Deputies, Forest Service officer recount trauma of escape from Borel Fire

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – Three of the four law enforcement officers who barely escaped with their lives on July 26 when the Borel Fire surrounded them just east of Havilah got together and told their stories for the first time Friday.

U.S. Forest Service Officer Ty Davis, Kern County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Steffins and Sheriff’s Senior Deputy Bobby Gafford, along with a deputy trainee who accompanied Gafford, were on a dirt road about a mile up the mountain from the historic mining town, trying to get residents to evacuate. Then, the fire took a fast and dramatic turn and came at them, blocking their only way to safety. 

“We got turned around (by the fire) and headed back up (the hill), got to the end of the road and there was fire everywhere by that point,” Ty Davis, with the U.S. Forest Service said. “So we got to the top and we were radioing to get air drops – water, retardant, whatever we could get to help cool the area.” 

The smoke was too dense for the helicopter to get close enough. With their options diminishing, Davis went to his vehicle to see what he had in the way of fireproof jackets and emergency blanket shelters. He didn’t have enough to go around, but he passed out what he had to the others.

“Officer Davis had the two-man shelters,” Steffins said. “Well, we were going to make them two-man shelters.”

Then, overhead, a terrifying, moving swirl of fire.

“I don’t see a fire tornado every day," ...