Fire Protection at Isolated Radar Base
US. Air Force photos by SSgt hill Hiniker
Staff Sergeant Stan Bright watched the rain fall steadily on the pine forest surrounding Point Arena Air Force Station in California.
“You know,” he observed, “there’s not much chance of a fire starting out there now. But during the worst part of the drought last summer, the forest was a potential bomb, just waiting for something to set it off.”
That something came the night of August 1. A rainless electrical storm touched off fires all along the northern California coast, several in the Point Arena area.
“We had nine small fires that night, burning all around our mountain,” Bright remembered. He pointed a finger north. “The worst one was on that ridge, about 6 miles away. But we weren’t hit. . . just lucky I guess. We were ready though.”
Isolated radar base
Keeping the isolated radar base, home of the 776th Radar Squadron, ready to fight fire has been Bright’s job for almost two years. He is chief and only full-time member of the 100-man unit’s fire fighting forces.
Perched on a ‘2400-foot mountain overlooking the Pacific, 150 miles north of San Francisco, the radar station is part of the North American Air Defense Command’s network of radars keeping an eve on the continental coastline for enemy aircraft. The command also provides defense against bomber attack and missile attack, and it keeps track of all man-made objects in space.
Narrow, winding roads around the station, including the snaky Coast Highway, cause station people to measure distance in hours, not miles. San Francisco, for example, is more than four hours away. The town of Point Arena—population 425—is 11 long miles and a half hour down a twisting mountain road.
The remoteness, Bright said, underscores the importance of his job as trainer, organizer and administrator of the radar station’s 28-member auxiliary fire department.
On their own
“We have to be ready to handle just about any situation ourselves,” he said.
“We have mutual aid agreements with the town volunteers and California Department of Forestry office at Point Arena, but an awful lot could happen by the time they can get up here.”
Pointing out that the agreements work both ways, the sergeant said, “We make ourselves available to help them, too.”
The morning after the electrical storm, the Department of Forestry called on the Air Force “bucket brigade” to lend a hand.
“They were taxed to the limit,” Bright recalled, “so they asked us to relieve them on the Signal Ridge fire south of the site.
“They’d already knocked down the fire,” he continued, “and they had to go fight another, bigger blaze. Our job was to make sure no hot spots or smoldering fires were left.
“The underbrush was so thick that we had to crawl through. And believe me, on your hands and knees you find the hot spots pretty fast.”
Bright said he and his firemen spent most of the day battling the spot fires.
Fantastic training
“I hate forest fire,” he said, “but it was fantastic training for my people. It was one of the few chances we’ve had to work on a real fire.”
Sergeant Bright’s auxiliary fire fighters come from all areas of the tiny, aircraftless base. One of his four assistant chiefs is the squadron’s personnel specialist. Another is a civilian employee and one fire fighter is a woman radar repairer.
“I try to find people who’re interested in the fire department,” he said. “I look first for people who might have served in a volunteer fire department.”
After being chosen, a new fire fighter gets eight hours of intensive training by Bright.
“I teach the fundamentals of fire protection,” he explained. “We cover everything from basic fire chemistry to fire fighting techniques. A big part of the training program is just letting augmentees get acquainted with our equipment. I show them how to lay a hose, how to use breathing apparatus, and we spend a lot of time around our tanker.”
Has 1500-gallon tanker
As fire chief, Sergeant Bright takes care of the 1500-gallon tanker, basic tools and protective clothing for eight fire fighters.
“I know that doesn’t sound like much,” he said, “but there isn’t a building up here that eight Firemen can’t control.”
The fire fighters are required by the Air Force to drill monthly. But Bright tries to hold a drill every other week.
“Sometimes that’s hard to do,” he admitted. “At a base this small, a drill affects about a third of our people, so I have to find out what else is going on. For example, if something was wrong with the radar, I wouldn’t call a drill and interrupt the repairmen. I also check with the commander before I call a drill.
“Then I pick a building, walk in and say, ‘This is a fire drill. You and you are victims. You’re overcome by smoke.’ Then I have someone else turn in the alarm.
PA calls firemen
’’They’re supposed to set off the pull station and then call in the fire. The pull station starts a bell ringing outside the building. The call goes to the base operator, who announces over the site PA system that there’s a simulated fire. The firemen come running and one of the guys from the motor pool brings the truck with all our equipment. Then we simulate rescue procedures and put out the simulated fire.”
Bright said his fire fighters can be gathered anywhere on the main station in less than five minutes.
“The family housing area is a little farther away,” he said, “so it takes a little longer for the truck to get there. But in the meantime, I can reach any house from one of my hose houses. The tanker isn’t really for fighting building fires anyway.”
The station’s hose houses are small sheds built to protect hydrants, hoses and equipment from the elements. Inside, Bright stores axes, shovels and other fire fighting gear next to a fire hydrant with hose attached.
Fortunately, the sergeant said, his fire fighters have had little chance to use their techniques under actual conditions.
“We had a small grease fire in housing a few weeks ago,” he said, “and, of course, the forest fire, but other than that we’ve been pretty lucky.”
The fire chief occasionally stages a controlled burn for practice.
Prevention stressed
Fire prevention is the biggest part of Bright’s job and he inspects each building every few months. He also has to brief each new housing occupant on fire prevention.
“We have battery-operated smoke detectors in each home,” he said, “so each year when I change the batteries, I throw a little fire prevention briefing and show them how to use the fire extinguishers we put in each home. It seems to work out very well.”
An eight-year veteran of the Air Force and its fire departments, Bright said he’s learned much about fire fighting at Point Arena.
“Here I have had to do lots of reading. I have to get into fire codes and Air Force regulations and hunt for information. I guess I’m trying to say I rely more on myself. Here I do everything in the fire department. I’ll admit it’s on a smaller scale, but I have to take care of my own supplies and equipment, do my reports, manage my people and take care of their training. If something happens, it’s my responsibility. I enjoy it.”
While the radar station is his main concern, Bright said any fire on the mountain could threaten the site.
“Even if a fire were to start at the bottom, we’ve got to take care of it,” he says. “For one thing, fire burns uphill. For another, there’s only one road down off this mountain. If it’s cut off by fire, we have to walk down.”
By foot, Bright said, safety is nearly 7 miles away and “that’s a long walk for anyone, especially women and children.”
