Eel River Conservation Camp hosts firefighter training
More than 320 incarcerated firefighters from five camps on the northern California coast gathered May 16-18, 2017, at Eel River Conservation Camp to prepare for the upcoming fire season.
When they put their lives on the line fighting fires in the rugged hills and mountains, others incarcerated at the camps will be hard at work supporting their efforts, as they do throughout the year. CDCR staff sees the rehabilitative effects of the camp program not only on the firefighters, but also on those working behind the scene at the camp.
A different kind of camp
The sprawling Eel River Conservation Camp is the largest in the system, according to CDCR Camp Commander Lt. Fred Money.
On this day, the camp – operated jointly by CAL FIRE and CDCR – is hosting 25 crews from other camps to get them prepared for the coming fire season.
Eel River’s philosophy is all about cooperation between agencies, staff and the incarcerated population.
“Unlike a lot of other camps, at Eel River, we do not have two separate administration buildings for CDCR and CAL FIRE,” said Lt. Money. “We are in the same building and work very closely together.”
The admin building also serves as the visiting area on the weekend, with picnic areas and barbecue grills located just outside.
“This allows a more relaxed atmosphere than what you’d find in an institution,” he said.
The camp spreads across a large clearing, boasting a warehouse, helicopter landing pad, dorms, greenhouse, library, hobby rooms, television room and baseball diamond.
“We’re the only camp with a full warehouse, supplying the coastal camps,” Lt. Money said.
Losing the walls at Eel River camp
Nearby on a large meadow, two emergency crew transport vehicles pull up to CAL FIRE trainers while two rows of firefighters grab gear and line up for the “tool-out” exercise. This part of the day’s exercise is handled on grounds.
Lt. Money watches the action from a distance, noticing the next set of crews getting ready to jump in line as soon as the current two finish.
He said he never imagined he would be working in the camp system. He got his start at High Desert State Prison at Susanville. After transferring to California Correctional Center, he was asked about working in the camps and always dismissed the idea, until he visited one.
“I mean, look at this. I get to come to work here, in all this beauty, surrounded by nature? This is a great job,” he said.
Teamwork benefits public
While the camp system is known for rehabilitating incarcerated firefighters, those in supporting roles also see themselves as part of the larger team, benefiting the state.
“We don’t just rehabilitate through firefighting, but also through the incarcerated support crew like cooks, gardeners, warehouse, clerks, laundry and mechanics,” Lt. Money said. “They truly appreciate this kind of environment.
Coming from other institutions into a camp can be life-changing for staff and the incarcerated population.
“For those of us coming from a level IV, we bring the situational awareness into this setting,” he said. “But, we also see the the incarcerated population aren’t just lifers, these guys are here doing good things, doing good work. They do good work in the community.”
At an institution, many focus on issues that, are virtually nonexistent at camp, he said.
“In institutions, there are politics in prisons and when they get to camp, they get to lose the walls,” he said. “We make them sit by fire crews in the dining hall. They also bunk by crews. … In camp, you get things that are more crew driven rather than gang driven.”
Eel River camp greenhouse grows hope
Inside a large greenhouse, lead gardener Dominik Hamilton digs holes, plants vegetables and spreads compost.
The camp has a large composting area, and the crows have taken notice.
“We have a lot of crows out here,” he said as three fly overhead. “We compost and get a lot of soil. (They put in) grass trimmings, kitchen scraps and leaves, then come out and turn it, turn it and turn it. When we’re done, the soil at the bottom is very dark.”
Hamilton has been working on the garden since he arrived in 2015.
“I love it,” he said with a broad grin. “This was my first job when I got here. My grandpa has a garden so I was kind of raised around it.”
The greenhouse was once part of a gardening nursery that went out of business. The business donated the building to the camp, but it had to be relocated.
“They said if we wanted it to come get it, so we did,” Lt. Money said. “You have to be resourceful out here and make use of what’s available. We moved this structure to the camp piece by piece. The only thing we couldn’t salvage was the roof, but CAL FIRE helped us with that.”
He points to a few others as they place cages around newly planted tomatoes.
“See these tomato cages? They were old marijuana wraps being thrown away at the transfer station. I saw them and asked if we could have them. We cut them in half and they work great,” he said.
The camp sits beside a refuse transfer station.
Gardening can be healing
Hamilton acknowledges he’s made mistakes and he hopes the garden is a way to give back.
“(Gardening brings) peace of mind,” he said. “Being in this situation, I’m able to help pay my debt to society. A lot of these plants have good vitamins in them. We have a lot of different kinds of tomatoes, peppers and cilantro. It’s great when we do salsa. (Gardening is) a lot of work, but the results are good.”
Lt. Money reminds Hamilton to plant pumpkins for the fall.
“I already talked to Mrs. Van Meter and told her I would plant some,” Hamilton said.
Suzanne Van Meter, the CAL FIRE office technician for the camp, uses the pumpkins for decoration at the facility.
“One year, we shipped over 20,000 pounds of vegetables out of here,” Lt. Money said. “We do a lot of growing here.”
The garden supplements the camp’s kitchen, providing healthy food for the firefighters and the support crew.
Renewed rehabilitation
Lt. Waylon Hanks, the commander at Alder Conservation Camp, said support crews would otherwise qualify to be firefighters but usually can’t pass the physical requirements.
Hanks also came from High Desert State Prison, where he worked for 14 years.
“Coming from an institution where rehabilitation wasn’t the priority, this gives me hope,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this in the department. This is an example of true rehabilitation.”
Camp offers opportunities for personal growth and new experiences.
“There are youthful guys who never worked. This is often their first job,” said Lt. Money. “One of my first fires, an inmate came off a bus after fighting fires, exhausted and covered in soot. He said, ‘Lieutenant, I’ve never worked a day in my life and this let me know that now I can.’”
Lt. Hanks, who has been with Alder Camp for about a year, said he was touched when a child came to visit his incarcerated firefighter dad. Since it was close to Halloween, the child was wearing a firefighting costume.
“We let the him get his turnouts (firefighting outfit) and CAL FIRE brought around a truck. This was so inspiring to see a father and son interact like that,” he said. “He was so proud of his dad.”
From wild to mild
Many fire camps adopted a pet but Eel River’s dog actually adopted them.
“I’ve been here three years and Wishbone used to stay in the field but now he comes into camp,” said Lt. Money. “He’s nobody’s dog and he lets you know it.”
Wishbone stays a few steps behind Lt. Money during a camp tour, never entering buildings or going inside fenced areas. When the lieutenant reemerges, usually from the opposite side of the building, Wishbone is there waiting.
“He’s the world’s most loyal dog without even knowing he’s loyal,” Lt. Money said. “Everybody wants to pet him, but he won’t let you near him.”
Wishbone, spotting deer in the camp, barks and chases them away.
Readying for fire season
After the tool-out exercises, firefighters load into their vehicles where they are transported to a rutted dirt road north of the camp.
From there, wearing full gear, the firefighters hike to the cut area.
“They hike four miles, all uphill, and that’s a very realistic scenario,” said Lt. Money. “That’s when the real work begins.”
The firefighters are drilled on shelter deployment and cutting a line. Unlike some other training areas, this is in thick forest.
On this day, due to recent rains, those not hiking (such as media and dignitaries), are transported by all-terrain vehicle through rutted, muddy roads to the cut area.
Hillsides thick with their own troubles
There, crews dig, claw and cut their way up a steep hillside, surrounded by thick underbrush and towering redwoods and pine trees, as well as poison oak.
“The poison oak is thick up there, be careful,” shouted a CAL FIRE trainer.
To help prevent poison oak rashes, the crews are provided instructions and a bottle of dish soap.
“To mitigate this (poison oak) reaction, we are providing each crew with Dawn dish-washing detergent. A solution of water and Dawn detergent has been shown to remove the contaminating oil from skin, clothing and tools. Please consider taking time after your cut and once you return to the bottom of the hill to your crew bus, to wash any surface that might have been exposed,” the instructions state.
Also, to help prevent the spread of sudden oak death, the vehicles and tools are cleaned with a disinfectant after the line-cut exercises.
This year, camps are going from an extremely wet winter to what could be a very active fire season.
Making the cut
Firefighters cut a line through thick undergrowth in the forest off Highway 101 near Eel River Conservation Camp.
“The rain has caused a lot of issues at Alder,” said Lt. Hanks. “We responded to the Oroville spillway incident this year and also did some flood controls and cutting down trees.”
The camp was also plagued by storm damage.
“We had a tree the size of a bus come down and knock out power lines,” he said. “It was a challenging year this year. We were isolated for about a week. It was very wet. It was the most rain we’ve had in the 30 years we’ve been recording.”
The camp is still recovering, using Eel River’s mobile kitchen unit to prepare meals.
Helping California residents
Cooperation is a key element for the camp system.
“We’re all on the same team,” Lt. Money said. Because of the camp’s size, it often serves as a staging area.
A large freezer at Eel River is fully stocked with meals, ready to be used if the crews are called out on the fire line.
“It’s full, ready to go for that first event,” he said.
From highway construction to fighting fires
In 1915, incarcerated men from San Quentin were used for the first time for highway construction. Humboldt County was among the first selected.
“The first crews of the State prison to be put to work will be drawn from San Quentin, on requisitions already filed with the State Board of Prison Directors. The first work will be on strips of highway in Humboldt and Mendocino counties, one being from Cummings to the south fork of the Eel River, 33 miles in Mendocino County, and the other from Miranda to Garberville, 15 miles in Humboldt County,” reported the Press Democrat, June 16, 1915.
Began with three camps
“Three camps of 60 men each will start the work. … Each camp will consist of a working force, a policing force and a camp, or cooking force,” according to the 1915 article. “The plan does not contemplate a haphazard selection of men for the trials. Men will be selected who can be trusted.”
Early in the camp program, the rehabilitative effects were recognized.
“Governor pardons worker on highway,” states the headline in the Sacramento Union, April 27, 1916. “William Wilson, sentenced to serve 10 years in San Quentin on Aug. 4, 1913, by the Superior Court of Contra Costa County for manslaughter, was pardoned yesterday by Governor Johnson because he had been an exemplary prisoner. Wilson first attracted the attention of the prison officials while working at the experimental highway camp in southern Humboldt County. He won the confidence of his overseers.”
The deciding judge and the prosecuting district attorney joined forces “in asking executive clemency for the prisoner.”
1917: Governor visits camp program
A sitting state governor visited an honor camp in 1917, sleeping near the incarcerated population.
“Governor William Stephens and party slept tonight by the side of penitentiary prisoners in a convict camp in the heart of a great forest on the south fork of the Eel River in southern Humboldt County, miles from a telephone or other evidence of civilization,” reported the Sacramento Union, Aug. 17, 1917. “The party retired early tonight after a day spent inspecting the state highway and one of the two camps housing convicts who built the road. The governor viewed for the first time the grandeur of the redwood scenery of north coast country. A special venison barbecue was arranged in his honor late today.”
Expanding the camp mission to battle blazes
In 1960, three camps were established to help fight fires.
“The State Department of Corrections has opened three conservation camps in Northern California to aid in forest fire suppression,” reported the Madera Tribune, Aug. 31, 1960. “The Plum Creek camp, about 20 miles northeast of Red Bluff …, will house 80 trusted prisoners. A total of 58 will staff the Harvey Valley Conservation Camp 38 miles north of Susanville … and 32 prisoners will be assigned to the Ice Springs camp 23 miles northwest of Elk Creek.”
In 1962, they were called to help fight a 5,000-acre fire in Lake County.
“More than 250 firefighters and 100 pieces of equipment were rushed to the scene and a call went out for another 200 men, including all available civil defense units and prison camp conservation crews,” reported the Desert Sun, Aug. 28, 1962.
The Eel River camp, according to its records, was activated Feb. 2, 1967.
Story and additional photos by Don Chaddock, Inside CDCR editor
Photos are by Eric Owens, CDCR Staff Photographer, unless otherwise noted.
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