something new to argue over

[ryguy1]

whats everybodys thought on this one. i can see why they did it, but man if it went bad it could have killed alot of firefighters. but if it was my house i can't honestly say i would do it differently.
ERIC BAILEY and DEBORAH SCHOCH
Los Angeles Times
As flames swirled toward their family homestead, the Curtis brothers figured they'd get no help and had no choice: The only way to hold on to their 55-acre compound would be to fight fire with fire.

In the end, the controlled burn they set helped save the homes on their beloved Apple Pie Ridge -- but not without major consequences.

Outraged authorities arrested Ross Curtis, 48, on Friday on suspicion of illegally setting a backfire after disobeying official orders to stop.

His older brother, Micah, remains in Big Sur but is acting like a wanted man, dodging sheriff's deputies when he descends from the homestead to Highway 1.

"I understand what's going on. They don't want a bunch of idiots setting off fires that could do more harm than good," Micah Curtis, a 57-year-old artist, said as he walked the scene of the crime Saturday. "But we saved our homes. I'm not asking them to condone it, but they've got to understand it."

As fires approach, homeowners often take up garden hoses to face down flames. But for them to light backfires is rare, authorities say -- and they'd like it to stay that way.

Cliff Williams, the law enforcement official with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection who arrested Ross Curtis, said fire crews went to the ridge several times and ordered a stop.

Instead, the brothers kept up their rebel battle.

"Mr. Curtis over a period of three days decided he wanted to fight the fire his way," Williams said. "So he started setting backfires."

And that tricky firefighting technique, Williams said, is best left to professionals backed up by full crews and fire engines. Such fires can blow out of control, he said, burning other houses or inadvertently trapping people.

The brothers, who live with relatives and several tenants in a terraced collection of artsy, redwood-sided homes, including one fashioned from an old water tank, say they knew there were risks but believed there was too much at stake not to take action.

They have plenty of land but are hardly wealthy. Ross Curtis is an electrical contractor. Micah Curtis sculpts steel.

Income from the rental homes pays for the care of their elderly mother, who has Alzheimer's disease. They weren't only fighting for themselves, Micah said, they were defending Mom and Apple Pie Ridge.

The family has owned the 55 acres since the early 1960s, when patriarch Jack Curtis -- a Hollywood television writer, with "Gunsmoke" and "The Rifleman" among his credits -- traded up from a smaller place down the mountainside to this property that straddles a redwood-carpeted ridge 1,000 feet above Big Sur River.

Over the years, the Curtises have improved the various buildings. They planted a 200-tree avocado orchard, carved out the terraced gardens, laid out a funky spread of concrete ponds with lily pads, and carefully pruned rosebushes and ornamental shrubs.

The brothers took over stewardship of the property after their father died six years ago.

"Dad was the Duke of Apple Pie," Micah said. "I guess that makes me the Earl."

In the last 25 years, they have fought back flames twice before, he said. He learned how as a seasonal firefighter while in college.

But the Basin Complex fire, raging for the last two weeks, has been the worst test yet.

It started when a volley of crackling bolts from a lightning storm sent flames roaring.

The Curtis brothers watched with the rest of Monterey County -- and began to prepare for the worst at the first signs of nearby smoke.

With their tenants, friends and relatives stepping up to help, they used chain saws, hoes and shovels to clear fire breaks around the buildings, hauling away at least 150 pickup-truck loads of vegetation, Micah Curtis said.

On Thursday, the situation got particularly dicey as the fire picked up strength and bore down on their retreat, a five-minute drive up a twisting dirt road from Big Sur village.

Their small team of amateurs toiled into the night, trying to beat back flames by pumping water from the swimming pool with makeshift fire hoses.

As the fire closed in on three sides, Micah Curtis said, they used a flare to set controlled burns no more than a dozen feet from the blaze. That not only steered it away from their houses, he said, but also created a broader line of defense, which helped state and federal fire crews protect the village below.

Giving a tour of the property over the weekend, Micah Curtis bumped into a state fire captain doing mop-up work with an inmate crew.

The captain, who asked not to be identified because of the controversy, praised the work of the amateurs of Apple Pie Ridge.

"I'll tell you what," the captain told him, "you guys did a good job of holding it."

Praise also came from other professionals.

"Awesome," a U.S. Forest Service crew leader said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You did an awful lot of work up here."

Walking his property Saturday, Micah Curtis, still in a silver hard hat and a yellow fire suit smudged by soot and dirt, pointed just down the ridge to a neighbor's home, now only a smoldering pile of debris.

As flames encroached, he said, he feared that the fire would circle below his family's homestead and "come racing up at us through a thousand feet of dry brush."

As for the backfires, he said, "I was the one who OKd the idea. So the buck stops with me."

His younger brother, however, took the fall.

They were at work on the backfires when fire officials spied them from the other side of the Big Sur River gorge, Micah Curtis said. When officers arrived on the scene, Ross Curtis turned himself in as the culprit so the others could keep working.

Micah Curtis still believes that he and his brother should be receiving thanks, not condemnation, from the authorities.

After all, he said, firefighters didn't volunteer to do the job for them.

"They have some computer program that says our place is undefendable," he said. "But their idea of defendable space is something as flat as Nebraska. This is no more dangerous than some sketchy part of L.A., and that doesn't keep the police from going into a rough neighborhood."

Ross Curtis, however, sounds more contrite. Maybe it's the experience of having been behind bars, even if he was bailed out after only a few hours.

He is scheduled to be arraigned July 15 on two misdemeanor counts. In the meantime, he can't get through the police blockade set up after evacuation orders. So he's staying in a trailer near Monterey Bay, lent to him by his wife's father, a Baptist preacher.

Without their two weeks of toil, Ross Curtis believes, the family's ridge-top homes would have been destroyed. He said he doesn't think he's guilty of anything more than protecting land he cherishes. Still, he understands why fire officials are irate.

They explained it to him, he said, during his brief stay in jail. An unauthorized backfire, they said, can catch a team of firefighters unaware and perhaps put those crews in danger. Kill a firefighter, they told him, and you go to prison for life.

"Their concern was for their firefighters, and to them, we were a bunch of renegades or something," Ross Curtis said. "All it takes is one gust of wind at the wrong time and it can go sideways on you."

And that, he said, "can be the difference between a good day and a bad day."

[Dickey]

Boy, that's a hard one.

Technically, he did set a fire but what was the motive? It was to save his property, not destroy it. There won't be an insurance claim, no one got hurt, and it doesn't say if he destroyed anything else other than his own property. (neighbors property or state/county owned)

Heck, if I was in the same situation, I probably would do the same thing.

Bet the charges won't go far.

[jonnyirons2]

Its california, this guy is gonna do time or pay a big fine. When you have half a county burning they dont mess around with this.

[t0asty]

"Law. the malicious burning of another's house or property, or in some statutes, the burning of one's own house or property, as to collect insurance." - Dictionary.com

From what I can read I doubt that it was malicious. Don't know what to say. Happy his property is safe.

Maybe they will charge him with reckless endangerment? That is all I can think of at the moment.

[Skyline]

What would happen if he couldn't control the burn?

He was lucky it didn't spread. Amateur trying to be a firefighter. These types of people should be locked up. They send a bad message that you can do what the pros do. Did he let the authorities know about his "controlled" burn? If not, how did it fit into the larger picture for the local fire officials?

Maybe the local officials had a controlled burn way before it got to his land, but he didn't know it. And vice versa, the officials didn't know he was going to have a burn, which might just undercut a controlled burn that the department was going to burn.

I hope this guy gets hit hard. If not, next thing you know, every homeowner will just start burning things around their houses, and when it goes bad, they will bail for help from the pros.

[superchef]

An unauthorized backfire, they said, can catch a team of firefighters unaware and perhaps put those crews in danger. Kill a firefighter, they told him, and you go to prison for life.
"Their concern was for their firefighters, and to them, we were a bunch of renegades or something," Ross Curtis said. "All it takes is one gust of wind at the wrong time and it can go sideways on you."

I highlighted the relevant points. Damn right their conceren was for the thousands of firefighters that have been fighting the fires here for weeks now. This idiot just got lucky the wind did not shift on him. His ashes would be blowing off the coast into the ocean.

[mhenrich]

Originally Posted by Skyline

What would happen if he couldn't control the burn?

He was lucky it didn't spread. Amateur trying to be a firefighter. These types of people should be locked up. They send a bad message that you can do what the pros do. Did he let the authorities know about his "controlled" burn? If not, how did it fit into the larger picture for the local fire officials?

Maybe the local officials had a controlled burn way before it got to his land, but he didn't know it. And vice versa, the officials didn't know he was going to have a burn, which might just undercut a controlled burn that the department was going to burn.

I hope this guy gets hit hard. If not, next thing you know, every homeowner will just start burning things around their houses, and when it goes bad, they will bail for help from the pros.

The article mentioned that during college he was a wildland firefighter. That means that he has more training in this than the average joe. Sure he still put others at risk, but he most likely was trained to do this, and may have done it in the past.

[nmfire]

While I see why this has ****ed some people off, without the malicious intent, isn't this really nothing more than open burning without a permit?

[hwoods]

Not being a lawyer, I hesitate to step into this one, EXCEPT to say that I'm sick and tired of the attitude that you have to be Superman in Yellow Nomex in order to do anything out there. There are news reports of National Guard units being mobilized, Firefighting resources being brought in from other Countries, and so on. Meanwhile, East of the Mississippi, it's business as usual, with very, very, few people heading out west to work. Here, if I need Ten Engines, I call for them, and they come. Period. This should work Nationwide, but it doesn't, and that needs to be fixed. Now.

I understand the seriousness of someone working a Backfire, while others are in the area, with a different plan. BUT, a lot more could be done if the bureaucrats would get out of the Firefighting business.

[devildog4]

In California, you can legally set a backfire, burnout, or whatever you call it IF you can prove you were saving your property or land by doing so. Not agreeing with the law, just stating it for others...

[NickSBFD6]

Government should butt out of this one, the guy was trying to save his property and livelyhood. Those are the ethics America was founded on and the foundation for most organized fire departments today. You can "what if" and monday morning quarterback all day, but the fact is it worked. A tip of the hat to a courageous homeowner and his neighbors for their efforts.


I'll duck for cover and let the nanny state liberals fire away....


-Nick

[MemphisE34a]

Typical.

Had they done nothing, they would have had some pencil pushing bureaucrat tell them that you can't sit at your house and wait for the government to come save you.

Save yourself and now those same bureaucrats label you as a menace and danger to the operation so they arrest him on "could have's" and "what if's"? Guess what, they didn't.

Sounds to me like these brothers need to be recruited into the firefighting efforts. Most likely to be in charge.

[ScareCrow57]

If I was in the same situation and
I knew what I was doing and
The authorities were no where to be found

I would do the same.

Perhaps the authorities need to call in more mutual aid.

Then again, maybe some proper forest management would help as well. Remove the dead wood and brush and the problem goes way down.

[Geinandputitout]

They will probably ding him for reckless use of fire, and have him pay the fine. Speeding Ticket Material - BFD.

[lieutleroy140]

I wonder what George thinks of this? And of course, I'm sure we are all waiting for Jake's Dad to tell us what should happen...................

[kd7fds]

If I were this guys lawyer, I would recommend a jury trial on these misdemeanor charges.

Prosecutor will balk at the expense and probably drop it.

But I bet you couldn't find a jury in that county that will convict him after what they just went through.

[michfire]

All the Safety Sallies, and political people can say what they want, but with the "Type A" personality the typical firefighter has, even if you weren't a firefighter, would you just let your home and livelihood go up in flames? It doesn't sound like they were being unreasonably reckless. Some of the first people to attack this situation might be the same who would KILL somebody no questions asked if they saw them entering their house (to be clear, I would too).

A book I am reading about the Peshtigo fire right now sums it up. If you're going to break the rules, it damn well better work. Hats off to the group.

[Dickey]

Originally Posted by lieutleroy140

I wonder what George thinks of this? And of course, I'm sure we are all waiting for Jake's Dad to tell us what should happen...................

Dammit! You had to do that. Just had to do!

[ChiefKN]

How can you anyone who has any experience in wildland fire condone this?

I don't care if he spent a summer working on a handcrew. His actions were uncoordinated and reckless. He continued when ordered to stop.

They pulled 150 pick up truck loads of veg and their property was still at risk... perhaps they should have thought of making their property defensible before the fire was licking at their front door.

If nothing is done, then 300 people in the next subdivision will play firefighter and light off backfires.

Sorry, but this guy should have left it to the professionals. Should he spend his life in jail, no...but he should be punished.

[ryguy1]

Originally Posted by ChiefKN

How can you anyone who has any experience in wildland fire condone this?

I don't care if he spent a summer working on a handcrew. His actions were uncoordinated and reckless. He continued when ordered to stop.

They pulled 150 pick up truck loads of veg and their property was still at risk... perhaps they should have thought of making their property defensible before the fire was licking at their front door.

If nothing is done, then 300 people in the next subdivision will play firefighter and light off backfires.

Sorry, but this guy should have left it to the professionals. Should he spend his life in jail, no...but he should be punished.

i think if it went wrong my opinion would be different. but i disagree and i think i would do whatever i needed to protect my home. thank god they didn't kill any one, that would be a hard one to live with.