Out of the ashes of the Painted Cave Volunteer Fire Department
has risen the Mountain Ember Team, or MET, a group of rural residents dedicated
to fortifying and protecting their Painted Cave community against the next
threat.
The department closed its doors earlier this year amid allegations of financial mismanagement by its former chief, who has since sold off the neighborhood’s firefighting equipment to pay his own legal bills. The case is working its way through court, and as it does, explained Nic Proctor, a retired electrician and volunteer captain, he and the other volunteer firefighters have stepped up to fill the public-safety void. “We decided there was definitely still a need to continue what the department was doing,” he said.
That means fuel management and mitigation with tools they’ve
scraped together, as well as lessons for homeowners on defensible space and
what to do if a fire is bearing down, like removing outside furniture and wood
piles. The biggest concern, said Proctor, is embers, hence the name of their
group. Their whole function, Proctor went on, is to do what they can to put out
spot fires and help with evacuations before the cavalry arrives. “We’re not
trying to replace County Fire or the Forest Service,” he said. “Our purpose is
to be first responders until the professionals get here. If they ask us to go
away, we will. If they ask us to help, we will.”