Last Friday’s fire in the 5000 block of Mormon Avenue in Yucca Valley differed in one aspect from the usual house fire—a neighbor showed up with his own personal fire truck to help fight the fire. Managing editor Tami Roleff talked with the retired fire captain to find out why he has his own fire truck…
David Bradley did what most people would do if they saw their neighbor’s house on fire—he called 911. Then he did something that almost no one would do. “I dialed 911 first, which is the proper thing to always do. And then I actually got in my truck to go over to support the fire department, because I have 1,200 gallons of water in my fire truck.” Bradley, who retired five years ago as fire captain with CalFire in Riverside County, bought a fire truck, officially known as a water tender, last May, with the intent of contracting out to various fire departments to help fight big wildfires. When he came home Friday evening, he saw flames shooting through the roof of the house behind his. He knew it was too late to save the house. “But usually, when it’s already through the roof, that means the fire’s in the attic and it spreads throughout the whole house and usually you lose the house.” So he went into protection mode, spraying water on a guest house and trees on the property to keep them from going up in flames, and to keep the embers from blowing onto adjoining properties and setting other homes on fire, including his. County Fire Captain Rick Denison was very appreciative of Bradley’s efforts, saying Bradley helped contain the fire and kept it from spreading. But Bradley said he just did what anyone with a fire truck would do. “I was just doing the Good Samaritan thing.”
PRIVATE FIRE TRUCK AIDS IN YUCCA VALLEY FIRE
