California has been enduring what has become the worst drought in the history of the state for the past four years. This summer, smoke for wildfires could be seen during the Oakland Raiders training camp in Napa.
Gary Prather is a Season Ticket Member and a retired fire captain. He is also a hero. Recently, Prather and other retired firefighters galvanized into action to save lives and homes as the Valley fire near Cobb, Calif., grew and started to rage out of control.
Paige St. John, Contact Reporter for the LA Times, writes:
"First they alerted neighbors in the valley and on the opposing ridge, then they revved up brother Darryl's Cat D4 bulldozer and two green 1970s Chevy pickups that they had rigged into pumper trucks with 125-gallon tanks. Others brought more equipment.
Their goal: save Seigler Mountain, the community of Loch Lomond beneath it, and the radio repeater tower that broadcast the Lake County Sheriff's Department emergency traffic into the disaster zone.
Even as mandatory evacuation orders kicked in and roadblocks and patrols sought to keep everyone out, the sheriff's office tried to secure safe passage for the Prather boys — so named because they once formed a band that opened for the Doobie Brothers.
Family members slipped through the roadblocks to deliver supplies. A niece and her boyfriend, a San Francisco firefighter, joined the brothers, and together they worked in shifts. With the dozer, chain saws and hand tools, they cut fire lines and patrolled them, acting quickly to put out spot fires."
