Fighting wildfires - for weeks at a time - takes toll on families at home

Robyn Gogue will take her twin 5-year-old daughters to their first day of kindergarten next week in Menifee.

Her husband, Roy, a Calu2009Fire firefighter, isn’t able to attend the milestone moment.

“I know he’s upset that he will miss another first in their lives,” Robyn Gogue said.

Corona firefighter John Deyoe was looking forward to a dier date with his daughters and girlfriend, whom he hadn’t seen in 10u2009days, but he had to cancel because of a last-minute work assignment.

“My heart dropped to my feet. It was like somebody punched me in the stomach,” Deyoe said.

Such is the life of Southern California firefighter families at the height of the wildfire season, where one spouse — in most cases the husband and father — is off battling the flames, hopping from conflagration to conflagration, and the other is home alone for weeks at a time, mixing work, child care, bill paying and worrying.

Therefore, firefighter families say, it’s important to write down plans in pencil, not pen, and to make the most of the time they have together.

Most municipal fire agencies allow their crews to be out for 14u2009days. Calu2009Fire crews can be extended to 21u2009days or more. A Riverside city crew fought the Sand fire in Santau2009Clarita, then the Pilotu2009fire in the Sanu2009Bernardino Mountains. Murrieta sent an engine from the Sandu2009fire to the Soberanesu2009fire in Montereyu2009County and then to the Pilot. Longu2009Beach sent 21u2009firefighters from the Soberanes to the Goose near Fresno. Just as a Losu2009Angeles County engine fresh off the Soberanes rolled into a station in Duarte, it was dispatched to the Pilot.

And when an Orangeu2009County Fireu2009Authority crew maxed out on its 14u2009days on the Soberanes, a bus with fresh replacements showed up.

“You’re married to a firefighter, and there are things you have to accept,” said Kim Oakley, whose husband, Mark, is a battalion chief for Calu2009Fire/Riverside County Fireu2009Department in Indio. She cares for their four children, including one who is autistic. Mark’s absence, she said, “takes a toll for sure.”

And then there are the firefighters who staff the stations in others’ absence. In Calu2009Fire, those crews work three days in a row and have four days off. But if there aren’t enough firefighters available, those three days can turn into seven. Those extended shifts, as well as their pay, are a source of contention for Calu2009Fire crews, who are plaing a protest rally on Aug.u200922 at the state Capitol.

Nevertheless, no firefighters interviewed for this story appeared ready to quit.

“I think it’s the best job in the world,” Deyoe said.

Making it work

Wildfires are often fought in rural environments where cellphone and internet reception is spotty or nonexistent, making communications with the homefront difficult.

Deyoe had just regained a cell signal and was nearing home after a long ride when his battalion chief radioed that the engine crew had been redirected to the Pilotu2009fire. Deyoe called in the bad news.

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“That night was the most difficult night of my career,” said Deyoe, an 18-year veteran. His children were upset, “but they’ve lived their whole lives as fireman’s kids, so they know.”

Robyn Gogue plans to videotape her daughters’ school debut Monday. If she can’t coect with her husband via FaceTime, she’ll send videos by email or text message. Roy will text her when he’s off the fire line. “I just need to know he’s OK,” his wife said.

Robyn is a full-time student, studying to be a nurse. Her mom occasionally provides free baby-sitting. When Roy is home, he sleeps the first day, and then the family goes out for frozen yogurt. The next day, Robyn and Roy will put away their cellphones and enjoy quiet time together in the backyard.

Day Cook, a Calu2009Fire firefighter based in Lakeu2009Elsinore, drove eight hours to get home from the Sobaranesu2009fire Sunday to rejoin his wife, Jessie, who is 37u2009weeks pregnant with their second child. They’ve been married for sixu2009years and together for 10. He said when he’s gone he talks with her or texts her, as much as the terrain allows.

Jessie said his absence can create stress on the family but that the key is to be flexible.

“I think that’s what makes it work,” she said. “Everything has to be able to be moved around. The only thing that is set in stone is that when he’s home, it’s family time.”

Kailin DeMartio’s husband, Noah, is a Calu2009Fire captain based in Garner Valley. They’ve been married 11u2009years, and they have children agesu200913 and 9. He’s been gone on five fires for 23u2009days, and she doesn’t expect him home until mid-August.

“It’s hard because when the kids get sick, I’m the only one at home,” she said. “You’re basically married but by yourself.”

Other families say they get by with the help of friends, especially other fire wives. They get together, with the children, rather than stay at home.

Erin Fairfax left her job as a Calu2009Fire captain to take a job as a physician’s assistant that gave her hours that allowed her to spend more time with their children agesu200918, 13, and 2.

Her husband, Jason, is a captain who can be gone for weeks at a time from their home near Temecula leading inmate crews based in the Hemet area.

“I miss my job, but I’m home,” Erin Fairfax said.

She joined a ruing group and has a new network of friends “so I’m not home twiddling my thumbs (wondering) when is Daddy coming home.”

Amber Reinhold, a paramedic with AMR, says she notices changes in the behavior of her boys, 6 and 8, when her husband, Perris-based Matthew, is away on Calu2009Fire duty. He sleeps for a day when he returns but after that, they take the boys bike riding or to the park.

“Our family tries to make every day count because tomorrow is not guaranteed,” she said.

Dissent over pay

Calu2009Fire families say they wish they had more money to count, as well.

They cite a 2014u2009state survey that shows Cal Fire total compensation lags behind 20u2009other firefighting agencies by 29.7u2009percent to 39.9u2009percent, depending on the job, and that base pay for those same jobs lags by an average of 86.5u2009percent to 91u2009percent.

Mike Alvarado, a Temecula-based Calu2009Fire firefighter, is married with three children and says he needs to work a handful of extra shifts each month to supplement his $2,500 monthly take-home pay.

“I have never seen morale this low,” Alvarado said.

Mike Lopez, president of Calu2009Fire Localu20092881, which represents 6,000 members, said he hopes the Aug.u200922 rally gets the attention of Gov.u2009Jerry Brown.

“The pay is not commensurate of the job being performed,” Lopez said.

Lynda Gledhill, a spokeswoman in the governor’s office, declined to comment on negotiations.

Lopez also said the sometimes extended three-on/four-off shifts are a burden on firefighters.

“Calu2009Fire staffs their equipment by not letting members go home,” he said.

The contention that firefighters are forced to work extra shifts has spawned a Facebook group named Forcey T Bear, a lampoon of the U.S. Forest Service’s Smokeyu2009Bear campaign.

Calu2009Fire spokeswoman Janet Upton said the agency acknowledges the long hours but said the extra shifts are necessary to fill critical positions.

“It’s a tool we use judiciously,” she said.

Calu2009Fire received an additional $103u2009million this fiscal year to pay for more staff and equipment, Upton said.