Teens step up with water truck, dozer to help during firestorm

Cody Cantarini and his friends made the decision to stay in Fallbrook during the Rice Canyon Fire and help out any way that they could.

In the midst of wind, fire and smoke, Cantarini made this decision because he felt his situation was unique; he had access to his family-owned water truck and bulldozer.

The group of friends who offered to help Cantarini consisted of Colter Shannon, Nick Lloyd, Jonny Williams, Dustin Hensley and Mark Hennessey.

The water truck proved to be a significant help in their efforts. “This diesel water truck holds about 5,000 gallons of water; it’s a big truck,” explained Cantarini.

Sprayers are mounted on all corners of the water truck, he said. In addition, there are side-sprayers that shoot water about 100 yards out.

“On the back of the truck, there is a fire hose we could actually unroll and use; the hose was really powerful and needed two people on it,” said Cantarini.

On Monday afternoon, October 22, these young men began patrolling the area near Cantarini’s home on Yucca Road, wetting down fields of brush in hopes of warding off more fuel for the fire.

They began battling the fire that night, Cantarini said.

“That was the worse night, because the embers were blowing towards us,” he said. “We kept on watering the fields and fire.”

In the very early hours of Tuesday morning, Cantarini and his buddies continued to put water on smoldering areas and douse flames in the back yards of homes on Yucca Road and Los Alisos.

“We worked all night putting out hot spots,” he confirmed.

“Around 3 or 4 a.m., we came up a hill and Colter saw some 30-foot palm trees on fire; those were the trees in his backyard,” said Cantarini.

When the young men got to the Shannons’ property, the family’s guesthouse was a loss and they began to fight hard to save the main home. A few hours later, the Shannon home was officially safe from the fire.

Following that ordeal, Cantarini said they noticed flames approaching the west side of Yucca Road. Immediately, Cantarini started up his family’s D9L dozer, cutting swift fire breaks.

While he was dozing a 12-acre field full of weeds, his buddies were on the water truck hosing down the area.

“I dozed all these weeds,” he confirmed.

Cantarini pushed dirt onto burning shrubs, stopping the fuel being consumed by the fire and keeping flames away from houses in the area.

“We saved around seven homes there,” said Cantarini.

The young men worked 24 hours a day, taking very few rest breaks.

For the remainder of the week of the Rice Canyon firestorm, Cantarini and his pals patrolled Ridge Road, Live Oak Park Road, Yucca Road and Los Alisos.

They addressed hot spots and watched out for flare-ups.

“That was our routine,” he said.

Cantarini admits that the adrenalin rush was so strong the group really didn’t have time to think about rest. They felt they had a job to do.

“You couldn’t stop what you were doing; you had no time to be scared.”

Friday night, October 26, Cantarini finally got a full night of sleep. “I just crashed,” he said.

On Saturday, morning, however, he experienced many sore muscles upon awakening.

“Saturday, I woke up and could not move my arms or anything,” explained Cantarini. “I was really sore.”

It’s difficult to determine how many homes were saved due to the heroic efforts of Cantarini and his friends. Many residents in the areas where the Cantarini group patrolled have said they are forever grateful for the enormous work and sacrifice on the part of these young men.

Cantarini said experiencing the Rice Canyon Fire does not make him want to consider a career in firefighting, but if he had to do it all over again, he would.

“Next time I’d like more warning so I could have another water truck,” he said.

Cantarini said he would be remiss if he did not thank the following individuals who also pitched in and helped: Steven Scrape, Andy Scrape, Austin Wendt, Alex Wood, Chad Leising, Jordan Huelse, Kyle Caso, Eric Sampson, Robert Powell and Banning Cantarini.