Watching from afar...
June 3, 2011
Sorrow for firefighters on Diamond Heights
A helicopter, then two, came to our valley today and dutifully Royce and Judy paused to
look. Just like the birds who've been here before, they circled the hills. Above the Diamond Heights horizon they sputtered noisily, officially, as though following OJ below.
Their presence alone was ominous. They were looking for something, reporting something, part of a rescue effort perhaps, widening their circle, then enclosing it for nearly an hour, now around and back again, then hovering again watching, watching.
Overhead, the sky was filled with joyously unseasonable clouds, white with quite extraordinary sun shining through. Except for the perseverance of the aircraft, there was no sign at all to explain the urgency of what was happening on the other side of that ridge.
later we hear the names of fallen fire fighters Vincent Perez and Anthony Valerio and now we know, as feared, that there was deep sorrow there. A crew of fire fighters worked valliantly on the ground and two of them died in the line of duty...as the media flew helplessly overhead.