Behind the Badge
A year after the Silverado Fire, memories are fresh and vigilance remains vital
0In firefighter lingo it’s called “extreme fire behavior,” and just a year ago Orange County firefighters witnessed and battled it for 12 excruciating, exhausting days. By the time it was declared 100 percent contained on Nov. 7, 2020, the Silverado Fire had torched 13,390 acres and caused the evacuation of 90,000 residents. Captain Greg Barta remembers seeing the fire from the command post of the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) where he was coordinating communications. “That fire was moving at hyperspeed, at such a pace we couldn’t stop it,” he recalls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J0XcO_DV9M It is a situation that may become more…
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