Battalion Chief

Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

11/18/2018

Special Act Award (Gold)

On November 8, 2018, the Camp Fire ignited near the community of Pulga in northeastern Butte County, California. The fire burned under extreme topographic, fuel and weather conditions. Driven by strong winds, the fire spread over seven and a half miles in the first hour and a half, burning into the town of Paradise and neighboring communities of Concow, Magalia and Butte Creek Canyon. The fire’s spread impacted nearly 40,000 residents within the first few hours, causing many residents to become trapped by fire. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Battalion Chief Sims Hawkins was assigned to the Camp Fire overseeing firefighting operations in the central portion of Paradise. At around 11:30 a.m., Chief Hawkins was contacted by a woman, who stated that her elderly parents were trapped by the fire at their home on Paragalia Way. Realizing that the location was in a neighboring division and that the commanding officer for that division was himself involved with rescuing civilians, Chief Hawkins decided to try and drive to the home himself. While traversing town roads en route to the home, Chief Hawkins encountered many obstacles, including evacuating citizens, blocked roads, abandoned cars, heavy smoke, ember cast, flames, downed trees and fallen utility poles, which he navigated around and through. As Chief Hawkins turned onto Paragalia Way, he encountered heavy fire conditions and realized that there was a significant risk that he might not make it out himself. The GPS navigation indicated that the home would be near the end of the road. Chief Hawkins navigated blindly through a wall of flame, embers, and heavy black smoke as the navigation advised him, “Your address is on the left.” As he opened his truck door, smoke blew in and embers entered his vehicle. Having had no time to fully dress for the extreme fire conditions, Chief Hawkins suffered small burn injuries to his neck, chest and stomach from the blowing embers. Chief Hawkins could hear screams of terror in the distance. Following the screams, he ran up a walking path near the home to a double gate, where he could only open one side and squeeze through. Now in the front yard area, he could see that the home was almost completely involved in fire. He found an elderly couple, huddled together on the ground in a small, green, unburned area near the southeast corner of the burning house. The elderly man required a walker to walk, so Chief Hawkins instructed him to stand up and hold on to his walker. He then grabbed the man in a bear hug fashion and partially carried him toward the gate while the woman followed. The gate was too narrow to carry the man through with his walker so Chief Hawkins slid the walker through, then the man and then himself. As he turned around he noticed the woman had retreated due to the increasing fire conditions. Chief Hawkins carried the man to his truck and loaded him into the front passenger seat. As he did so, thousands of embers blew into the cab of the truck. Chief Hawkins returned to look for the woman. He found her, lifted her in a firefighter carry position, carried her to the truck, and loaded her inside. With heavy fire and smoke conditions, he was unable to see the roadway. Instead, he relied on his GPS navigation to keep him on the roadway as he drove slowly. Chief Hawkins proceeded to the intersection of Clark and Billie Roads, where he met a waiting ambulance and transferred the couple into the care of the paramedics. Chief Hawkins recalled the woman saying over and over “you are our savior, you are our savior.” If it were not for the heroic actions of Chief Hawkins, it was impossible that Mr. and Mrs. Parker would not have survived the Camp Fire. Chief Hawkins continued operating as division group supervisor for 13 days on the Camp Fire from November 8, 2018, to November 20, 2018. With no regard for his own safety, Chief Hawkins went above and beyond the call of duty. The State of California takes great pride in presenting the Gold Medal of Valor to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Battalion Chief Sims Hawkins.