Maintenance Crews Rescues Animals from San Mateo County Wildfire
By Jeff Weiss
Alex Black, surfer, windsurfer, kite-surfer, and native of the San Mateo coast, returned from the beach at dusk on August 17, 2020 to find his van parked on the wrong side of a Caltrans roadblock.
Two-hours earlier, he’d watched clouds of clay-colored smoke from the SZU fire billowing southward as he locked his van and headed toward the beach to kite-surf. His friends had demurred, uninterested kite-surfing with a wildfire nearby. But Alex wasn’t dissuaded. He was more stoked and awed by nature than frightened by its power, even on a day like this one.
Now, two hours later, the wind was blowing in the opposite direction and pushing the fire northward, igniting trees, brush, and buildings on the east side of Highway 1.
“When I came up from the beach the fire had gone ballistic,” said Alex. “Right around sunset. Boom! You could hear the trees exploding.”
“The pine trees contain a lot of flammable sap,” Alex continued, “When we used to go camping, we’d collect the sap for starting our campfires. I was surprised that the eucalyptus trees weren’t exploding, too.”
On the way to his van Alex saw Rob James, a local rancher, standing alongside his truck, waiting for the situation to get better or worse, wondering if he would evacuate or return to his ranch with his two dogs and a few prized rabbits that were loaded in cages in the back of his truck.
While Alex and Rob chatted, other ranchers appeared on the road, looking like ghosts as they walked through the smoke. evacuated from their ranches. They had been evacuated from their ranches. They joined Alex and Rob by the pickup truck where they waited, wondering if they would be evacuated from this spot, too.
If not for the smoke, the group could be mistaken for an after work gathering. They were oddly relaxed, chatting amicably, with no place to go. The decision was out of their hands.
Up the road to the north, Ray Byne, a Caltrans maintenance supervisor, and his crew waited at the the roadblock. He'd moved the roadblock northward a couple of times during the day as the fire advanced. Ray watched the fire. “You could tell when it reached a dead tree, a tree probably killed during a fire years ago,” he said. “It lit up like a toothpick with plumes of black smoke. The green trees burned with white smoke.”
Back at the pickup truck an hour had passed and now Rob was beginning to worry. Rob raised rabbits, chickens, ducks, and quail, over 1500 animals which he sold to local restaurants. The fire wouldn't need to reach his ranch to spell disaster. Small animals such as his were particularly vulnerable to smoke inhalation.
Click here to watch fire video
Alex remained with Rob, talking and waiting, hoping for the fire would change directions. As a kite-surfer he knew the coastal wind could change on a dime. Any change in wind direction now would be good.
“Alex was the right person at the right time for Rob,” Ray would say later. “It wasn’t just the helping hand that he lent Rob. Alex’s laid-back surfer vibe helped to lift Rob’s spirits and keep him from dwelling on the potential for devastation.”
Rob had gathered his two dogs and as many of his rabbits that he could put in his truck. But it was only a fraction of his animals.
“It was heartbreaking to me that I couldn’t take every rabbit and there was no way to gather the chickens, ducks or quail,” said Rob. “I form a deep bond with my animals. Most of them are free-range. I even let some of the rabbits hop around the farm. My animals are my life.”
Around 8:00 PM, the fire that had been gradually moving forward, gathered strength and roared northward, advancing rapidly along the hillside on the east side of the highway, shattering everyone’s hope that the fire would stabilize or change directions.
“I had a panoramic view of the valley,” Rob said, “and I saw nothing but fire.”
It was time to go. Rob, Alex and the ranchers decided to drive north and park somewhere and reconnoiter. The best place to do that turned out to be the Caltrans roadblock.
As Rob’s truck had rolled up to the roadblock, a group of Caltrans workers hurried towards him. Rob thought he might be reprimanded or interrogated. “Maybe someone telling me to get moving or questioning me,” he said. “Instead, I was met with disarming kindness and empathy.”
Without a word, the maintenance crew including Mathew Phillips, Gina DeVenere, Reggie Hudson, Jasmine Semfuia began unloading the dogs and rabbits while Ray walked over to speak with Rob. He immediately sensed Rob's despair at the rapid turn of events.
“He was very close to his animals,” said Ray. “That was his life. When he drove up to the road closure, you could see it in his eyes. You could hear it in his voice.”
Gina had also recognized Rob’s plight. She told him that she loved dogs and would take care of them as though they were her own. It was one of Rob’s more poignant moment of the evening.
“I could tell my dogs would be in good hands.” Rob said. "It was one of my many worries, but it was a big one, and I relieved to know my dogs would be taken care of."
“How many more animals do you have back there?” asked Ray.
“Too many,” said Rob. He shook his head dolefully, then realized that Ray was offering to help rescue the animals. It was an act of goodwill too large to accept.
“I can’t ask you to do that,” said Rob.
“You’re not asking me to do that,” said Ray. “I’m telling you I’m doing it.”
Ray was just trying to absolve Rob of any responsibility. Rob knew that. But he also saw that Ray wouldn’t be deterred. Rob climbed into his truck and waited for Ray to drive up and follow him to the ranch.
“I had never been in a situation like this before in my life,” said Ray, “and I was just glad that I could help. I had the vehicle, I had the time, so I went.” 
Rob’s ranch sat on the ocean side of the highway. There was about a half-mile of land between the highway and the beach which Rob used as a ranch. Fortunately, the fire had not jumped the highway, but with the evening winds kicking up, there was no guarantee where the fire might go.
Many farmers of ranchers put their ranch buildings close to the highway, but Rob’s buildings were far back from the road. The wind buffeted the two trucks as they bumped along dirt roads, past trees, old stumps, and electric fences. Finally they reached the ranch buildings.
The rabbit cages were stacked on top of one another, connected to cables that ran from the ceiling to the floor. Ray has a well-stocked truck. He grabbed a bolt cutter and began cutting the cables, detaching the cages so they could be picked up and stacked in the trucks. Eventually, they decided that it was more efficient for Ray to cut the cables and stack the cages by the entrance to the farm while Rob collected them and drove to the roadblock where Caltrans employees would help unload them.
As Rob neared the roadblock, he, once again, saw Caltrans workers running towards him. They were bringing water for his rabbits. Someone put a tarp over the rabbit cages to keep them warm and settle their nerves. Ray and Rob made six trips, saving about fifty rabbits, including Rob’s favorites.
Through the night, the roadblock remained a gathering point, a safe refuge to await the outcome of the fire. Other ranchers huddled nearby, waiting for news. Rob remembers his gratitude for a Caltrans worker who gave him a shovel and some “make work” to keep his mind occupied.
“Everyone near me lost something,” said Rob. “Some lost livestock;
some lost their land.” Pie Ranch, a place that Alex had frequented over the years, had lost many of their berry bushes.
Cell service along the coast is intermittent at best, so neighbors came and went throughout the night, delivering updates from social media.
Rob spent the night at the side of the road, sometimes shoveling, sometimes talking, doing whatever he could to keep busy.
The next morning brought a shift change for Caltrans, the new crew, including Victor Hernandez and Dean Morales. Every hour they checked the ranch and the news was mostly good: some smoke, but the flames had not reached the ranch.
eventually, the wind shifted, and it was safe to return the animals to the farm. The highway had been the dividing line between burned and unburned land. The fire never jumped the road and Rob’s farm had been spared.
They repeated the process that Ray and Rob perfected the night before. This time Ray and his crew delivered the animals to the farm and Rob stacked the cages.
“They were my guardian angels,” said Rob. “Dean even gave me the sandwich from his lunch. They were the most human and empathetic people to someone they didn’t even know. They just did what they do – always being emphatic, calm, and resourceful.”
Transitioning to a semblance of normal life after a wildfire can be difficult and usually varies on the amount of loss a person experiences. Only a few of Rob's animals had died. Others, particularly those further south on the east side of the highway, suffered much heavier losses, even devastation.
By working the roadblock, hearing the stories and updates, Ray Byne had found something positive, despite the destruction.
“Before this [Rob] didn’t know any of his neighbors,” he said. “Now he knows all of them. It has brought the community together.”
Rob had one more favor to ask of Caltrans. “I’d like to have a photograph taken of myself and all the Caltrans folks who helped me,” he said. “That would give me one more chance to thank them.”
Pictures Captions:
The SZU Fire
Video of Fire courtesy of Alex Black
Rob James standing at the roadblock
Rob James, Ray Byne, Dean Morales and Victor Hernandez walking at the ranch during reunion after the fire
Reunion photo with rabbits in foreground: From left to right Dean Morales, Jasmyne Samifua (49ers mask), Matt Phillips, Reggie Hudson, Gina Devenere, Victor Hernandez, Ray Byne and Rob James
Gina Devenere holds a chicken
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