After the 2017 Thomas Fire destroys a long-standing tribute to crew members Thomas Kleperich, Leonard Minot, Delbert DeLoach and Richard Cumor, firefighters and neighbors move to replace him

A crew of firefighters gather for a moment of silence after completing the restoration of the 1971 Romero Fire memorial site above Summerland. (Ray Ford / Noshok photo)

Stone markers are currently in place at the North, East, West and South spots in the Romero Fire memorial circle. (Ray Ford / Noshok photo)

The crew begins work on leveling the site, digging holes for markers and centering the stone bench. (Ray Ford / Noshok photo)

The 900-pound stone bench marks the center of the area where bulldozers operators Thomas Kleperich and Leonard Minot and firefighters Delbert DeLoach and Richard Kumor died in the 1971 Romero fire. (Ray Ford / Noshok photo)

The last of the gravel is smoothed on the site. The construction was made possible by large donations from nearby property owners and the work of the fire brigade. (Ray Ford / Noshok photo)

The final rake is gravel and hose off the site to help settle the rock. (Ray Ford / Noshok photo)

In an April 2017 file photo, the fire Department unloads new white markers to be affixed to the deterioration of the original markers at the site of the 1971 Romero Fire memorial over Summerland. (File photo by Tyler Gilliam)

New markers on the old memorial. (File photo by Tyler Gilliam)

Stabilization is complete, three markers mark the location of the bulldozer under which the three victims took refuge. (File photo by Tyler Gilliam)

A close-up of one of the markers shows the status of the original markers. The operator of bulldozers Thomas Laserich died about 15 feet from three of his fellow victims. (File photo by Tyler Gilliam)

Original markers for bulldozer operator Leonard Minot and firefighters Delbert Delouch and Richard kumor, who died in the Romero fire. (File photo by Tyler Gilliam)

A wider view of the entire memorial site with all four markers in place and stabilized. They were all destroyed when the Thomas fire burned down in the area in December 2017. (File photo by Tyler Gilliam)

A crew of firefighters gather for a moment of silence after completing the restoration of the 1971 Romero Fire memorial site above Summerland. (Ray Ford / Noshok photo)

Stone markers are currently in place at the North, East, West and South spots in the Romero Fire memorial circle. (Ray Ford / Noshok photo)

The crew begins work on leveling the site, digging holes for markers and centering the stone bench. (Ray Ford / Noshok photo)

The 900-pound stone bench marks the center of the area where bulldozers operators Thomas Kleperich and Leonard Minot and firefighters Delbert DeLoach and Richard Kumor died in the 1971 Romero fire. (Ray Ford / Noshok photo)

The last of the gravel is smoothed on the site. The construction was made possible by large donations from nearby property owners and the work of the fire brigade. (Ray Ford / Noshok photo)

The final rake is gravel and hose off the site to help settle the rock. (Ray Ford / Noshok photo)

In an April 2017 file photo, the fire Department unloads new white markers to be affixed to the deterioration of the original markers at the site of the 1971 Romero Fire memorial over Summerland. (File photo by Tyler Gilliam)

New markers on the old memorial. (File photo by Tyler Gilliam)

Stabilization is complete, three markers mark the location of the bulldozer under which the three victims took refuge. (File photo by Tyler Gilliam)

A close-up of one of the markers shows the status of the original markers. The operator of bulldozers Thomas Laserich died about 15 feet from three of his fellow victims. (File photo by Tyler Gilliam)

Original markers for bulldozer operator Leonard Minot and firefighters Delbert Delouch and Richard kumor, who died in the Romero fire. (File photo by Tyler Gilliam)

A wider view of the entire memorial site with all four markers in place and stabilized. They were all destroyed when the Thomas fire burned down in the area in December 2017. (File photo by Tyler Gilliam)

Noozhawk note: the First part of this story is taken from the author’s book,Santa Barbara Wildfires, published in 1990. The author participated in the construction of a new memorial facility.”

On October 6, 1971, Pat Russ was driving to San Jose to visit his wife when the urge to start another fire overwhelmed Him.

Near Goleta, he turned off highway 101 and began driving through Cathedral Oaks, Foothills and other back roads, looking for just the right place – one that was insulated enough, with a thick brush and a steep enough slope for the flames to take off.

He found the location around 3: 30 p.m. near Bella Vista Drive between Romero Canyon and Ladera Lane in Montecito. Patrols passed at 9 and 10: 30 and 14: 00, just 90 minutes earlier.

But in the very moment Rusik was with no one.

Turning around, making sure no one was looking, he lit the fuse on a small homemade incendiary bomb, threw it out the window, and drove slowly away so as not to attract any attention.

Then he continued his long journey North, unaware of what he had left behind.

The fire was discovered at 15: 57 by a neighbor who immediately reported it to the Carpinteria-Summerland fire Department.

Five minutes after the fire was reported, a plume of smoke rose to 1,500 feet. Photos taken around that time showed that the Romero fire had already blackened 30-40 acres. During the initial period of the attack, which lasted from 16:08 to 17:00, fire forces from across the South coast poured into the area.

But by 18:00, the wildfire had already spread to the crest of the Eastern Camino Cielo, quickly burning through a grass-covered fuel gap. Fortunately, because the break was wide and the grass was burning at a low intensity, the pumps were able to douse the flames there.

Shortly after dark, sundowner developed, and like the 1964 Coyote Fire, the line of fire turned and began making a descent run, burning on a hot, wide front that engulfed Bella Vista and Ladera lane, destroying four homes.

By Thursday afternoon, the fire had burned through all of Toro Canyon, from its base on highway 192 / East valley road to the top of mount Santa Ynez, eastward, about 2 miles at night. As of 6 o’clock in the morning burned 3600 acres of land.

Thursday’s plan was to keep the fire at the fuel gap at the top and build a line along the lower flank to keep the fire from spreading down into Summerland and the foothills of Carpinteria.

Firefighters were encouraged by the weather forecast for the evening. Released at 2: 30 p.m., North downslope winds were predicted for the evening, mostly light, with only occasional gusts of up to 15 mph down the main canyons.

The revised update was even more optimistic, with winds not exceeding 8 mph, humidity in the 80 to 90 percent range, and the possibility of fog below the fire camp the next morning.

“If we can bulldoze from the lower end of the canyon on a diagonal line to the fire and make it to the top of the hills there,” a State forestry Department official said, ” We might be able to pinch it.”

If, that is, if the winds remained favorable, and if there were no setbacks, and if there were no unexpected surges elsewhere.

A team of four bulldozers, each consisting of two-man crews, was tasked with building a line of pincers along the Eastern edge of the fire from the base of the mountain along the edge of Santa Monica Canyon North of Carpinteria. By evening everything looked good.

In the sky above, the bombers tried to drop as much backwardness as possible on the head of the fire before it got dark. Then it seemed that the prayers of the Blessing of the banks will be heard.

At the time, no one dreamed that in four hours four men would die in the smoldering canyon of Santa Monica, that others would be badly burned, and that another would come in hairless breath to lose his life.

By 21: 00, short of fuel and preparing for a new shift to replace them, the tractor crew turned back towards the Carpinteria valley. On the way down, the men continued to improve and expand the track they had done earlier, at one point dropping the spur ridge into Santa Monica Canyon, tractors four in a leg to improve access to the area.

Just as they began to work their way up the ridge and back to the main line, strong down canyon winds began, and with much greater force than predicted.

The winds were turbulent and very dry, and they caused the entire Eastern flank of the fire to come alive, especially along the lower half of the line where eight men were working.

Suddenly they were in a desperate situation.

While hundreds of spectators lined Carpinteria valley roads and streets to watch the descent of the burst of fire, oblivious to the tragedy unfolding above them, Jerry Hotchkiss and another bulldozer operator, Leonard Kaiser, ran down into the canyon trying to douse the Flames.

They didn’t, but they were lucky. When two people staggered out of brushed hell, their clothes on fire and their exposed flesh burned and blistered, at least they were still alive.

The other four – bulldozer operators Thomas Kleinau and Leonard Mino and fire Delbert Delogu and Richard Kumoru who have served their swamps and no luck. Caught between a potential evacuation route down Santa Monica Canyon and near-certain safety on the ridge line, the men choose the uphill route.

They were found at 2 a.m., three of them under tractors, where they had taken refuge, as they had been taught to do. The fourth man was found about 15 feet away, not far from the toppled Edison tower, which had melted from the intense heat.

The combination of heat and fire literally sucked the air out of the men’s lungs, and they died before the flames touched them. One of the victims had a charred watch stopped at 22: 00 when they apparently died.

Shortly after the last blaze died down, several firefighters gathered near the scene to honor their fallen comrades.

“We never forget our own,” said one of the men.

With four crosses in hand, the group calmly approached the point on the edge where the four men died, placing markers in the places where each of them died.

Nearly 50 years later, another group of Santa Barbara County firefighters returned to the site on April 17, 2017, with freshly painted white crosses to reinforce the original markers, which became weakened with age.

Even half a century later, Klapperich, Mino, Deloach and Kumar will not be forgotten.

The overgrown Chaparral was quickly cleared to open the memorial site, new crosses hammered into the ground behind the original ones and attached to them with screws, in the hope that they would remain in place for another 50 years.

Unfortunately, this is not happening.

Seven months later, the Thomas fire caught fire on the night of December 4, 2017 near Santa Paula in Ventura County. Although the wildfire started more than 40 miles away, it took only six days for the flames to reach the old Romero fire scar and turn four crosses into ashes.

With the help of three nearby property owners who donated $ 10,000 to restore the site, including one on whose property the memorial is located, firefighters returned again to the site.

The area was burned to mineral soil and no sign of the four wooden crosses was found anywhere. Despite this, they were determined to restore it once again.

Plans have been drawn up for a new project that will (hopefully) be fire proof given the inevitable fact that the area will burn again.

The new design is for a circular plot with four stone markers at cardinal points with the names of firefighters drawn on each. In the center is a stone bench with the inscription simply: “Romero Fire, 1971”.

On August 19, more than 25 local fire officials gathered near the site to install posts and benches, adding a circular border and filling it with light gold-colored gravel.

No one was sure how the memorial would turn out, and given the weight of the stone markers and stone bench, how difficult it would be to get the material to the site.

It turns out that 25 strong, young firefighters can do anything. The markers were towed from the top and, thanks to the use of a small trailer attached to the ATV, the crew was able to get it from the bottom.

By 15: 00, with markers in place and a bench centered between them, the work was almost complete. The last thought was to spray the gravel with water to help settle it in place.

With the radio in hand, one of the crew leaders called for the engine crew to join the party. Fifteen minutes later, we could detect the engine directly above us. A hose was quickly laid to the scene and one of the crew members started the hose down the gravel.

“It is our duty –” said one of them,”to respect and perpetuate the memory of those who have fallen along the way.”

Come spring next year, the site will be officially presented to the surviving members of those who died that night in the Romero fire.

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