LAKEPORT >> Her cellphone rang at about 2 a.m. Sunday, June 24, abruptly waking Lake County Fairgrounds CEO Courtny Conkle from her weekend sleep. The screen indicated the call came from an unknown number and that’s when she knew the Pawnee Fire had gone from bad to worse overnight.
“I thought it was my alarm,” said Conkle. “Then I look down and it was an unidentified number and I immediately kicked into gear because I figured the fire had taken a change.”
The call was from Cal Fire, asking her if the fairgrounds would be accessible for the state agency to use as a base camp in response to the Pawnee Fire— first reported around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 23 and which at the time threatened about 600 homes and caused the evacuation of about 1,000 Spring Valley residents soon after.
Within a matter of hours, the fairgrounds — located in Lakeport — housed fire personnel by the dozens. And it wasn’t just a compilation of fire engines and tents scattered here and there. A strategic and intricate system of sections and departments had occupied the over 30 acres of fairgrounds lands.
As you enter through the front, passing by its security, you’ll find Main Street or a communication center where a public information officer will often be located. Walk toward Fritch Hall, and you’ll see its Planning department, set to make a series of decisions for the day, including which crews go to the fire and which stay. Cal Fire also sets up a Finance department that deals with matters ranging from payroll to how much diesel is needed for engines.
Among those large, business-based departments are the more practical ones like food, showers, laundry and sleeping areas. An estimated 2,900 fire personnel from across California are fed by minimum security inmates, a collaboration between Cal Fire and the California Department of Corrections. With 24-hour-long shifts, 4,000-calorie meals packed with electrolytes are prepared as well. And as firefighters return from battling the blaze, uniforms and other garments are washed in preparation for their next shift. According to Mobile Kitchen Support Supervisor Warren Learn, 18 washers and dryers wash about 600 pounds of laundry per hour. The base camp also has a school bus transformed into a well-equipped, mobile medical supply unit. And for one of the most important of them all: sleep. A ring of weather-controlled tents is set up around the fairgrounds arena, holding up to twenty people divided into teams, Public Information Officer and Cosumnes Fire Department Captain Joshua Rubinstein said.
Whether it’s personnel unloading boxes of needed supplies or parking a myriad amount of fire engines at the end of a shift, the fairgrounds radiates an almost theatrical wave of activity from a wide angle.
“It’s so intricate,” said Conkle. “When you think about fires, you think about firefighters going out to fight the fires, but there’s so much more. All these departments, which bring their security, showers, generators, run this thing like clockwork. We are so honored to have them at the fairgrounds.”
In fact, this is not the first time the fairgrounds houses Cal Fire and other agencies during a major incident. Because it is the largest facility in the county, the fairgrounds has been used as a base camp seven times in the last four years, according to Conkle. And that’s the same across the state, including in Yolo County where a base camp is currently in place to assist in the County Fire.
“Fairgrounds are great places to set up because they’re so large and spread out, with many structures for us to utilize,” Jayrad Tompkins, receiving and distribution manager said.
And members of the community have shown “great support and understanding,” according to Conkle.
“We had events planned for the coming weeks but worked with them to postpone,” she added. “They were very understanding. Even with our businesses here like Paradise Skate.” She said owner Jeff Warrenburg had had his business closed for over a week to allow Cal Fire to occupy his space.
“That’s one of the great things about working in small communities; people know the impact fires have and are very willing to work with us so that the bigger picture for our community will be okay.”
As the Pawnee Fire rises to 80-percent containment, fire crews started to pack up on Tuesday, readying to leave the fairgrounds within the next coming days. Many are slated to head straight to the County Fire, which was reported at 70,000 acres and only five-percent contained as of Tuesday morning, threatening over 900 structures.
