Liz Writes Life 9-4-19

Sept. 4, 2019

Liz Writes Life

Talk about embarrassing! Yep, I have a correction to make. Last week, I said there were “1,400 fires” started from the dry-lightning that began the ’87 Fire Siege. There were a lot of fires, but Jon Silvius, Public Information Officer for Klamath National Forest, reported in press releases there were an estimated 1,400 dry-lightning strikes in our area on Aug. 30, 1987 not fires. I do apologize. Sheeze what a brain freeze!

After deadline to get my column in, I realized my mistake and used Google to quickly see if there was an article on the Internet with the correct info. The siege was 32 years ago and the best article that came up was Judy Bushy’s “Happy Camp News.com” column from 2007, when she wrote about the 20^th anniversary. The info she used from KNF said that by the end of the first week, fires had grown together and they did have a count of 75. Wow, that is still a lot of fires!

Then, Wednesday night, Terry Weathers called me. He asked for my brother’s phone number, so he could pick his brain about the Sis-Q Flying Service. Terry and a committee are gathering information about the early days of aviation in Siskiyou Co. for a potential display at the county museum. We chatted.

Early on Aug. 31, 1987, Terry, with Dennis Brown, who was working recon and air attack for KNF, flew his one-engine Cessna 182 into a bright blue sky over Shasta Valley from Montague-Yreka airport. As they headed towards Happy Camp, they began sighting smokes and more smokes and more smokes!

Dennis communicated with lookouts and called the smokes to ground communications. Immediately, the USFS ordered-up a group of smoke jumpers to get a quick start on the fires. The jumpers were flown up from the USFS base in Redding and, unfortunately, one jumper broke his leg on landing. So, the fire jumpers quickly directed their intentions to cutting a few trees and clearing brush to make an open space for a rescue helicopter. They were in wilderness. Then, they attacked the fires along with Hot Shot teams, fire crews and air attack.

At the time, Terry and his wife, Jean, owned Montague Aviation and he typically piloted air recon personnel for USFS and Cal-Fire, which was California Dept. of Forestry at the time.

I received more info on Thursday, when Pat Thompson called me from Yreka. She is 91-years old and shared that her husband, Lloyd Thompson, was hired by Sis-Q Flying Service in August of 1964 as chief mechanic and a pilot. So, we figure the Harry Chaffee buzzing-Yreka escapade must have occurred in the spring of 1964, because she doesn’t recall the incident happening in 1965.

Lloyd and Pat were living in Chico, when Bud Davis, co-owner of Sis-Q Flying Service, blew an engine on his F-7 tanker while flying near Chico. Bud landed and Lloyd was the mechanic that repaired his engine. A few months later, Bud called and offered Lloyd a job. So, the Thompson family moved to Montague.

Lloyd actually owned a one-engine plane and also did air recon for the USFS and flew customers on chartered flights. In deep December, the 1964 catastrophic rain and flood hit the Pacific area. Bridges and roads were damaged isolating many towns and residents. During the continuing rain, Lloyd was asked to fly-in medicine and oxygen to Seiad area. He tried to land without a proper runway and wrecked his plane -- and ended-up in shock. Without available medical care, he began trying to get back home – on foot. At some point during the day, a Pacific Power helicopter picked him up and landed him in Yreka. But, power and likely telephone lines were down, so he ended-up walking home to Montague.

The bridge over Shasta River was unsafe for driving, but area folks were still walking it. Pat recalls Lloyd was drenched and a very tired, disoriented man when he finally arrived home. But, he was safe.

In 1968, Bud Davis and his partner, Fred Arnberg, split. Bud took Sis-Q Flying Service with some tankers and a handful of pilots to Santa Rosa. Fred stayed in Siskiyou Co. and started Montague Aviation. Lloyd and Pat threw their hat-in with Fred and invested in the business. Pat remembers serving as dispatcher, organizing schedules for pilot training and the Scott Valley Airmen, which kept its plane at the smaller Montague-Yreka airport. Fred flew recon for fires and worked on planes. 

Pat said sometimes she was the only one around to fuel planes. She remembers dragging the heavy hose over her shoulder and climbing the ladder to fuel Doc Hall’s plane, (and others) when he flew in from Happy Camp.

In 1971, Fred and Pat decided to buy Montague Hardware and moved out of the aviation business. They later sold the hardware store to do an upholstery business.

Pat did recall working at the fire headquarters based at the Siskiyou Golden Fairgrounds, in Yreka, during the ’87 Fire Siege. She helped serve food to 1,000s of firefighters as they came in blackened and exhausted from their work. Lloyd operated a folk-lift moving supplies. She finished our conversation saying her life has certainly been adventure!

Thank you, Terry and Pat, for your phone calls and sharing your memories.

POW

Erin Ryan, staff for Congressman Doug LaMalfa, spoke at the Scott Valley Protect Our Water meeting last Thursday night in Fort Jones. Erin said that our congressman took objection to U.S. Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ claim that Climate Change caused the fires that destroyed most of the city of Paradise, last November. Recently, Sanders visited Paradise and, once again, touted his proposal that will spend $16.3 trillion on Climate Change over the next 10 years.

LaMalfa responded: “While I am always happy to have elected leaders see firsthand the destruction that catastrophic wildfires and poor forest management has inflicted on our community, using our communities as a stage to promote the very policies that make these deadly fires more likely is insulting.”

LaMalfa explained much more to candidate Sanders. And I totally agree. The real reason for these horrible fires is the excessive government over-regulations resulting in excessive over-growth and unhealthy thickness of trees that fuels such intense fires. Whether there is Climate Change or not, government regulations and fashionable Green protect-the-environment attitudes are the true destroyers of forests and wildlife.

I will write more, next week, from the Protect Our Water meeting.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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