Mike Ippoliti
Los Angeles County
“The Sand Fire [LA County]. That thing just blew up right onto us.”
Craig Vanderzwaag
Santa Barbara County
“The Sherpa Fire [Santa Barbara County]. The wind and fire came down the hills, and we fought it going up. The fuel is old and drought-stricken. That’s the common story around the state.”
Steve Klein
Valley View Camp
“The Soberanes Fire [Monterey County]. I was up there for 35 days. It’s steep, ugly, nasty terrain and thick vegetation—by far the toughest fire I’ve ever worked.”
John Palozzi
Los Angeles County
“Nothing this summer compares to the ’93 Malibu Fire. We got run over by it and had a lot of water issues.”
Editor’s note: This week’s Street Talk was compiled at the Chimney Fire base camp on the Paso Robles Fairgrounds.
This article appears in Aug 18-25, 2016.