asleep on her couch. She was unable to get out on her own, so Officer Stephenson carried her in his arms to his patrol truck.
As he was getting ready to leave, the woman told him she was worried about her dog. Officer Stephenson then went back into her home and returned to the truck with her dog, driving them all to safety just minutes before her home became engulfed in flames.
The fire subsequently destroyed the woman's home.
"Our more than 400 wildlife officers understand and accept their roles as peace officers, caretakers, guardians and public servants," said CDFW Chief of Law Enforcement David Bess. "They are well trained and prepared to not only deal with wildlife law enforcement, but general peace officer work and first responder duties. The brave and selfless acts by these officers exemplify the outstanding force of CDFW wildlife officers."
Cal Fire division chief saves trapped helitack crew members
At 2 p.m. Sept. 12, Chief Wright, a resident of Cobb, was off duty and at home when he was notified about the Valley fire.
During the initial attack on the Valley fire, four of the eight-member Helitack Base Cal Fire Copter 104 became entrapped by a significant fire storm and had to use their emergency fire shelters to protect themselves.
All four crew members received second- and third-degree burns to their face, neck, back, legs, arms and hands.
Based on the captain’s description of their location, Wright believed he knew where they were.
He drove to the base of an access road and found four uninjured members of the eight member group. They quickly jumped in the truck with Wright as he drove towards the four firefighters who were in danger.
Driving through fire and thick smoke, Wright navigated up the road using burned trees as markers until he saw a clearing in the smoke and was able to distinguish the silver fire shelters in the distance.
Wright pulled up and the crew that arrived with him quickly loaded the burned firefighters into the back of his pickup.
Wright then drove them to a landing zone where the badly burned captain and firefighters were transferred to a Cal Fire helicopter and ultimately flown to the UC Davis Burn Center for treatment.
With no regard for his own safety, Wright’s heroic act saved the helitack crew of the Cal Fire Copter 104 crew during the Valley fire.
“Our firefighters put their lives on the line every day,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, Cal Fire director. “But these individuals had to make decisions to act quickly, without regard to their own safety, which ultimately cost one of them his life.”
