The Havana Hotshot...

July 20, 2008 about 4 pm...

While the fire danger is far from over, with luck, cooperation of the weather, the good skills of the firefighters and judgment of the Unified Command, this business will soon be done.

And before that happens, and we all fade away, myself included, into our usual lives, there are many organizations to thank. We can try, and we do, thank them all; but, special thanks go to our own.

Let's start with the Cachagua Fire Protection District... our volunteers who look after us day after day, when everyone else has gone home, or isn't thinking about emergencies.

They're just our friends and neighbors, puttin' on a fire service for us... and they deserve our support, do they not???

Cachagua Fire runs - when she'll start up - a 1975 International Wildlands Fire Engine - 7733 - that I call the "Havana Hotshot."

This classic vehicle should have been retired and relegated to the annual parade, having pumped over a million gallons of water and seen more wildland fires than most any other engine cruising the Basin Complex Fire.

Instead, with parts scarce or unavailable, and breakdowns frequent, our volunteers make Old 33 continue to live, not unlike a Cuban Chevrolet; thus, my nickname for her.

We have a lot of fire season ahead of us and Cachagua Fire needs a new wildlands fire engine. They can only get one, if we can help them out.

Here's how you can help Cachagua Fire pimp their ride!

Write them a check - be generous! - and send it to:

Cachagua Fire Protection District

P.O. Box 2090

Carmel Valley, California 93924

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How to get a gen-you-wine piece o' Cachagua hissstreee....

Here's how you can get a genuine piece of Cachagua history for cheap - a garment that, when worn, will have you be the envy of the party - AND, you can help out our firefighters at the same time.

Basin Complex Fire T-shirts are a mere twenty bucks!! Proceeds benefit the Cachagua Fire Volunteers, Big Sur Fire Brigade, and Mid Coast Fire Brigade.

Shirts will be sold in Cachagua at the helibase, the base camp, and the Cachagua General Store, in Carmel Valley Village at the Chatterbox Restaurant and Taqueria Del Valle and at the PassionFish Restaurant in Pacific Grove.

Joleen Lambert Skinner did the artwork... you know Joleen.

One of the hotshots from Alaska was injured in late June, and is now at home in Colorado recovering. Many people have expressed an interest in helping her and her family out. She has requested that financial offers of goodwill be directed to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, as they are the first and best place to be of assistance to the families of firefighters injured or killed in the line of duty. This is especially important in light of the Iron 44 Helicopter Crash on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

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