California’s oldest weekly newspaper of continuous publication “Covering Mariposa County Like The Stars” Established 1854 — 163rd Year Official County Newspaper Mariposa, California • Thursday, July 19, 2018 • Issue No. 29 Photo by Nicole W. Little An empty bulldozer transport trailer was symbolic on Monday when an escort took place for Braden Varney, the local firefighter who was killed last weekend during the Ferguson Fire. Local residents lined the streets on Monday to pay tribute to the CAL FIRE firefighter. Varney was a 10-year employee of CAL FIRE, working as a dozer operator. MARIPOSA COUNTY MOURNS Death of firefighter Ferguson Fire is brings heavy hearts By GREG LITTLE Editor still a major threat By Gazette staff perich, chief of the CAL FIRE Even with heavy smoke hanging in the air, it was noth- Madera-Mariposa-Merced Unit. ing compared to the heavy hearts throughout Mariposa It’s possible history is in the The reason, said Koerperich, is County following the death of a local firefighter. making in Mariposa County — because they have always focused Braden Varney, 36, a heavy equipment operator with and not in a good way. on making sure fire never gets CAL FIRE, died in a bulldozer accident last weekend The Ferguson Fire, which start- into that terrain, which is rug- near Jerseydale. ed last Friday night in the Merced ged, steep and has tree mortality Varney was a heavy equipment operator stationed at River Canyon near the Ferguson issues. the Merced-Mariposa-Madera CAL FIRE Unit Head- slide, has made its way into the The fire broke out just three quarters in Mariposa. South Fork of the Merced River. days short of the one year an- “Braden was a “We have no history of fire well-known, well in that area,” said Nancy Koer- See FIRE on Page A-8 ‘I can’t tell you how respected resi- Braden Varney dent as well as a proud I am of Mari- critical member of the team,” said posa County and the Battalion Chief entire community.’ Jeremy Rahn. The incident —Chief Nancy Koerperich happened during the Ferguson Fire, which be- gan around 8:30 p.m. on Friday, July 13. Rahn said CAL FIRE units responded to the fire that evening. The fire began along Highway 140 near the Ferguson Slide area. “Braden was part of that dispatch,” said Rahn. At that time, the fire was being handled with a unified command between CAL FIRE and the United States Forest Service. He said the two agencies were working together throughout the night. Then, said Rahn, conditions “looked good to the point where CAL FIRE resources were released.” Photo by Matt Johnson The forest service, he said, would continue with the Firefighters salute as the body of fire- Photo courtesy National Forest Service fighter Braden Varney passes by in Mari- This photo shows the fire near the Merced River in its early stages. Heavy terrain has hampered the efforts of firefighters who are battling to protect See HEARTS on Page A-8 posa. Varney died last week in a bulldoz- er accident. structures along Highway 140. Four new deputies take oath All are graduates from regional police academy By GREG LITTLE the patrol division. Nolan was assigned Editor to court security. Papaleo graduated from a prior academy and hired as a se- Four new Mariposa County Sheriff’s curity officer but more recently was as- Office deputies were sworn in last week signed to the patrol division. during a ceremony at the government The sheriff said his department “prides center in Mariposa. itself” in “total service” and “relationship “It is a privilege and an honor,” said building.” Mariposa County Sheriff Doug Binnew- He also pointed out a large part of ies. Yosemite National Park lies within the Officers William “Chip” Crane, Bran- county and there are “millions of visitors don Roberson, Harold “Hal” Nolan, Jr., a year” who come to Mariposa County. and James Papaleo all took the oath of “They do their best to make these folks office administered by the sheriff. feel comfortable,” said Binnewies. Photo by Nicole W. Little “For me, this is one of the most excit- He said the sheriff’s office receives ap- Sheriff Doug Binnewies swears in four deputies during a ceremony held last week at ing things I do,” said Binnewies. the government center in Mariposa. Shown, from left, are William Crane, Harold No- Crane and Roberson were assigned to See FOUR on Page A-9 lan, Jr., James Papaleo and Brandon Roberson. Like us on Visit us at MARIPOSAGAZETTE.COM Facebook 0 5149703749 9 Page A8 www.mariposagazette.com Mariposa Gazette • Thursday, July 19, 2018 HEARTS From Page A1 incident. On Saturday morning, Rahn said communications with Varney was lost. “That is not uncommon,” said Rahn. He said there are basically two types of duties per- formed by the bulldozer operators. One is a “direct line,” where the bulldozers go along the edge of the fire line. The second is an “indirect line,” where dozers “go in front of the fire’s progression and make fire breaks to slow down the fire.” The latter is what Varney was doing, said Rahn. “He was making an indirect fire line,” said Rahn. “He was trying to protect the community of Jerseydale.” Rahn said CAL FIRE lost communication with Varney on Saturday morning. “That is not uncommon,” said Rahn. “These bulldoz- ers, when they go out to do a job, they are in rugged ter- rain.” That also can mean a loss of communication, which is what happened. Rahn said there happened to be an airplane in close proximity when communications were lost. Spotters in that airplane, said Rahn, were “visually able to see a bulldozer that rolled into a ravine.” Ground personnel then went to that location, where Reader Pamela Sofranek submitted this photo from Catheys Valley as the procession for Braden Varney made its way they found the dozer. Varney’s body was also found. along Highway 140. Officials reported that people paid tribute to the fallen firefighter all along the route from Jersey- “We found he had died,” said Rahn. dale to Modesto. Rahn said Varney had worked 10 years for CAL FIRE, following in his father’s footsteps as a heavy equipment sa, where it was greeted with hundreds of mourners who Friends, officials react operator. lined the streets. It also went past the Madera-Maripo- Varney was well known in the community for his hard “Our prayers are with the community and the family,” sa-Merced CAL FIRE Unit Headquarters, where many work and his skill with operating heavy equipment. said Rahn. firefighters and others saluted their fallen comrade. After hearing the news of his death, a number of com- He also gave a “thank you” to the community, who he From there, it eventually went to Modesto, where an munity members reacted. said has shown an outpouring of sympathy and compas- autopsy was to be performed. “Braden is known by everyone in Mariposa County sion following the tragedy. It was an emotional time in Mariposa, with firefight- and is a star in our community and is a friend of every- Varney leaves behind his wife, Jessica, along with two ers, police officers and citizens coming together to honor one,” said Mariposa County Sheriff Doug Binnewies. children, daughter Maleah, 5, and son, Nolan, 3. Varney. Frank Bigelow, California State Assemblymember for He is the son of Gordie and Lynn Varney and was a Nancy Koerperich, chief of the local CAL FIRE unit, District 5, posted on Facebook that “Braden Varney’s 2001 graduate of Mariposa County High School. especially thanked the California Highway Patrol for sacrifice and bravery will never be forgotten.” As of our press time on Tuesday, no services had been their efforts in escorting Varney’s body. “Such terribly sad news,” said Bridget Fithian, execu- arranged by the family. She said they did it in the “most respectful manner,” tive director of the Sierra Foothill Conservancy, a land An online fundraising page has been set up for Varney including along Highway 99. trust in Mariposa County. “Braden Varney was a class- at www.gofundme.com/bereavement-funds-for-bra- Koerperich also was emotional when addressing the mate and such a great guy. We recently were able to bring den-varney. Thus far, $46,205 has been raised in bereave- Mariposa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday Braden in to work on our meadow restoration project. ment funds. morning. He helped us work through a really challenging set of She called Varney a “big part of the CAL FIRE family.” constraints to get the project completed on time and A local tribute She also made reference to his outside life, in which he within budget. Everyone said it couldn’t be done but Because of the extremely rough terrain involved where has operated heavy equipment almost his entire life. Braden found a way. I was so impressed with his creative Varney’s bulldozer overturned into a ravine, it took re- “Not only was he a dozer operator, it was a family busi- problem solving and incredible skill with his equipment. covery workers some time to extricate his body. ness,” she said. It was really special to get to work with someone I’d That happened on Monday and immediately, CAL Koerperich also acknowledged the Mariposa County known since childhood. My heart breaks for the loss of FIRE arranged an escort for the fallen firefighter. community. this tremendously talented husband, father and member That escort left Jerseydale and made its way down Dar- “I can’t tell you just how proud I am of Mariposa Coun- of our community.