Retired first responder writes of life in law enforcement and firefighting

A retired first responder, who served ten years in the San Jacinto Ranger District, has released a memoir of her career in firefighting and law enforcement. It touches on many events that have affected our community, and her path in two male-dominated fields. Deborah Wutzke has chosen the pen-name Deborah Wedoneit, for “We done it.” The book is called Life is What You Make it! Some Decide to Hold on Tight.

The illustration on the cover of the book shows Wutzke in uniform, along with a firefighter in full “turnout gear,” riding a steam locomotive against a fiery landscape. “I told the artist that working for the Forest Service was like riding a runaway train. I never knew where I’d end up at the end of the day: Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Minnesota, Florida, everywhere in the US. They never sent me to Hawaii though.”

Wutzke traces the beginning of her dual interest in firefighting and law enforcement to a close call with wildfire when she was 12.

“I was at school, I remember the teachers were talking about a fire up in the foothills, in Corona. Then our parents came and picked us up. I remember my mother driving as fast as she could, to get back to the farm before we had to evacuate. We had horses, a cow, donkey, goats, chickens, peacocks. Turned out it didn’t happen, a west wind carried it away. I remember seeing the police and firefighters doing their job, I was so impressed, I thought ‘that’s what I want to do.’

Teachers and counselors tried to steer her into traditionally female occupations like teacher or secretary. Wutzke wanted something else. “I was always an adrenalin junky. I had two brothers; we used to ride motorcycles and horses. We challenged each other, for everything.

Wutzke joined the Police Explorers at 14, with the Corona Police Department. A visit to the station revealed the reality of being a trailblazer. “There was one lady, the first female police officer there, she didn’t seem happy. I thought ‘If I go this direction it’s meter maid or dispatcher.’ I wanted more. There was a fire station, Station 13 El Cerrito, in Corona, that had volunteers. I stopped being a Police Explorer and went into the Fire Explorer program. It was designed to get volunteers helping Engineers and Captains at county stations. I learned how to drive a fire truck, do the hydraulic systems, do the firefighting part. That took care of my adrenalin rushes.”

“I tried out to be a firefighter with CalFire, but I didn’t pass the physical, the part where you have to wear a self-contained breathing apparatus, and climb a ladder with a fully charged hose. I chose to go into the Forest Service.” With the Forest Service Wutzke served in South OPS, the Southern California Geographic Coordination Center. “It does all the emergency movement of fire equipment throughout the southern half of the state. It controls the air tankers, engines, hand crews, and fire teams. When one agency has a big fire and they run out of resources, they go through CalFire or the Federal part. There are four different agencies in one office: CalFire, USFS, BLM, Office of Emergency Services. “
For the first few years Wutzke’s job was “overhead movement,” moving resources from one incident to another. “Later on, I controlled the aircraft: Tankers, helicopters, the lead planes that direct the air tankers, and the ‘mosquito fleet’ of smaller planes that transport the personnel.”

The job was demanding. “It took a lot of learning but gave me a good understanding of how long it takes the hand crews to get from one place to another, from one end of the state to another. That helped later on, when I got Division Supervisor qualification. If I was ordering a couple of strike teams, at least I knew how long it was going to take. If you have several fires going, it’s going to take longer, the resources will have to come from further away.

Wutzke kept on learning and taking on more responsibility. “I got to Captain status, Crew Supervisor, Strike Team Supervisor, Division Supervisor. I got called out to fires to act in that capacity and also educated the public in fire prevention.” The work was challenging. “That’s what I wanted, and I got it.”

She wasn’t finished learning and was still drawn to law enforcement as much as firefighting. “I became a fire investigator, assisted CalFire with fire investigations, and they assisted me, too. I got certified federally and through the state. In 1992 I went to the Federal Law Enforcement academy in Georgia (FLETC.) I passed and came back with certification for federal law enforcement.”

As a Park Ranger she served at stations throughout the San Bernardino Forest, ending with ten years in Idyllwild. “When I first transferred to Idyllwild there was an open position for Law Enforcement. I thought it was just one big rock. Boy was I wrong, so many road systems, the lakes. It was a fun and challenging place to work.

In Idyllwild Wutzke participated in a lot of marijuana eradication. “The last year that I worked on the district, before the Esperanza Fire, we pulled 190 thousand plants from the district. A lot of work. It just trashes the National Forest.” The job had dangers all its own. “Booby traps, some were warning signals, but I’ve seen firearms set up, mostly up north.”

Wutzke thinks a lot about the fire hazard our region faces now. “Especially with this crazy climate change, what it’s doing to our weather. It’s only February.”

“The biggest thing I wanted people to see was what it’s like working as a first responder with the Forest Service. Rewarding.” Underpaid? “Both.”

Wutzke lives in Riverside now and cares for her mother. She misses Idyllwild. “I loved working in Idyllwild. I miss being able to travel up there, my uncle and my aunt, Sparky and Cindy Allert, are still up there. I miss reading the Town Crier at my aunt’s beauty salon.”

Life is What You Make It! by Deborah Wedoneit is available on Amazon.com