PHOTOS: Assigned to the Gifford Fire, a strike team from the Sacramento area paused to pay their respects to colleagues killed 46 years ago battling a different blaze off Highway 166, taking time to spruce up the memorial. โThey kind of stumbled across the monument and had a little extra time where they could leave something better than they found it, especially paying respects to the members that perished in the 1979 fire,โ Capt. Justin Sylvia of the Sacramento Fire Department said.
The strike team came across the memorial for the 1979 Spanish Ranch Fire where four members of the firefighting force became entrapped. That fire sparked off Highway 166 in San Luis Obispo County the afternoon of Aug. 15, 1979. Crews initially attacked the flames on the ground by heavy equipment and engines from multiple agencies including whatโs now known as Cal Fire. Three members of the engine crew were overcome by the erratic fire and died. The fourth ran away, but was severely burned. He died due to his injuries months later. The quartet killed in the Spanish Ranch Fire were Capt. Ed Marty and firefighters Scott Cox, Ron Lorant and Steve Manley. They deployed from the Cal Fire station in Nipomo.
โThe members of our local strike team took the time to clean and refresh the memorial site to honor those fallen members of CDF Engine 5373,โ Sacramento Fire Department representatives said on social media. Additionally, a probationary firefighter on the strike team conducted some quick research and gave a presentation on the fatal 1979 incident marked by extreme fire behavior.
The Spanish Ranch Fire still serves as a training lesson for todayโs crews. The Strike team is made up of five Type 3 Engines from Sacramento Fire, Sacramento Metro Fire District, West Sacramento Fire Department, Manteca Fire Department and Cosumnes Fire Department.
They have been deployed since Aug. 2 and are among nearly 4,000 personnel making up the Gifford Fire team with base camps in Santa Maria and Santa Margarita. โThis is a true definition of โleave it better than you found it,โ a value instilled in the fire service,โ the social media post said.
