By Derek Wilson
Marinscope
Dmitri Menzel lost his Santa Rosa home in the 2017 Tubbs Fire, so fighting the LNU Complex Fire was more than just a job for him.
“It’s taken on a new meaning for me,” said Menzel, Deputy Chief with the Novato Fire Department. It used to be that when I went home, work stayed at work. Family and work were separate. Now it’s a personal thing. It’s tough.”
Menzel is one of 12 Novato firefighters responding to wildfires across California this year as part of a statewide mutual aid agreement. He and three Novato battalion chiefs were dispatched to the LNU Complex Fire, which has burned across more than 375,000 acres, damaged or destroyed more than 1,600 structures and claimed five lives since it started August 17 after an unusual lightning storm. The fire, actually a group of fires across five North Bay counties, is 87 percent contained.
More than 2,000 firefighters have been tackling the LNU Complex Fire. Menzel spent 14 days on the line against the Hennessey Fire in Napa County, where he led a team of firefighters from Novato, Sonoma, Santa Rosa, Napa and South Lake Tahoe. Mutual aid also arrived from Oregon and Washington.
“We were working longer hours than usual, more consecutive days,” Menzel said. “We were working on minimal sleep, maybe we’d get an hour here and there.”
Firefighters also set out from Marin County to offer help against the Lake Fire in the Los Angeles National Forest, and fires in Butte and Plumas counties. Mutual aid also came from Cal Fire, the National Guard, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Canada and other regions to help fight the massive LNU, CZU and SCU fires that burned across Northern California.
“It was a dynamic situation. Aid was requested, we responded and we were immediately put on the fire lines,” Menzel said. “I saw homes in danger and we did what we could. We had some successes and some losses.”
The dramatic lightning storm ignited dry fuel that rapidly burned across acres before crews had a chance to get them under control.
“We were short-staffed in the early stages of the fire,” Menzel said. “Because of the rapid growth of the fire we were already kind of behind the eight-ball and just trying to play catch-up.”
Meanwhile, crews from Marin County have been battling the Woodward Fire along the Point Reyes National Seashore. The fire, which has burned close to 4,750 acres, was reportedly 71 percent contained as of Friday.
The danger of a large wildfire erupting in more heavily populated areas of Marin County, closer to the Highway 101 Corridor, is not only very real, it’s very frightening, even to veteran firefighters.
“The fuels out there are drier than usual,” said Novato Fire Chief Bill Tyler. “There’s a lot of cured fuel and it’s been piling up. We have an above normal loading of cured fire material and our usual peak fire season is right now into November.”
In Novato alone, Tyler cited a number of neighborhoods bordering open space that could be in danger. Officials in Novato and throughout Marin County have felt the increasing urgency of this problem. Cities and towns in Marin such as Mill Valley, Corte Madera and Larkspur, the Ross Valley and San Rafael enjoy scenic hills, beautiful trees and a proximity to open spaces, but all that also has made emergency preparedness more important. In areas with narrow roads and limited evacuation routes, developing a solution becomes more difficult.
Many cities offer the occasional use of wood chippers to neighborhoods. Marin County officials urge homeowners to hardscape their properties and to make their homes fire safe. There is the added incentive of possible home insurance discounts and matching project funds for homeowners.
“A lot of these fires are caused by Mother Nature,” Menzel said. “She blows down power lines; she creates the spark; she blows the embers around. And Mother Nature’s been angry the past few months.”
However, Menzel knows from experience that life goes on and communities can come together to survive.
“I saw a lot of homes burn and I’ve Interacted with people who saw their homes in ashes. I was able to reassure them that life goes on and we are able to adapt as humans,” said Menzel, who was also evacuated from a rental home during the 2018 Kincaid Fire.
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