SCORCHED

"I don't want to alarm you, but the fire is heading straight for Butte College."
Those were not exactly the words Lisa DeLaby, director of public relations wanted to hear. After a nervous laugh, the fire racing toward the campus took on a new meaning.
"It was when the winds shifted," she said, "that was the turning point."
The Humboldt Fire began Wednesday, June 11. According to Cal-Fire Public Information Officer Joshpae White, the official cause was arson. The initial response came from the Chico Fire Department, since the fire began inside its coverage area. According to White, command of firefighting operations was quickly handed over to Cal Fire, the state-wide department. The fire spread rapidly in the extremely dry conditions, made worse by wind and high temperatures.
Cal Fire began staging personnel and equipment at Butte College later that night said Mike Miller, director of Facilities, Planning and Management. An incident command post was created on the Fire Training Grounds.
"If [The Fire Academy] had been in session, it would have been much more difficult," said Steve Maletic, Fire Training Grounds supervisor, a retired Paradise Firefighter and the man in charge of the Public Safety Training Grounds. Fortunately, the Fire Academy was in between sessions, so there was plenty of room for Cal Fire.
Cal Fire Incident Command Team #2, headed by Butte Unit Division Chief Bob Wallen, set up additional phone lines and used one of the training ground's apparatus bays as a communications center, according to Maletic. Morning briefings were also given on the fire training grounds said Maletic.
As the fire grew, so did the amount of resources Cal Fire drew in to fight it. "By Friday night the whole campus was covered with fire personnel," said Miller. Campus Drive was turned into a one-way road due to the volume of traffic.
A tent city was assembled on the sports fields, said Maletic. Medical facilities were set up, and a Cal Fire Field Kitchen was situated in a parking lot.
Lisa DeLaby said that more than 500 fire trucks were staged on campus, and that thousands of personnel slept, ate and rested in the tent city.
At the same time Cal Fire was ramping up their firefighting efforts, Butte College administrators were busy attempting to provide support to Cal Fire and manage the campus.
Miller, who was in charge of overall campus safety, said he set up the Emergency Operations Center in the Facilities building. At 7 a.m, on Thursday, he activated Butte's Crisis Response Team, a group of specially trained administrators that could be called in to deal with such incidents. Butte College's President, Diana Van Der Ploeg, was part of that team, "So we could make decisions quickly and efficiently," Miller said.
The team decided the campus must be closed down and evacuated. This posed a unique challenge for the team.
"We went building to building to alert staff," DeLaby said. "Air quality was getting pretty bad."
DeLaby was supported by Butte College police. "Our role was to control the scene so they could do their jobs," said Sgt. Doug Sloan, who was on duty during the fire. Even after the college was closed people continued to attempt to enter campus, so traffic control was very important.
In addition to their campus duties, Butte College PD also assisted CHP and Sheriff's Office personnel in notifying neighboring residents of the evacuation.
Keeping staff and students informed of the situation was DeLaby's responsibility. She was aided by a new system called ConnectED service. It allowed DeLaby to send a blanket message to all students and staff via home phone, cell phone, and email.
DeLaby alerted the media and put a message on Butte's website and main phone line. She relocated a Volleyball camp to Durham, and ultimately was forced to cancel the Police Academy's Paradise graduation ceremony. Delaby relocated the event to Oroville.
Overshadowed by the more glamorous role of the Wildland Firefighters, Butte College's staff made some extraordinary efforts and sacrifices during the fire.
According to DeLaby, campus bus drivers volunteered to aid the evacuation of Paradise, using Butte's busses. Bus drivers helped evacuate senior centers and other residences. One bus driver "literally had animals, suitcases, and family members" on his bus. Some evacuated residents were on medical oxygen, and drivers had to help them out to the busses, DeLaby said.
Another bus driver, after finding an Oroville shelter closed, opened his home to a couple who had no place to go, said DeLaby. "We had a number of our campus staff volunteer their homes," she said.
Butte College also served as one of the only special needs shelter during the fire. Evacuees from the surrounding areas were brought to the Nursing Department's training ward. Training staff and 23 nursing students helped care for diabetics, the blind, senior citizens, and other special needs patients. DeLaby said that Governor's Office officials present claimed no other shelter like it existed.
Butte College's agricultural department even assisted in firefighting duties. According to Miller, the campus is normally surrounded by a fire break cut by a bulldozer. When it was made clear that the campus was in danger, the agricultural department went out and doubled the width of the fire break.
It was from this fire break that Cal Fire firing operations were performed. Maletic said the fire "was building up on the other side of the ridge."
Firing operations combat wildfire by depriving the fire of fuel in a controlled manner. They provide a buffer between the fire and important areas. It was this buffer, made possible by the carefully constructed fire break, that saved Butte College. It could have ended up like Neal Rd, Cal Fire PIO White said.
Campus remained closed until Wednesday, June 18. Classes resumed and it appeared that, aside from the immense burned area surrounding the campus, Butte College had survived unscathed. All told, 528 acres of campus were burned, but "we did not lose a single building," said DeLaby.
Miller gave some credit to a program in which cattle graze the surrounding fields, lowering the fuel load. He said that after the fire some additional areas of vegetation were further pruned, including those by the creek and the bridge.
As far as lasting environmental damage from the fire, Miller saw none. He said that historically, every 17 years or so lightning sets off fires like this one, but that "this one was manmade."
Unfortunately not everyone was as lucky as Butte College. According to the Chico Enterprise Record, by the time the Humboldt fire was considered 100% contained on the evening of Monday, June 16, it had burned 23, 344 acres and destroyed 74 homes.
Cal Fire went through the lengthy demobilization process, in which every piece of equipment is checked thoroughly for damage and repaired before being sent home. Cal Fire used the training grounds and police EVOC course for this painstaking process. There was some damage to equipment, mostly the engines, "Their tires got chewed up by the lava out there," said Maletic.
Campus was reopened on Wednesday, June 18.
Of the whole incident, Maletic said,
"I was never worried."