Jim Steel is no stranger to the Southern Sierra Nevada mountains, having lived in the high-altitude pine forest for the last 20 years. In that time, he has also become familiar with the devastating wildfires that are an all-too-common occurrence. So it wasn’t the first time he and his wife found their home in the path of a raging wildfire – this time the 58,000 acre Borel Fire.
The first time they were forced to evacuate for the Erskine Fire in 2016. Steel vividly recalls that “we evacuated with only ten minutes to spare. There was no warning. I saw the orange glow from my back window and we got out quick.”
After getting his wife to safety, Steel immediately went to the local Red Cross shelter – not as an evacuee but to help out as a volunteer.
“Back in 2005, I was one of 35,000 new volunteers recruited for Hurricane Katrina,” said Steel. He’s been on 37 national deployments since, including Hurricanes Harvey, Florence, and Ian in Florida and the Erskine Fire in his own California backyard.
Before retiring to the Squirrel Valley community near Lake Isabella, Steel spent nearly two decades working as a vocational instructor in the California state prison system. He could have taught anywhere, but the satisfaction he gained from helping to rehabilitate and prepare men to return to the outside world made it all worthwhile. Becoming a Red Cross volunteer in retirement was just a natural progression that allowed him to continue serving those in his community and across the country.
With the Borel Fire threatening his community, Steel once again accepted his fate and volunteered to work in the shelter at Burroughs High School in Ridgecrest, assisting his neighbors and evacuees.
“I understand how our clients feel now,” he said of the anxiety of not knowing. During the Erskine Fire, “I didn’t know what was happening with my house for nearly four days. Working at the shelter keeps me busy and I don’t have too much time to worry.”
The Erskine Fire destroyed 279 homes, six of those on the street where Steel lives. But his home stood unscathed. He’s hoping that he’s just as lucky this time with the Borel Fire.
Story and Photos by Dave Wagner, Public Affairs Volunteer
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