San Manuel Custom Book

PUBLIC SAFETY San Manuel firefighters prove their mettle T he San Manuel Fire Department was operating just four months when the devastating wildfires of October 2003, fueled by Santa Ana winds, ripped through four Southern California counties, killing 26 people, destroying 3,361 homes and ravishing more than 742,000 acres. Responding to a mutual aid call, one of two San Manuel engines raced off Oct. 22 to confront the Grand Prix Fire in Rancho Cucamonga. “Just four months after we were established, we had to prove our mettle,” recalls San Manuel Fire Chief Michael Smith.“It was a catastrophic fire storm.” Three days later, with the engine still working the mutual aid, the Old Fire erupted in the nearby mountains and quickly spread to San Manuel. Assisted by a unit from San Francisco, fire fighters managed to protect the approximately 50 homes in the hillside community. But the fire burned virtually all the vegetation on the 830-acre reservation. “We have a very aggressive fuels management – or brush clearance – program that our tribal maintenance people do. That’s really what made it possible to protect our homes,” Smith said.“It was demonstrative that while there was a lot going on in Rancho Cucamonga we’re under the greatest threat and peril and half our force is committed to protecting other homes. But firemen were on the line making sure homes were safe.” San Manuel’s role in confronting the Old Fire and providing aid in battling the Grand Prix blaze quickly dispelled what Smith said was the notion held by some local fire officials that the tribe’s had established a “Keystone Cop fire department.” “The initial sentiment in the fire community was some skepticism,” Smith said.“The perception was,‘What are these guys going to do? Are they going to meet any kind of training standards? Are they going to meet certification qualifications? Are they going to have any building codes and enforcement? “We had to overcome that ignorance and educate people. We created this department and adopt- ed standards anticipating that skepticism. I think we have overcome those concerns very successfully. Now there is a great appreciation for San Manuel throughout the county. We’re well regarded for having the most state-of-the-art equipment and adopting training standards that are exemplary.” “The cooperation and support the San Bernardino City Fire Department receives from San Manuel is outstanding,” Fire Chief Mike Conrad said. PUBLIC SAFETY IS SOVEREIGN RESPONSIBILITY Smith and the San Manuel tribal government established a first-rate fire department in a state-of-theart station equipped with an engine and ladder truck, 33 firefighters and support staff and a training 11

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of San Manuel Custom Book

San Manuel Custom Book Contents Editorial Chapter One: A Tribe with a World View Three Fires Make History with Sacramento Marriott San Manuel Village Nears Completion Giving is the Serrano Way Chapter Two: San Manuel Firefighters Prove Their Mettle A Day at the Office Chapter Three: San Manuel Outreach Cal State University at San Bernardino Operation Phoenix Loma Linda University Medical Center Chapter Four: Building a Tribal Government on San Manuel Behind the Scenes Frances 'Tu Tu' Morongo

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.