What Modesto firefighters did when a "brother" died in the Thomas Fire
Firefighters from Modesto and four neighboring departments were battling a treacherous section of the Thomas Fire in Ventura County on Thursday when the sobering news came.
One of their brothers from a nearby unit, fighting the same prodigious blaze, had been killed.
Cory Iverson, a 32-year-old Cal Fire engineer who formerly worked in Tuolumne County but was recently stationed in San Diego County, leaves a young daughter and his pregnant wife, due in the spring.
"What happened to that gentleman who got killed, it's in the back of everyone's mind, every single day," said Modesto Fire Battalion Chief Darin Jesberg, who returned late Thursday to Modesto after nine days of working the deadly fire.
At least 37 firefighters from this region — Modesto, Turlock, Stanislaus Consolidated, Patterson and Manteca — remain at the Thomas Fire, the largest, by far, raging in Southern California and fourth largest in state history; as of early Friday, it had consumed 252,500 acres in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and was 35 percent contained.
No one knows if they'll be home for Christmas.
Jesberg, who served as a task force leader, was required to rotate out after nine days under rules different from those who stayed.
Jesberg was passing Fillmore when he saw the section of fire Iverson was working "blow up," he said. But he doesn't know the circumstances of Iverson's demise, and fire officials won't say until a review is complete.
Iverson's unit was pulled off duty upon his death. The one Jesberg had commanded rushed in to replace them.
Later on Thursday, firefighters from Modesto and Turlock — grieving, but resolute — located a flagpole at the Santa Barbara Polo Club. They gathered about 50 others for an informal ceremony featuring a traditional last call, with solemn ringing of an engine's brass bell, and lowering of the American flag to half-staff while all stood at attention, Jesberg said.
"Our strike team initiated and coordinated it," Jesberg said. "They took it upon themselves, for the fallen firefighter."
The Modesto Fire Department posted on Facebook a photograph of a Modesto engine with a written tribute, "In honor of our fallen brother," scrawled on a sign in its windshield. Turlock and Stanislaus Consolidated posted a short video of the informal ceremony on their Facebook pages.
"It's hard on everybody," said David Marques, a Manteca battalion chief monitoring the action from home.
"Obviously, firefighting is an inherently dangerous career," said Kevin Tidwell, a captain with the Turlock department. "It's something we face, something we deal with. There definitely are some extreme fire behaviors happening down there."
Jesberg said daily briefings underlined the perils of suddenly shifting winds and dramatically steep terrain. "They were telling us that this is the most dangerous wildland interface in the entire world," he said. And in the field, "Your head is constantly on a swivel ... doing the best you can. But you can't anticipate every circumstance."
Jessica Smart, spokeswoman for the Modesto department, said, "They know the risks. They love their job, love helping people. It's what they do."
Garth Stapley: 209-578-2390
This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 5:14 PM with the headline "What Modesto firefighters did when a "brother" died in the Thomas Fire."