SF fire tragedy recalls local stories

The recent tragic deaths of two San Francisco firefighters has
prompted questions about when the last Sonoma County on-duty
firefighter death took place and about the overall safety record of
our many municipal and volunteer fire agencies.
Stories of past tragedies and near-misses are also being shared
this week and a “Big Life” question about why a person chooses such
a dangerous profession in the first place is being re-asked as
well.
A memorial service is planned for SFFD firefighters Anthony
Valerio and Vincent Perez for this Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Saint
Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, on Gough Street.
Representatives from several local fire departments will be
among thousands of Northern California firemen expected to
attend.
Among the big crowd will be one local woman with a very close
and tragic bond with the two fallen men.
Melanie Stapper, a former SFFD firewoman, who now lives in
Guerneville, was nearly killed in a 1995 housefire in the same
Diamond Heights neighborhood under eerily similar conditions to
last week’s tragedy.
Stapper, Valero and Perez all served at the SFFD Station 26.
Sixteen years ago, Stapper and Keith Onishi were both severely
burned, and fellow firefighter Louis Mambretti died in the fire
when the trio got trapped by an automatic garage door in the bottom
floor garage of a fully involved residence.
Stapper has endured through years of hospitalization, treatments
and counseling support, moving to quiet Guerneville to get away
from sirens, city noise and other jolting reminders and stimulus
overload.
At the time of her accident, doctors at San Francisco General
Hospital gave Stapper almost a zero chance of survival.
The recent deaths of Valero and Perez has welled up dark
memories, real pain, remorse and anger in Stapper.
“It used to be cathartic to tell my story, but not so much
anymore,” Stapper said in an interview this week.
“I have to say in some ways these two men are now at peace,” she
added. “Their pain has stopped.”
Stapper is legally blind, suffers through seizures, memory loss
and has burn scars over almost half her body. She is assisted by a
homecare worker but can walk around town and work in her
garden.
Every year across Sonoma County, volunteers and city
firefighters answer hundreds of shelter and wildfires, all full of
unknown risks and unpredictable conditions.
Yet, the safety record of the county’s dozen fire districts is
an excellent one, thanks to constant training and always “keeping
safety first,” as one local fire chief said.
The last reported on-duty death occurred in 1988 when
Guerneville Fire volunteer Rick Sager was killed by a falling tree
while fighting a housefire at Odd Fellows Park.
Small town departments in Sebastopol, Healdsburg, Windsor and
Forestville, among others, have not had a single modern day
fatality, but all have recorded near-misses.
Officially, the Santa Rosa Fire Department reports only a single
on-duty fatality in its century-plus of service. John Hurt, a
Windsor resident, was killed on duty in 1966.
At Geyserville Fire in 1976, volunteer Dale Goode, age 41 at the
time, was battling a control burn that was whipped out of control
by high winds on remote Ida Clayton Road.
“I was in the truck with John Sciaini when this huge tree fell
on us. It was the day after Thanksgiving but I don’t remember much
else from then. I just wish I hadn’t jumped in the truck that day —
but it had to be done,” Goode remembered this week.
Goode, an original partner in the Murphy-Goode Winery is
recuperating this week at Emeritus Healthcare Facility in Santa
Rosa, just the latest health complication that dates from his
near-fatal fire call. “I’m very proud of the services we’ve put
together in Alexander Valley and Geyserville through all these
years. I’m especially grateful to Russ Green and Harry Wetzel who
kept me on as their vineyard manager after my accident that made me
a paraplegic for life.”
Firefighting has become a very modern profession with “space
age” technology, national safety and training standards and
constantly updated practices.
“Line of duty fatalities are pretty rare,” said Sebastopol Fire
Chief John Zanzi, “and we aim to keep it that way.”
The Diamond Heights fire scene and incident will be thoroughly
investigated by numerous agencies and new techniques or policies
may result, Zanzi said.
“We are constantly sharing the lessons learned. We never stop
training and safety is always our top priority,” said Zanzi.
Last September Bodega fireman Ben Hakala, 36, was electrocuted
by a fallen 12,000 volt power line while battling a wildfire just
above the town. After the community held several fund raisers for
his health bills, Hakala, also a seasonal CalFire firefighter, is
still recuperating from his severe burns and other injuries.
Zanzi and Forestville Chief Dan Northern both agree that
wildfires pose the most danger to fire crews because of open winds,
rough terrain and unpredictable fire patterns and behavior.
“No matter how hard we train,” said Northern, “there is always
something beyond our control. Sometimes luck gets involved.”
For Stapper, she has gone it alone through many years in
hospitals, wheelchairs and multiple clinics, only partially paid by
her Workers Compensation.
“I’ve had to pay for many things out of my own pocket because I
was denied eligibility,” she said.
Trapped in the garage in 1995, Stapper fought to re-open the
garage door while Mambretti was engulfed in flames on the ground.
Onishi was gasping for breath as Stapper’s air tank also emptied.
Taking off her mask to breath, her lungs filled immediately with
fire.
“I thought I was dead and I remember feeling like that was a
better thing — a calm thing,” she partially remembers, after being
in a coma for four months after the fire. She was hospitalized for
most of the following three years.
“I felt like I died and nobody told me. There were times (during
recovery) when I was the only one telling me I was still
alive.”
She admits to having anger about her tragedy, as much as she
says she does her best to not let it happen.
“When the TV cameras were there, it was one thing. After they
left my support changed. I know what these guys (Valerio and Perez)
might have faced if they had survived,” she also said.
As a youth, Stapper once raced next door to help two elderly
neighbors escape a fire. A fire professional told her at the time
she should be a firefighter.
“Some people are just that way. If they see people in danger
they run to help. When we decide to be firefighters, I think we
never visualize the horrific injuries and endless pain we might
suffer,” said Stapper.
“You go with the cards you were dealt,” said Goode. “You don’t
complain. But you should never light a fire on a windy day.”
Rollie Atkinson can be reached at ne**@so********.com.