Menifee firefighters played big roles against Holy Fire

Fire Engine 5 from the Quail Valley Station was positioned to protect the Glen Ivy resort during the Holy Fire, and many other Menifee fire personnel served in firefighting positions. Leadership roles were held by (from left) Menifee Fire Chief Geoff Pemberton and Battalion Chiefs Josh Bischof and Ty Davis.

Although the air was thick with smoke that closed local schools for two days and shrouded the area in gray, one could say that Menifee was not directly affected by the massive Holy Fire, which ravaged mountain areas in Orange and Riverside Counties beginning Aug. 6.

Tell that to the fire personnel based in Menifee who spent long, hot days fighting the fire, protecting structures and filling key management positions.

Menifee has two Battalion 13 fire chiefs who serve the four local stations under the authority of the Riverside County Fire Department. In their primary responsibilities, Chiefs Josh Bischof and Ty Davis supervise County Fire Stations 5 (Quail Valley), 7 (Sun City), 68 (Murrieta Road) and 76 (Menifee Lakes). They report to Chief Geoff Pemberton, Riverside County Southwest Division Chief, who serves as Menifee’s fire chief as well.

For nearly two weeks, these fire chiefs fulfilled important leadership tasks as the wildfire burned over the Santa Ana Mountain range from Orange County into Riverside County, threatening homes in nearby Lake Elsinore. Their impact was significant in fighting the Holy Fire, which today is 91 percent contained after covering nearly 23,000 acres.

As Southwest Division Chief, Pemberton served as incident commander on the Riverside County side of the mountain, directing operations of the Riverside County Fire and Cal Fire departments. He worked collaboratively with officials from the U.S. Forest Service, Orange County Fire Department and other agencies, including the Riverside County and Orange County Sheriff’s Departments.

In addition, fire engine crews from Menifee stations fought to save Lake Elsinore hillside homes from severe fire damage as well as guarding structures threatened by fire. Thanks to the efforts of these firefighters and more than 1,500 others, damage to Riverside County structures was minimal.

"We’ve had people right at the houses, fighting flames that came up to the back fence," Pemberton said by phone from the command post at the height of the fire. "Some homes were lost on the Orange County side, but while we’re still doing damage assessment in Riverside County, it appears no homes were lost in the Lake Elsinore area. Some received minor damage.

"The fact that no homes were destroyed … to me, not only as the Menifee Fire Chief but as the Southwest Division Chief, it makes me extremely proud of our firefighters. They were ready. As line supervisors, we expected there to be houses severely damaged or destroyed."

Saving those homes was not an easy task. The battle was fought through orders at the command post, both at the main post at Irvine Regional Park and a remote base at Lakeside High School in Lake Elsinore. It was fought on the ground, in rough terrain and in back yards of homes by ground crews. And it was fought in the air with helicopters and fixed wing aircraft – including a 747 – dropping fire retardant.

Again, Menifee fire chiefs were instrumental in the fight. Davis was the commander of a strike team of five fire engines. Bischof was commander of an aerial attack, directing air tankers in their drops over the area.

The Holy Fire burned nearly 23,000 acres of brush, but most homes were saved. Photo by Erika Loera

"That was a pretty proud moment for Menifee," Pemberton said about Bischof’s versatility in taking command of an aerial firefighting platform. "And Ty Davis, he was actually inside the houses, fighting fires that came to the back of the homes."

While Menifee residents for the most part watched from afar, the firefighters hired to protect them on a daily basis were doing extra duty, protecting their neighbors to the west.

"This is the benefit of cooperative fire protection throughout the region," Pemberton said about the way in which Menifee-based firefighters worked with fire personnel from other departments.

Pemberton said because the fire started on U.S. Forest Service land, that organization was originally responsible, but because of limited resources soon called the Orange County Fire Department for support. When it became clear that the fire would crest the mountain and head into Riverside County, fire officials in this county were called in.

"Probably about an hour or two into this, I was headed from Menifee to the inside command post in Holy Jim Canyon on the Orange County side to make sure the plan included us, because it was coming to us," Pemberton said. "As we move into new territory, other people are added to the unified command."

Firefighter shifts were exhausting, to say the least. Depending on where firefighters were stationed, some worked 12-hour shifts and others 24-hour shifts. The vast majority of personnel from Menifee and the rest of the Riverside County Fire Department were on 24-hour shifts.

As is the case with wildfires in rugged terrain, Pemberton said the challenge with the Holy Fire was determining when winds and other factors would increase the fire’s downhill run toward homes.

"We’re always looking for opportunities to put the fire out where it’s at," Pemberton said. "In this particular stretch of country, where the slopes are so steep … it’s a challenge, but we always want to attack it directly. However, we knew at one point we would have down canyon winds, which is very common in that area because of a phenomenon called the Elsinore Effect. The cool sea air pushes in, spills over the mountains between 2 and 4 o’clock every day, and causes the down canyon wind.

"Fires don’t normally run downhill. Fortunately for us in this fire, it had been doing a ‘backing’ effect, where it slowly works its way downhill rather than making a downhill run. But on Thursday (Aug. 9), we finally got one of those down canyon runs. The fuel that hadn’t been eliminated was near the bottom of the canyon.

"When that happened, the fire made that hard run at the homes. But we had our Menifee firefighters there, ready to protect homes. Due to the hard work they did, we have a pretty good success story here."

As Pemberton said, it took a unified effort by several agencies and thousands of fire personnel. And Menifee firefighters know first-hand how their hard work paid off in a neighboring community.