Minutes before what would be the 300-acre Deer Fire started on Oct. 10, Jimmy McDannald took off from his Deer Park home for Angwin’s College Market.

McDannald, 83, needed to pick up some groceries while his wife was out of town. By the time he left the store, he could already see the smoke. He raced back down Deer Park Road, only to be turned away by the California Highway Patrol. Officers told him it was too dangerous for him to return home.

“So I went up to Sunset Point and watched my house burn,” he said. “It was all I could do.”

The flames reached the house about 30 minutes after the fire started. Later that night, police escorted McDannald back to his property, which was a total loss.

“I didn’t even get a toothbrush and a razor blade. This is all I’ve got in the world,” he said on Monday, gesturing at the jeans and shirt he was wearing.

Not only did the fire claim McDannald’s home, but also an outbuilding where he kept his collection of nine vintage British and Spanish motorcycles. McDannald was still competing on the vintage motocross circuit, where last year he was national champion in his class.

The aluminum bikes were in various stages of being maintained, tinkered with and restored. Insurance may recoup some of their value, but it won’t unmelt the one-of-a-kind bikes.

McDannald was philosophical about the devastation. The retired truck mechanic for Harold Smith & Son said he was unaware until now how many friends he has. Friends in Calistoga invited the McDannalds to stay in their home.

He and his wife have been “overwhelmed with offers of help, clothing, and anything we need,” and State Farm Insurance has been “tremendous” with prompt visits and offers of short-term assistance, he said.

As for the losses, “they were all material things. They can be replaced,” he said.

In one way, he considers himself lucky; if he hadn’t gone to the College Market he probably would have been working with his wood chipper, and might not have known the fire was approaching until it had reached the driveway leading off his property.

For information about helping the McDannalds, call Darlene at (209) 482-1198.

Firefighters wait

by phone

As McDannald’s house went up in flames, 20 volunteer firefighters were sitting at the Angwin Fire Department waiting for CalFire to assign them.

According to Angwin Fire Chief Avery Browne, CalFire’s original call requested Angwin’s water tender, but none of its fire engines. Nevertheless, Angwin firefighters gathered at the fire hall four and a half miles away, itching to be let loose, said Browne.

“As a fire chief, you’re thinking, ‘Let’s go, let’s get into the game, let’s help,’” said Browne. “But as soon as we get to the bottom of it, we’ll be taking the necessary corrective actions to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Eventually the Angwin contingent called CalFire to ask if they were needed, and they were finally invited to join the fight with three engines — an hour and a half after the fire was reported, according to Browne.

Shew said the fact that Angwin firefighters didn’t get the green light right away is troubling, and he plans to listen to the dispatch tapes to see what went wrong, and when. He said the glitch could be part of a broader issue about the way the county dispatch system works.

On the afternoon before the Deer Fire started, local fire officials drew up a strike team package that included the Angwin water tender, but none of the department’s other engines, said Shew. It appears that when the fire started, only the resources that were part of that package were mobilized.

Regardless of what happened, the conditions in the area of the McDannald home — the geography, wind direction, temperature, abundance of dry brush, and position of the McDannald driveway — conspired to make the home indefensible without putting firefighters’ safety at risk, said Shew. Even had the Angwin firefighters been there, the home would have been doomed, he said.