All that remains of 360 Drakes View Dr., the home of retired State Senator Peter Behr and his wife Sally. The couple are staying with their daughter Trudi in Novato. (Photo by Russell Ridge)
By Lori Eppstein
While most firemen take regular vacations from fighting fires, nearly half of the firefighters at the Inverness Ridge conflagration considered their work a vacation.
Jay Zimmerman, an inmate from Baseline Camp in Jamestown, said he enjoys firefighting so much it may one day become a career calling. The Inverness Ridge fire was his 21st fire this season.
"I like being outdoors and doing something for the community," Zimmerman said on Sunday after returning from an 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. shift on the ridge.
Most of the 850 inmates who unrolled their sleeping bags at Stewart Horse Camp last weekend seemed to agree.
George Biddle, a retired firefighter who supervises the inmate fire crews, noted that 85 percent of all prison inmates who leave will eventually return to prison, but only 22 percent of firefighter inmates end up in trouble again.
Point Reyes firefighter Jim Love said, "These convicts really busted their asses up there. It gives them a chance to repay their debt."
"It's pride in something you did. We don't teach 'em a skill. We teach 'em hard work," he said.
The inmates earn $1 dollar an hour while working on the line and besides subduing the fire, they are responsible for their own lives and the lives of men and women next them, Biddle said.
"We take guys into the most dangerous situations," Biddle said. And "only team work will save a life."
Several years ago, an inmate saved the life of a Forestry captain when he pulled the captain out of the path of a falling tree, Biddle said.
The inmates and Department of Forestry firefighters were accompanied by 200 youths from the California Youth Authority. Though there are three women's firefighting camps in California, none were assigned to this fire.
When these inmates aren't fighting fires they clean and maintain the state's parks, beaches, and roads.
"People don't realize the inmates and prison staff are everyday conservationists and environmentalists," Biddle noted.
Inverness residents Margaret Woodworth and Newell Erwin have been compiling notes and signatures to send to all the firefighters who fought to save the homes on Inverness Ridge. So far, she has collected more than 300 signatures and notes from residents and fire victims.
The main note card read, "You are all heroes and our thanks are more heartfelt than you will ever know."