A profile story of Fresno Unified School Board candidate Andrew Fabela published last week by GV Wire included his claim to having been a smokejumper during his firefighting career.
But an active smokejumper and two smokejumper retirees told GV Wire on Friday that they can’t find Fabela’s name among the 6,000 names in a smokejumper database, and they don’t believe his story.
Smokejumpers are considered an elite corps among wildland firefighters because they parachute into remote blazing areas.
On the ballot for Fresno Unified’s Fresno High Area 5 Trustee seat, Fabela is listed as a “retired firefighter.” He is one of four candidates vying in the April 12 special election.
Jason Ramos, a smokejumper living in central Washington state, Chuck Sheley, a retired smokejumper and editor of Smokejumper Magazine in Chico, and retiree Mike McMillan said that after learning of the GV Wire story they searched for but did not find Fabela’s name in the database.
When GV Wire contacted Fabela on Friday to ask about whether he had mistakenly claimed to be a smokejumper, Fabela insisted that he had been a smokejumper. He then accused GV Wire of focusing on issues not related to Fresno Unified and said angrily that he would not participate in GV Wire’s candidate forum on Thursday before hanging up abruptly.
He later texted that he would not participate in the forum because GV Wire was trying to “disparage” him.
“I will not be participating in your online...
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