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Tom Way said,
December 8, 2010 @ 6:10 am
I worked last half of 1971 fire season at Oak Grove with Chet Cash and Skip Pike. Larry Boggs hired me and I ended up on the Shasta Trinity first part of 71 season. Worked at Chilao and Tanbark Nightflyer(baldy Dist.) also. Retired as a fire capt./paramedic 2009 in San Luis Obispo Co.
Good Luck.
Robert Hewitt said,
December 8, 2010 @ 5:30 pm
I was hired by Steve Arney in 1976 and was part of the crew that season. Looking forward to the reunion!
Don DeYoung said,
December 8, 2010 @ 6:40 pm
I was on the Oak Grove Hotshots in 1971, Barley Flats Helitack 72′ & 73′, Redding Jumpers 74′ and Chantry Flats Helitack 74′ – 76′. I still have contact with a number of old friends from those day’s. I’ll have them check out They Said!
David Provencio said,
February 3, 2011 @ 9:15 pm
Hey Donny, hope life is treating good! Love to hear back from you. Dave
GEORGE POND said,
December 9, 2010 @ 12:04 am
I STARTED AS CREWMAN AT TIE SUMMIT (MILL CREEK) FOR RALPH JOHNSTON, IN 9/54. WAS TTO IN 55-57. THEN FORMAN. MOVED TO BUCKHORN AS PATROLAM, SNOW-RANGER; 1957-59. 2 YRS IN THE ARMY, AND RETURNED TO BUCKHORN. IN 1961/3 (?) I MOVED TO BIG PINES AS AFMO FOR TEX STRANGE. IN MID 63 I MOVED TO OAK GROVE AS HS SUPERINTNDENT, TILL 1965, AND MOVED TO THE SHASTA-T AS FMO. I LEFT THE FORST SERVCE IN LATE 69, AND WENT TO WOKR FOR CDF. I RETIRED FROM CDF IN 2003, NOW LIVE IN HESPERIA, CA.
Jim Linfoot said,
December 14, 2010 @ 6:56 pm
Started 1964 Oak Grove HS, worked for George Pond. In 1965 Barely Flats Helitack for Troy Kurth and John Bowser. Went in USMC 3/’66 to 5/’68. In ’68/’69 TTO at Red Box for Tony Romero. In ’70/’71 FPT Short Cut. Then ’72/’73 HS Fmn for Dick O’Connor at Chilao. Then ’75/’76 Eng Fmn at Angeles Crest. ’76/’79 Eng Fmn San Dimas. Then in ’80/’81 HS Fmn at Chilao for Gary Raybould. In ’82/’83 Williams, AZ. In ’85 Eng Fmn Bear Divide then ’86/’88 Eng Fmn Big Tujunga. In ’88/’90 Dispatch ANF then in ’90 transfered to Cibola NF Albuquerque, NM as Comunications Center Manager until I retired in 1998. Still live in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
Oak Grove Hotshots said,
December 14, 2010 @ 7:28 pm
Hi Jim, would you mind replying to: oghotshot@comcast.net with your contact info., ie phone numbers, address and email. thx. S/
David Provencio said,
February 3, 2011 @ 9:11 pm
Hey Jim, hope you are doing well. Like to talk to you about the old crew. I still stay in-touch with Jim Ogilvie’s widow Joane, she lives in Gardenerville, NV. Hope to get a reply from you and we can swap lies………. ha. Dave
Jim Linfoot said,
October 11, 2011 @ 8:53 pm
like to takk w/you dave. all is well here in rio rancho nm. I hope all is wellw/ you too Dave
Chris Cuzynski said,
January 22, 2011 @ 11:42 pm
I also worked for Oak Grove in 1971. I still see some of my co-workers. John Waroff and I sat down and came up with about half of the crew members names between a few beers. We used to have a Forest Service reunion at Paul Copelands house once in a while. Paul is now retired from LACO FD as is Tom McQuire. Me I am still working, 37 years with San Gabriel FD. I am starting to get some grey hair finally so I guess I’ll have to seriously consider retirement! Regards, Chris Cuzynski.
Oak Grove Hotshots said,
January 23, 2011 @ 12:10 am
Good to hear from you Chris. Our objective now is to contact as many crew members as possible, so please spread the word, give them the Blog address with all the contact information. Have them use: oghotshots@comcast.net We need names, contact info., year on crew and position. S/
Ronald Shurney said,
January 24, 2011 @ 11:24 pm
I began my career in 1970 with Texas Canyon hot shots. In ’74 I was driver at East Fork; went from there to Oak Grove hot shots. When crew was disbanded, I went to Chantry Helitack, followed by time at Mount Baldy Helitack, then to San Bernadino as AFMO at Arrow Head Ranger District; then FMO at Big Bear. From 1997 until retiring in 2001, I was AFMO at Savannah River Nuclear Weapons Site in South Carolina. I’m now fishing and hunting as often as I can in and around Huntsville, Alabama.
David Provencio said,
February 3, 2011 @ 9:14 pm
Hey Ron Shurney, good to hear you finally retired. Hope you are having plenty of sex, drugs and alcohol. ha….. Dave (Fulton 71-83)
dave maxell said,
February 8, 2011 @ 4:44 am
What an awsome picture. Ron Shurney had his paitence tryed more than once while working at Oak Grove, in the end he could’nt be flustered. I am sure Ron, that you did roll your eyes more than once at the antics of grunt firefighters. Thanks for being solid back in the day. Is that Dick (goat roper) Gitman looking in the left of that picture? I don’t recall the other cerwman, but they were standing with Shurney, good enough. If you wonder, I worked my way through Region 6 and on to the B LM in Alaska and then the State of Alaska DNR. Now a retired Forester since may 2010 I hunt, fish and float as much as possible. There are a few stories to tell, at the reunion….
Gordon Rowley said,
February 16, 2012 @ 3:51 am
Ron Glad to hear yor are still among the living. I am doing fine, retired but still working trails. Got McLeod fever.
Please email me gonoro@verizon.net
I think of you often.
Gordon
Collin Kruschke said,
February 21, 2011 @ 1:04 am
I started my career in 1966 with the Chalao hotshots.1967
Redding smokejumpers after returning from Redding assigned
to oakgrove engine/hotshots.Januay 1968 drafted 9th divison
mekong delta.1970-1971 engine/hotshots oak grove.1972-1973
engineer oak flats station.1974 captain engine north fork station.1975 captain engine bear divide station.1976-1977
bear divide hotshots. 1978 -1987 Plumas N.F. captain engine.
1987-2003 Point mugu fire department firefighter/engineer
Retired January 2003.
Tom Kruschke said,
February 21, 2011 @ 6:46 pm
I was never assigned to Oak Grove, except for winter work and light duty. I started late in 1966 on the Chalao Hotshots with Gene Kudahsal. 1967 to 1970 US Army. 1970 Angeles Crest Tanker 1-10 with Noy Hobson. 1971 to July 1972 Chantry Flats Tanker 1-17 with Bill Johnson. July 1972 to Oct. 1972 returned to Angeles Crest Tanker as TTO. Oct. 1972 I was hired by the Ventura County Fire Department. Retired Mar. 2004 as a Captain.
Greg "Rookie" O'Sullivan said,
April 2, 2011 @ 6:19 pm
I think being assigned to winter work at Oak Grove should count as being on the crew (even though Chilao was the better of the two crews!) I started in April of ’73 at Oak Grove working on a fuel mod crew (on Bailey Canyon Fuel Break) with Mike Terry, Robert “Moe” Moore, Mike Brown, Mike (Daugherty) Paul, Mike Bergdahl, Mike Koselka, ? Hayden, Brett Higbee. I think Donny “dipstick” DeYoung and Mike Paige, and John Barmore were on the crew also…you old farts know how memory fades.
I worked seasonally at Chilao (both the Hot Shots and Tanker crew) in 1973 and 1974. Went to Red Box in 1975 and became a “25-1” full timer at Clear Creek on Water Tender 1 in 1976-1977 (the water tender John Barmore rolled later on a fire). In 1978, went to East Fork as a Captain. 1980 assigned as the Helishot foreman at Chantry Flats, crew eliminated and assigned to Chilao as Hotshot Foreman and then to San Dimas as the Engine Foreman. Left the USFS in 1982 for San Gabriel Fire Department. Left there in 1998 for a Fire Chief’s position in Templeton, California and retired in 2010.
Thanks to those putting together the webpage and history!
Robert Serrato said,
May 3, 2011 @ 1:09 am
Think again rookie, working on the winter crew out of O.G is a stretch, not saying you could not hang, I would have gladly been your saw partner.
Take care
Gordon Rowley said,
February 16, 2012 @ 4:00 am
Rookie
See you haven’t changed!!!
How Long were you East Fork Captian and who was your driver.
They removed East Fork last week ( gone) Morgan Keck wants to do a plaque to hang in new station at Rincon.
Please let me know! email gonoro@verizon.net
Thanks
chris slate said,
May 27, 2011 @ 3:48 am
Chris Slate, Oak Grove 71 and 72. Seasonal till 78 finishing at Tanbark helitack with brother Steve. Followed DeYoung to South Pasadena fire and currently at San Luis Obispo City Fire. Hope I can make the reunion to tell stories and meet some new wildland firefighters.
Monty Parrott said,
May 29, 2011 @ 7:49 pm
After my discharge from The U.S. Navy, My twin brother Bob, showed me an article in the Pasadena Star News. The Oak Grove Hotshots were looking for a few good men to fight brush fires. I was an outdoors guy and spent many years hiking and fishing in the Angeles National Forest. In Sept. 1958 I was Interviewed by FCO Eddy Lundgrin and District Ranger Ed Corp. Worked on the O.G. Hotshots the remainder of 1958 and Winter crew of 1959. In 1960, I was assigned TTO on the O.G. Engine. Larry Boggs was the Captain (engine foremen) We had some great times, Summer & Winter crew of 60-61. In the early years, promotions and station assignments were frequent. Big Tijunga, Chilao Hot shots foremen, Sierra Madre prevention, Back to Chilao Hot shots as asst.Supt. and Engine Captain. Promotion to the San Bernardino National Forest in 1970. (Crestline Prevention)., Then on to the San Jacinto Ranger district as FPO in 1976. Marty Barrows was the FMO and later, Rod Wrench. Great people to work for. Lots of fire fighting and non stop, busy times. The three of us began our careers on the Angeles and San Bernardino Forest. The last 8 years, before retireing, I worked in Forest Supps. office detail, in Law Enforcement, Air Attack, and retired in 1988 from the Beautiful San Jacinto Ranger District. Since 1988 I was an antique dealer and had a maintenence business in Idyllwild and Riverside County. My Wife, Judy and I now live in the City of San Jacinto, at the base of Mt. San Jacinto. We are very busy, and enjoy volunteering, Landscapping and caregiving within our Mobile Home Park, Villa Del Monte. All For Now.
Monty & Judy Parrott
Monty Parrott said,
July 17, 2011 @ 11:14 pm
I was On the Oak Grove Hotshots in 1958.
Ed Corp and Ed Lungrin hired me.
Monty Parrott
San Jacinto Ca.
Ray Hensley said,
September 19, 2011 @ 2:29 am
Started with the USFS 1967 on the Oak Grove Trail Crew for Larry Boggs. Tom Brown was Foreman first seasons.
Oak Grove Hotshots for two or three years? It’s a blurr. Larry Boggs and Skip Pike then Chet Cash.
Angeles Crest Tanker, two seasons for Jim Linfoot and Dean Weakman. Good men, all.
Chris Cuzynski said,
November 29, 2011 @ 11:00 pm
Hey Ray Hensley,
What are you and brother Tom doing these days? I’ll never forget hiking down the fuel break in Big Tujunga with you when you hurt your knee. Red picked you up at the bottom I think. I had to hike back to the top, got there just about daybreak in time to be relieved and sent back down the hill again! What fire was that? We turned that ridgeline into a highway it seemed.
John said,
February 11, 2012 @ 3:11 am
I am looking for any contact info for Louie Mora.
Bob Noone said,
March 8, 2012 @ 12:17 am
I was a hot shovel on the Oak Grove Hotshots in Pasadena the summer of 1972.I was 19 years old and had just driven to Pasadena cross-country from Virginia at the end of my freshman year of college.
I particularly remember my very first night in the hotshot crew barracks . . . alone, because it was early season-end of May and I was the first guy to report for work. The fire alarm went off at about 2:00 a.m. The crew boss came running in and told me to suit up and throw my gear on the truck.
I thought it was an “effin new guy” drill and that I would be met with a fire hose bath by the other crew members the moment I stepped outside, but that wasn’t the case.
As the crew boss fired up the truck, lights and sirens, other crew members pulled their cars into the parking lot and jumped on and loaded up. We screamed through the abandoned streets of Pasadena to the Burbank airport, where we waited inside a building on the far side of a runway. Other crew members arrived and joined us and we waited for a couple of hours until just before first light when we loaded up again, this time onto a WWII vintage plane, right out of a Humphrey Bogart movie .no windows, benches running the length of the fuselage which we strapped onto to keep us from sliding sideways down to the back of the plane . . . and flew through the grey light over the Sierras to a private airstrip outside of Reno. By 8:00 a.m. the heat was unbearable, but it was okay. I had absolutely no idea what kind of heat I was in for!
We took shelter in the shade of a huge Quonset hut on a runway seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Bands of heat radiated off the tarmac.and we waited.
After a while a couple of black limousines appeared across the tarmac driving toward us, and I thought . . cool! Except they weren’t coming to pick us up. The drivers, dressed in black suite, ties and sunglasses, pulled up and opened the locked Quonset hut doors and invited us inside where it was a little cooler, but where there were also about a half dozen, or more,vintage airplanes in mint condition. We were told this was Bill Lear’s (reputed to be the inventor of the jet engine) private hangar. Within an hour or so we heard the building roar of a jet engine somewhere off in the
distance, but couldn’t make anything out in the blinding white desert sky. Literally all of a sudden the building sound of the jet engine merged with the small black profile of a jet flying toward us. Within minutes the jet landed and taxied to our Quonset hut. It was a small, 2-4 seater with only one occupant . . . the pilot, who introduced himself to us, and shook the hands of those of us who were blown away to recognize his name . . Bill Lear himself!
Lear climbed in the back of one of the limos and pulled away. He returned about an hour later, shook our hands again, hopped in his jet and in a matter of no more than thirty seconds, it seemed, fired up his jet, taxied back down the runway, and in an explosion of sound, fired off and disappeared quickly into the distant horizon.
Man, there are so many stories, such as my first three-seater, open-air helicopter drop into a fire, but I have to get to work!
I would love to hear from other members of the 1972 crew. I lost all my photos when I sent them back to Oak Grove in the Fall of 1972 to be copied and never saw them again, so any pics would be greatly appreciated.
Bob Noone
1031 Cooper Avenue
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601
Phone (970) 945-7767
Cell: (970) 379-3200
rmn@noonelaw.com
Rod Duff said,
April 26, 2012 @ 3:23 am
Please send info on registration for the reunion.
Thanks,
Rod