https://canbyfirst.com/all-volunteer-redneck-crew-credited-with-saving-molalla-neighborhood/
And here it is we are not allowed to do this because you need to be under the official chain of command.
Fire department Crews get really upset at volunteers joining in.
And what was that? The common people mobilizing because there was no attempt at saving canby molalla estacada or Sandy.
I seen houses that were completely burned to the ground.
And I also seen all these rural folk come together and battle the fires with whatever they could bring together to bear on this fire.
This is the real heroes and the real amazing story of these fires.
The common men women and children came out took action and got things done.
From clearing the road to allow access. To putting out spot fires with what little equipment they had.
What you are seeing is acknowledgment of the true heroes of this catastrophe.
The common people of Oregon came together like an amazing dream.
So many people working together.
So many people fighting the same battle against anatomy with no compassion or remorse.
I am honored to spend even the little amount of time that I did with these individuals.
These are people scared of seeing another house burn another family lose everything they have.
And then right in front of us what happens but we see somebody committing arson.
Every single one of these country people have guns that is not in question and it is not in question that the Oregon law allows you to carry your weapons.
I didn't see anyone shooting at anybody. I didn't see a single round shot.
I did see communication proper weapon handling skills and people protecting the group that they were with.
We had gotten word that a fire tanker was coming up. So we had opened up access and moved all the vehicles so that there is a clean open Lane for the fire truck.
Just something so simple as going through and cutting access through the fallen trees partially blocking the road ended up being absolutely priceless.
The fire department didn't have to cut their way into that area as we did it.
The lead elements cut in a one lane access and the rest of the group following with me included worked on fully opening up both lanes.
Now usually when I'm doing this with a couple of people you have to do a lot of cuts but when you have 10 people and I had the only sharp saw I only had to make a couple of cuts and we were on to the next hazard in the roadway.
Yep that's right I would just do one cut and 10 people would drag the rest of the trunk out of the road.
This would be one of the most primitive forms of healing.
For you to work with somebody not for pay but for an ideal.
Our ideal was hopefully we can save just one life hopefully we can help the firefighters get to where they need to.
Hopefully we can put out one little spot fire and prevent another fire from growing back up and challenging the human beings living in these forests.
Over and over these actions prove to me that there are so many good people out there.
I was proud to stand and help these individuals.
Not a single one of these individuals will be paid and most of these individuals will refuse any kind of acknowledgment.
There will be some people who will claim that they did way more and try to grandstand.
But the real heroes will keep quiet and smile.
One day when we are old and gray these memories will make us smile fondly and remember the times where we could do such great works together.
Unfortunately I can't really source anymore material than just this however I do regret not being able to take more pictures. Let alone being able to take video of some of the extraordinary events that I had witnessed.
In one event there was a burning tree that was snapped in half and still standing with the crown caught in another tree. The joint of the brake you could actually see had burned all the way through. One of the scariest situations I have ever seen.
These individuals immediately attacked the tree but their saws had been dulled with so much use.
One individual walked up and asked me if my saw was sharp. it was pretty much brand new so of course it was and without hesitation I handed him my brand new Stihl chainsaw.
He immediately jumped in and started signing away at the base of the tree that had caught up the burning tree.
And now we have an extremely political situation when the sporting tree was cut out the crown jumped off of where it was broken in a massive shower of Sparks.
The guy actually kept a hold of my saw and when the trees fell everybody abandoned the area and luckily nobody was injured by one and a half falling trees weighing in at massive amounts of weight.
However an army of rednecks and Good old country folk had water pumps as well as IBC containers full of water. Immediately showering the area and helping to put out any chance of those Sparks reigniting the forest fire.
Then we still had a 40 ft long burning stump. So I started to go to work on that. The tree bound up my saw and I was forced to abandon it.
my saw definitely took a beating and we'll see if I can get another chain for it after all this is over.
Hopefully later today we can go help out. they definitely are needing more help I sent some friends out because I couldn't get a ride this morning.
I am absolutely saying prayers for all of these amazing men and women.
There was no fighting and disrespect that I saw because we were too busy fighting an enemy that was more dangerous. And one that didn't have a conscience Mercy or get tired.
May these individuals be blessed and acknowledged.
Even if they want to stay silent their actions will echo through the future.
The year that there was so much division and hate these wildfires forced oregonians to come together.
It didn't take much and everybody was suddenly working together. Everybody was doing amazing things.
And now I heard that the national guard was mobilized last night to help support these wildfires and the wildfire fighters.
This is an absolute shame that no action was taken when it could have been vitally important.
We have entire towns that are completely burned to the ground.
And this Governor has mismanaged not only the protest but also these fires in such a shameful manner.
Shame on Governor Kate Brown and her lack of action.