Cuyamaca firefighters who lost homes and fought on appear on national TV

By: ANDREW KLESKE - North County Times | Saturday, November 1, 2003 5:35 AM PST ∞

Some of the eight volunteer firefighters of the Cuyamaca Volunteer Fire Station who lost their homes to the Cedar fire appeared on national television this morning to relate their story.

Carl Schweikert, the station battalion chief, said the firestorm that raged through the Lake Cuyamaca community Tuesday destroyed almost every structure in its path northwest all the way to the edge of Julian.

Some of the volunteer firefighters were fighting to save others' homes elsewhere when their own houses succumbed to the flames.

Along with Schweikert, volunteer firefighters Carolina Finch, George Hatton, Dave Southcott, Bob Garner, Christina Hays, and Chris Wilburn lost their homes.

At the Julian Fire Station, two firefighters, Nick Rogers and Bill Everett, were told their homes also were lost..

A Julian-Cuyamaca Firefighter Relief Fund has been established: P.O. Box 33, Julian, CA 92036.

Some 3,682 firefighters had the fire, located east of State Route 79 and west of Sunrise Highway, 42 percent contained this morning

So far the fires are being blamed for the deaths of 16 people in San Diego County, including firefighter Steven Rucker, 38, of Novato.

Six people remain missing in burned-out areas, according to Sheriff Bill Kolender.

"We are beginning to move from the evacuation mode to the recovery mode in what again I state is the most serious fire that has ever hit the state of California," Kolender said.

The 56,000-acre Paradise Fire to the north was 30 percent contained this morning.

The communities of Deer Springs, Palomar Mountain and the La Jolla Indian Reservation remain areas of concern, Daskoski said.

With wire reports

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