FOR THE SAKE OF HISTORY
For the Sake of History: The True Story of the 2020 Creek Fire
After five years of investigative reporting ignored by the U.S. Forest Service, Fresno County Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney, Grand Jury, and Board of Supervisors - and a year of writing, acquiring photos (and adding new information), my book is published and ready for sale.
This is much more than a story about what I discovered; it is a story of corrupt bureaucracy at the local level - part of an all-encompassing swamp extending from Washington, D.C. to the front door of one mountain community in the Central Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. 380,000 acres, nearly one third of the Sierra National Forest, and 652 homes destroyed by a lightning strike that never happened. Evidence of a marijuana grow and a campsite that photos and personal reports point to as the ignition point of the fire - ignored by those constitutionally required to serve and protect us.
It is also a story about myself, my family, and others that have called the mountains around Shaver Lake home over the past century and a half. Embedded in my story are many others I am sure you will find entertaining, informative, and possibly emotionally sensitive. Rarely can one’s world be destroyed without others feeling the pain.
This book is for my friends, many that I have not yet met or never will, who understand the importance of truth in a relationship, whether on a personal level or with those tasked with protecting us as a community. This book is part of a healing process that those consumed by bureaucracy cannot understand. They are a part of a swamp that they have choosen to be a denizen of; a swamp which they have cared not to help drain. It is their sanctuary of power and wealth financed and protected at our expense. Consider this in upcoming elections. I thank all of my friends for past and future support.
ABOUT THIS WEBSITE
This website was initiated to provide the general public with information acquired since the Creek Fire start, September 4th, 2020 near Big Creek, CA. All agencies involved in the reporting, dispatching, response, firefighting, cause, and investigation have failed in explaining why a small fire was allowed to burn for nearly three hours without being engaged by fire crews and equipment, ultimately consuming nearly 400,000 acres and 652 homes. My nearly 3,000 hours of inquiry have answered several important questions that the government agencies have chosen not to address. Nor have they they chosen to provide evidence or documentation that refutes any of my discoveries. Below you will find information documents, written and recorded, that suggest an orchestrated attempt by all agencies to redirect the cause from human to natural, and to conceal the true cause, thus protecting individuals from accountability.
The agencies involved and their failures are documented in the video that follows the documents. I have retained several hundred emails, most asking questions of the USFS, Fresno Sheriff, CalFire, and District Attorney. I have retained those in reply, numbering fewer than a dozen, none of which address my basic questions.
Anyone wishing to communicate information to me, or ask questions, can do so through this website email. I have been successful in protecting the identity of sources that have provided firsthand information.
ABOUT ME
My name is Jeff Young and I am the fourth generation of a family that came to the Shaver Lake area in the 1890s. My great grandfather taught school at Pine Ridge School over 120 years ago; my grandchildren have attended this same school. My roots in the area go very deep and have given me an attachment to and understanding of the mountain community greater than most.
Over the sixty years of living in the same community, I developed hundreds of close contacts and many more acquaintances. This network provided me with early information, and after two and one-half years of inquiry, a vast amount of pertinent information into the Creek Fire. Most knew they could trust me in keeping their anonymity, and others trusted that I would ultimately be successful in discovering the truth.
At least forty people my wife and I know lost their primary residences. Some of these people have contributed information to me; all of them--and hundreds of others who lost their homes--would like truthful answers from the individuals involved in the reporting and response to the Creek Fire. That has been my motivation in doggedly pursuing information that I was aware of early on, and that the government agencies ultimately attempted to cover up.
There is the right vs wrong aspect of covering up failures, but more importantly, there is the possibility of these failures being repeated if no one is held accountable and mistakes are not corrected.
US Forest Service Official Report
Creek Fire Final ROI No Exhibits_redacted (pdf)
DownloadLink to Sierra Net Dispatch Recording
Links to Presentation
Below are links to my 5/8/23 presentation in Tollhouse, CA.
Questions that Need to be Answered
Who were in the three sheriff's vehicles that were seen heading in the direction of the fire at approximately 5:30 PM the afternoon of the fire?
Who made the radio transmission over the Fresno Sheriff’s frequency shortly after this stating there was a fire near Camp Sierra?
A citizen hearing the radio transmission from the Sheriff’s Department reported the fire to USFS, but why didn't the Sheriff’s Department report the fire to the USFS?
Why was this same citizen hung up on by the Sheriff’s Department when calling their non-emergency number and reporting the fire?
Why did the Sheriff’s Department fail to initiate a dispatch with all of these opportunities?
Was the sheriff of Fresno County at Camp Sierra when the fire started?
Why did three 911 calls at about 6:15 trying to report the fire get busy signals?
Why was 911 call taken at 6:18 PM reporting a fire at Camp Sierra not turned into a dispatch of equipment?
Why does the USFS Engine 42 initially drive to within 150 feet of the 1/2 acre fire and turn around without discharging any water?
What was the extent of marijuana grow evidence that the E42 Captain observed when "putting eyes on the fire?"
Why do the E42 Captain’s statements change from the radio transmission to the ROI (official Report of Investigation)?
How does the burning snag not get acknowledged on the radio until after 7:15 PM, but is targeted as the point of origin due to being struck by lightning two weeks prior to the fire?
Why are all photos but one redacted/withheld from the official report?
Why were photos removed from several citizens' phones without their knowledge?
Why has no one been given access to the unredacted official report?
Why were the bulldozer and hand crew kept from engaging the 1/2 acre fire for over one hour?
With equipment and hand crew in proximity (150 feet) of the fire for over twenty minutes working, why were no fire lines constructed?
Why were bucket impressions found under the bulldozer tracks in this area?
Why was the bulldozer not acknowledged as being in this area in the official report?
Why were the two drops of retardant made from three times their effective distance from the ground?
Why did the Sikorsky Skycrane helicopter with a capacity of 2,650 gallons of water drop twice on the 1/2 acre fire with little to no effect?
Why was the evidence of a human cause that we discovered and reported to these agencies, after initial interest, ignored?
With less than 20 people involved in the actions and decisions that are in question, why have none of these questions been answered by Forest Supervisor Gould, District Ranger Sorini, Sheriff Zanoni, or former Sheriff Mims?
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