Welcome to Graniteville, California
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Ready and waiting / Tiny town's fire company trains
Section: News
Category: General
Author: Doug Mattson dougm@theunion.com
Date: Sat, Sep 1, 2001
You can get there heading east along San Juan Ridge, but not
without thinking you've passed it. Or you can drive up the canyon
from Washington, leaning into every curve until your stomach does
back flips.
But you will get there. You will ask if you're still in Nevada
County. And you will learn what remote means.
Solar, wood and propane power Graniteville. The last business, a
saloon, closed 20 years ago. Coins are only good for the phone
kiosk on the main drag. Good luck getting your cell phone to
work.
Daily newspapers arrive three times a week. In the winter,
residents take turns trekking over a head-high snowpack toward
the nearest post office, in Nevada City, for everyone's mail.
Everyone, here, means eight all-year residents.
They live with mountain lions, deer and wild turkeys. They hear
coyotes at night, and a bear recently busted a car window
reaching for a Pop Tart.
Graniteville is a long way from a lot of things. The hardy say
it's closer to much more.
"I think we're all modern-day pioneers, and that's why we
enjoy living here," said Barb Harper, a 20-year resident.
But so much exposure isn't all good, she and others agree. At
5,000 feet, thick in timber and 40 minutes from the closest fire
station, the town sits like sulfur at the head of a match.
"The fuel is terrible," said Paul Stone, a 72-year-old
retiree. "There's just not the manpower to clear it up, so
we're very vulnerable, no doubt about it."
That's why, three years ago, Stone, his wife, Norma, and a mix of
all-year dwellers and summer vacationers started the Graniteville
Volunteer Fire Company.
Eight strong, they train weekly with hand-me-down and donated
equipment. They listen to the scanner and quiz each other.
"Serious nose-bleeding? What would you do?" the Stones
recently pondered.
The smallest outfit in Nevada, Placer and Yuba counties, they
await the big call that hasn't come.
"We dread the time that it occurs, but on the other hand,
it's where you gain your experience," Paul Stone said.
On a recent Sunday, firefighters with the California Department
of Forestry and Fire Protection at Columbia Hill, the nearest
station, taught the volunteers how to pull hose from the engine
and shoot water.
Easy enough, but the former U.S. Forest Service engine, procured
with CDF help, was having pump problems.
Not a big deal, Norma Stone said later. A Forest Service
firefighter at White Cloud knows how to fix it.
Parked nearby was a rescue truck donated by the North San Juan
Fire Protection District, which also helps with training. Other
county fire agencies have pitched in with helmets, hoses and
other essentials, and the company also has a heart defibrillator.
The town's biggest event is its Fourth of July parade. Several
hundred visitors buy T-shirts, barbecue and rummage sale items,
with proceeds going to the fire company. The plan is to build a
barn for its firefighting vehicles and equipment.
County funds provide another $3,000 each year for equipment,
medical supplies and insurance.
"They're truly a group of community-minded local residents
who want to do something to protect their area," said CDF
Battalion Chief Rob Paulus, who helped start the company.
Because of its size and isolation, the crew isn't likely to knock
down a big blaze, but no one pretends that's the objective.
Protocol is to radio for help, assess the fire, and let the
professional crews know what to expect.
And, if possible, shoot foam or water on the flames.
"Realistically, if it's a real big fire, they're not going
to be able to put a big dent into it," CDF firefighter
Robert Nelson said during the training.
Later, the volunteers gathered for potluck at the Stones', a
former post office built in the 19th century.
Back then, one of the town's main functions was breaking up ice
along the clogged ditches and flumes that fed water to Malakoff
Diggins. But the mines closed, and Graniteville became mostly a
cabin retreat. About 40 people live there in the summer.
For Arrin Skelley of Menlo Park, summers in Graniteville are a
family tradition begun by his grandparents - except they weren't
occupied learning CPR.
"You know you're doing something good, and it's a lot of
fun," he said. "And we're constantly learning. It's
like being back in school again."
Tammy Dayton, who lives just outside town, trained with her
2-year-old son, Ricky, in tow. She hopes he'll become a doctor,
but sees him impressed with firefighting.
Bernie Bishop of Oakland has seen the company's biggest action so
far.
Last spring, he and Paul Stone helped Washington firefighters on
a 4-acre blaze on Gaston Grade by delivering water. "Being
our first call, everything was a learning experience for
us," he said.
The biggest medical emergency came last fall. The Stones treated
a man who bit through his tongue after the engine hood of an
excavator landed on his head.
"He looked like he was going to go into shock," said
Paul Stone, who drove the victim to Sierra Nevada Memorial
Hospital.
Meanwhile, the firefighters keep rehearsing their roles. Big
fires have, after all, struck Graniteville before.
A blaze in 1878 wiped out all but one building.
Fast-forward to 1987, when a fire stopped a quarter-mile short of
town after hopping the Middle Yuba River.
That time, residents opened their homes to crews from across
California, Arizona and New Mexico; fire engines were parked
everywhere; and heavy smoke permeated everything, Norma Stone
recalled.
"To us, they were like gods," she said, "because
they were going to save the town."
This page created Thu, Sep 6, 2001,
2:05 PM
All portions copyright 2001 Nevada County Publishing Company Inc.
Page Last Updated 2/09/02
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