Small town overwhelmed with news of fire tragedy

The quiet community of Idyllwild was reeling Thursday after hearing that fire swept over a local U.S. Forest Service crew, killing four and leaving a third critically injured.

Idyllwild, a small town set back among lush pine trees that thrive in the cool, crisp mountain air, is a tight little community of 2,000. People know each other and the firefighters who work just north of town at the Alandale Guard Station in the San Bernardino National Forest.

Folks in Idyllwild know Mark Loutzenhiser as a volleyball coach or a proud papa of five.

Loutzenhiser also was a fire captain, and one of the men who died in the Esperanza wildfire burning six miles away from Idyllwild.

Those men and the firefighter who was struggling for survival at Arrowhead Medical Center with burns over 95 percent of his body were the only topic of conversation among locals gathered at Jo'An's on Thursday.

No one remembered a day when so many locals lost their lives. Many expressed anger that the fire was deliberately set - leaving five families devastated.

"We're quite shaken," said Idyllwild resident Darla Priest, a friend of the captain's wife, Maria Loutzenhiser. "To hear something tragic like this is overwhelming. It's a great loss. You can't even put into words what people are feeling."

Reba Coulter, executive director of the Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council, had some words about what she was experiencing.

"We're all just sickened and saddened by this," she said.

At the town grocery store, Fairway Market, cashier Jan Hill had customers come through her line all day with nothing else on their minds other than the heroes who gave their lives.

"So many people came through in tears because they knew the family. Most everybody knew Mark," she said. "It's such a close community and everyone knows everyone else."

The feelings and news were overwhelming for some. They turned to each other, to familiar places.

"I've had people come by who just needed to get out of the house because they couldn't believe what they heard," said John Pagan, owner of the Java Lounge downtown. "This is Idyllwild. It doesn't matter who they are, we all feel it. This is that close a town."

Pagan said that one of his employees came in and volunteered to keep the coffee house open, so that the firefighters could get free coffee after dinner.

Thursday evening, 26 firefighters from Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Northern California arrived for dinner, having just got into town from Redding. As they walked in, the crowd stood and gave them a standing ovation.

"You can't put in words what they mean to the community," said Theresa Venable, who works at Jo'An's. "We live in a forest, we can burn anytime. They keep us safe."