On this date in 2002, while engaged in firefighting operations on the Stanza Fire - KNF near Happy Camp, lost were 3 Firefighters on LNF-E11. Steven Oustad, Heather DePaolo and John Self. They will always be in our thoughts and prayers, Never Forgotten.
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I was the COML on that incident. Prayers still go out to those families. And YES…NEVER FORGOTTEN
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Thank you for that reminder — July has always been a Rough month in History
http://www.wlfalwaysremember.org/incident-lists/249-stanza-engine-11.html
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Thank you.
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Thank you Heather was a friend of mine RIP
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July 28, 2002. On that day we lost Steven Oustad, Heather DePaolo and John Self from LNF E-11 while engaged in firefighting operations on the KNF Stanza Fire near Happy Camp. Forever in our thoughts and prayers. Never Forgotten.
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I was the EMT for this incident. My first assignment, I had just arrived a few hours before, it was myself, the MEDL, that responded out to the scene. We and a Virginia handcrew, and others, helped get the survivors off the hill. It was a long night.
Things were different back then, medical wasn’t taken seriously and was an after thought. I still do fireline EMT assignments and I have become a MEDL.
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I have lurked in this forum for a number of years. This post prompted me to sign up. Thank you for remembering. Thank you those that were there, and helped. I’ll never forget the knock on my door to give me this news.
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Hero’s always , RIP God Bless
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Good to remember those unfortunate events and remind all of us to always be watchful.
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This was a night ill never forget. It is sadly one of many that play over in my head.
Much love to everyone involved and of course the families. It hurts every year.
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I was on CA Team 5 back then and we went up to relieve the NorCal team after the accident. They had the fire nailed, but the aftermath was tough to deal with. The morning after when Team 5 IC called me about the assignment I said “Why are we going to replace the existing team, they have that fire wrapped” then my heart sank. On the flight up we had an extra passenger, who was a very close friend and co-worker of one of the crew on an emergency demob from SoCal, it was a very somber flight. I hoped and prayed I’d never have to deal with that again, but then came Esperanza. But, it was a true honor to have helped with both. Never forgotten any of them. Hopefully the families and friend have found some healing over the years.
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So many replies to this topic. So much to say and not a peep out of the LNF social media about the anniversary seems tragic in many ways. And for me its triggering so as a long time lurker i signed up just to post here now. id like to share something i shared on my social media a year ago… Crushing is how i’ve come to feel about Stanza & E-11. I had already begun to throw everything i could muster into becoming a “student of fire” when it happened. I had already begun to teach other firefighters about the science behind the extreme fire behavior they would all encounter over their careers - no mater the agency or badge. Like those before & around me i poured everything into ensuring troops came home from the flames for Christmas dinner w/ their families. The crushing lesson (for me) is that fire & flames are only a small part of what kills responders. As much of a reality check as all that was - it was nothing compared to how the agency dealt with the fallen’s families & their own responders & troops who were left behind to cope & deal with the aftermath of so much loss of life. At the time little did i know that to this day i’d step in front of a dozer for some of those individuals. They’re the ones who were first-in and effected a rescue, provided care & body retrieval. Some of them were the leadership for the Strike Team Engine 11 was a part of. All of them are/were survivors. It was crushing then and somewhat even now to recall how the agency treated the survivors. It felt like a stab in the back - it felt like interrogation. It has always bothered me - how my friends were treated by the adults in charge of Smokey Bears Army! There was no wrong doing - none of the firefighters on the Stanza Fire woke up for their shift saying im gonna kill or get killed today. When “it” happened ALL of them were exactly where the rules/protocols/SOP’s put them. You know what else is 100% truly crushing un-nicery? Its the way our agency (FS) went about notifying Heathers mom and other next of kin of our fallen. Thats a heartbreaking story for Heather’s mom to tell and you can imagine how it went down. lets just say we could have done better. End of report…
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