Isaac Vigil, 21, joined the California Conservation Corps last year to jumpstart a future career in wildland firefighting.
But like most young Conservation Corps members in San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria, Vigil put all that on hold in mid January when historic floods hit the Central Coast.
Vigil and dozens of his peers were among the first to respond to local areas hardest hit by the storms.
Teams of 15 to 20 members cleared mud out of homes in Los Osos, removed debris from the Arroyo Grande Creek levee, and aided with the search for a missing 5-year-old boy in San Miguel.
“That was my first emergency,” said Vigil, who spent two long days in Los Osos after Jan. 9 cleaning up homes on Vista Court hit by mudslides. “I definitely want to say I was trained for it. We were just clearing out a lot of mud and debris on the street and in the backyards and inside the homes.
“It was truly a horrific sight to see,” he added. “I wouldn’t really say I got tired because I was really excited to help out. It felt good to be part of the few that got to go out and do something.”
More than 90 young adults like Vigil are enrolled in SLO’s and Santa Maria’s Conservation Corps programs, and each one has played some role helping with the storm response.
Throughout the year, Corps members locally and across the state spend their days training in a chosen area of focus, like firefighting, taking classes, and assisting with a variety of regional projects related to natural resource management.
But one critical role of the Conservation Corps since its founding in the 1970s is disaster response. When the floods hit all of California this month, Corps members across the state mobilized to help, according to Mike Anderson, district director of the Conservation Corps in SLO and Santa Maria.
“We are very proud to be boots on the ground and usually one of the first teams to respond,” Anderson told New Times. “Every one of our 18- to 25-year-olds had flood training in November.”
Local Corps teams were dispatched across the county during the week of Jan. 9. Their assignments—handed out by county and state Offices of Emergency Services—ranged from filling sandbags at Cal Poly to working alongside inmate crews at the Arroyo Grande Creek levee.
As a second storm approached SLO County on Jan. 16, Corps members worked long days to clear debris from the creek—helping South County avoid another round of levee flooding.
“We were doing chainsaw work, removing trees and debris and whatever was needed to create better water flow for the next rains,” Anderson explained.
As recently as Jan. 22, the Corps had another team dispatched to the Salinas River to assist Cal Fire with the search for Kyle Doan, the missing 5-year-old swept away by Jan. 9 floodwaters. Another Corps team had just traveled to Stockton to help with flood damage there.
“We just got notice that they’re going to keep us [in Stockton] for another week and a half,” Anderson said.
While the Conservation Corps as a group generally flies under the radar, Anderson said he was happy to see his teams get some local recognition and appreciation in the wake of the storms.
“I would definitely say people learned who we are and can appreciate our young adults and the value of them, how awesome and courteous they are,” Anderson said. “Our Corps members are out in the community constantly.”
A veteran leader of the local Corps programs for the past 30 years, Anderson said what he most appreciates about the job is the diversity of young people he gets to work with.
“We get people who are struggling and can’t find work, are from broken homes with drug and alcohol addiction—everything that comes from living—and we give people a safe place to gain skills and experience,” he said.
Vigil, who moved to SLO from Northridge last year to pursue his dream of becoming a firefighter, said his experience responding to the floods this month only deepened that desire.
“I hope I made an impact on them [the Los Osos residents] and did something to brighten their day,” Vigil said. “It makes me want to just keep doing it and help out. This is the right kind of occupation for me.”
Fast fact
• Two local moving and storage companies are offering free and discounted services to residents displaced by storms. Broad Street Storage in SLO and Central Coast Moving & Storage Company in Paso Robles are guaranteeing a month of free storage for flood victims. To learn more, visit broadststorage.com or centralcoastmoving.com.
Assistant Editor Peter Johnson wrote this week’s Strokes. Reach him at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Health & Wellness 2023.