Oakland’s Firefighting Peacemaker
As a child, Ray Gatchalian was taught to help others. “We’re here to inspire one another, to bring out the best in each other,” his father told him. When Ray’s Oakland, California neighborhood was about to go up in flames in the largest urban wildfire in U.S.history, Ray organized a dozen curious onlookers into a makeshift fire brigade that saved many homes and inspired one of the volunteers to become a fireman. “Fighting the fire with Ray changed my life,” he says.