PD Editorial: A firsthand look at firestorm and first responders

We're sure that running from the Tubbs fire was a harrowing experience that survivors will never forget.

For those of us who didn't have to flee from our homes with flames bearing down on us, watching body-camera video recorded by Santa Rosa police officers instills a sense of the terror felt by residents Coffey Park, Fountaingrove, Larkfield and other neighborhoods as the fire, fueled by 70 mph winds, spread from Calistoga to Santa Rosa in the early hours of Oct. 9.

“It's just so terrifying,” a distraught woman tells Officer David Pederson. “Tell me it's just this neighborhood.”

“No, it's not,” he replies. “It's the whole hill.”

The videos -you can see some of them here - also captured acts of bravery and compassion by police as they urged people to evacuate before it was too late and assisted others who were at risk of being trapped.

While fellow officers were using crow bars and a battering ram to get into apartments and wake residents at the Varenna senior housing complex on Fountain Grove Parkway, Officer Orlando Macias can be seen helping an elderly woman get aboard a bus headed for an evacuation center.

“Grab on to my shoulders like we're dancing, OK,” he tells the woman, who is wearing a blue bathrobe.

“I wasn't dressed for this occasion,” she says.

“I like your outfit,” Macias replies.

Elsewhere, officers used loudspeakers in their cars or ran door-to-door telling people to leave (“You've just gotta get out of here”). With the power out, they lifted garage doors for people who didn't know how to disconnect automatic openers or weren't strong enough to lift the door themselves. If people couldn't drive themselves, officers ferried them to safety.

One body-cam video shows an officer hurrying someone to get in his car. “Just get in,” he says. “We don't have time for shoes.”

Watching the videos, you can't see officers' faces because the cameras are pinned to their chests. The picture bounces up and down as they run up and down streets looking for anyone who hasn't already left. At times, they share their own reactions to the disaster unfolding around them.

“This is a little too close for me,” one officer says.

Another says, “This is a f----- war zone, dude.”

These recordings are raw and dramatic. But this isn't an exercise in reality TV. These videos help convey important lessons.

For instance, if you keep your car in a garage with an automatic opener, make sure you know to open the door during a power outage. If you can't lift it yourself, battery backups can be purchased. A bill pending in Sacramento would require new units to include a battery.

Another lesson: heed evacuation warnings. In most circumstances, police can't force people to leave their homes. But first responders have a better understanding of the big picture. In October, they knew that garden hoses were no match for the firestorm that was bearing down.

The videos also underscore the need for an effective warning system - which was lacking during October's fires. In a Press Democrat Poll published Sunday, just 22 percent of respondents received a landline or cellphone alert. More than six in 10 say they would like such an alert in the future.

Sonoma County emergency officials say they're better prepared. That's welcome news, but let's hope they don't have to prove it anytime soon.

You can send a letter to the editor at letters@pressdemocrat.com