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KennethStarr,bestknownfortheprobethatledtoBill Clintonsimpeachment,haslongbeenan

advocatefor trad-itionalmarriage.

BOX OFFICE| Ticket sales surge this year

ByAurelioRojasarojas@sacbee.com

KennethStarrand ShannonMinter, lead attorneys in theCaliforniaSupremeCourtcasethat will decide the fate ofsame-sexmarriageinthestate,areas differentas thecompet-ingsides theyrepresent.

Starr, dean of PepperdineUniversity School of Law, is

bestknown forleading thein-quiry into President Bill Clin-tons affair with a WhiteHouseintern.

Since then, the former fed-eral judge and U.S. solicitor

general has dedicatedhimselftoconservativecauses,includ-ingwritingbriefsfor theMor-mon churchin a previous gaymarriagecase inCalifornia.

Minter, legal director of theNational Center for LesbianRights in San Francisco, is atranssexual whospent hisfirst35 years as a female. He was alead counsel in the state Su-preme Court case decided lastMaythatallowedsame-sexcou-plesto marry,a ruling thatwasreversed in November when

votersapprovedProposition8.

LAWYERS | PageA12

Dueling attorneysa study in opposites

PROPOSITION8 | SupremeCourt showdown

Seevideofromafirefightershelmetcameraashe foughtthe StiltCourtfire.

videos.sacbee.com

INTERACTIVEMAPUseourinteractivemap

tosee responsetimestoNorthNatomas fires.

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GO GREEN,GO TAHOE

Its getting easier togo lightly on the landwhile visiting LakeTahoe. We exploreeco-friendly lodgingsand restaurants. Alsoinside Explore, theKitchens $125 fixedprice is worth it.

EXPLORE: Arts & Travel

FROM HEADTO TOEOver the next fourweeks, we go on amuscular tour of thebody. Well discuss avariety of orthopedicissues, present exer-cises from trainersand more. Today: Theback and neck.

LIVING HERE:Health & Fitness, L1

DEBATING

NEWSPAPERSWe ask: What do youlose if newspapersdont survive? News-papers are our eyes

on the state, ourcheck on private abus-es. The ramificationswould be great.

CALIFORNIA FORUM, E1

INSIDEBusiness D1Classified H1Crossword L4,6DearAbby L4Forum E1CarolynHax L4Horoscope L4JobMarket G1LivingHere L1Lottery B2Obituaries B6Movies ExploreSports C1Travel Explore

ShannonMinter,alead counselinthestateSu-preme Court casethatlet same-sexcoupleswed,

spent hisfirst35yearsas a female.

ByPhillipReese

preese@sacbee.com

Sacramento FireCapt. JeffHelvinstood outside a burning North

Natomashome latelastyear,talkingquicklyintohisradioand steel-

inghimselffortheplungeinto theblaze.

It had taken Helvin and his crew more than six minutes to get

there, roughly 25 percentlongerthan thenationalstandardfor fire

response.

Notbecausethefirefighterswereslow.Thatsjust thetimeneeded

to get a firetruck to large swaths of North Natomas, the sprawling

community north of Interstate 80 that sprung from nothing over

the last decade. Nowadays, about four of every 10 North Natomas

residentslive in spotsfiretruckscantreach quickly.

That the fire wasthis bad, that Helvincouldnt get theresooner,

that hewouldnow have toplacehislifein that much more danger,

allof itbeliedthe promisescityleadershadmade threeyearsbefore.

WarnerBros.

ABOUT 15,000 RESIDENTS AND 3 SCHOOLSARE OUTSIDE STATION 30s 5-MINUTE RANGE

Final edition| $1.50

THESACRAMENTOBEE sacbee.com

AUTUMNCRUZ acruz@sacbee.com

Firefightersfrom Station30 inNorthNatomas loada patientinto adepartmentambulanceFeb.17. OfficialsopenedStation30in 2005 withhopethatit would curethecityslongestresponsetimes,but thathasnt happened,as thousands morehomeshavebeenbuilt.A newfirehouse,Station43, isproposedbut couldstillbeyearsaway.

HITS KEEP COMINGThemovieseasonstayshotwith thesemuch-anticipatedfilmsonthe way:

Watchmen: ZackSnyder(300)directs thisdarksuperherofilm (above)basedon a 1980sgraphicnovel.The $100millionadaptationhits theatersFriday.

Monstersvs. Aliens:This3-DbehemothfromDreamWorksAnimationisset toopenMarch27.

Inthe summerof 2005,residentsgathered

to celebrate their new, modern firehouse atClub Center Drive and Regency Park Circle.Many had spent years campaigning for the

station,North Natomasfirst.The hope, furthered by speakers that day,

was that Station 30 would cure the areasabysmalfireresponsetimes,whichatanaver-

age6.5 minutesrankedworstin Sacramento.Then-Mayor Heather Fargo said the

$5.1 million station would improve fire pro-tection in surrounding neighborhoods, too,

whichpreviously hadsent theirfiretrucks to

coverNatomas.JoiningFargo wasthe areas

councilman,RayTretheway,whohad vowedthatStation 30wouldbringusrightbackto

normalin termsofresponsetimes.

The following year, Tretheway issued anewsreleaseabouttheadditionofa firetruck

to Station 30, saying it would reduce re-sponsetimes tofour minutes.

Butthat isntwhathappened.

Instead, city leaders undermined theirownpromisesby continuingtoapprovethou-

sandsof housing unitsmilesawayfromSta-tion30, a Beeanalysisfound.

Now, a long-proposed new station Sta-

NATOMAS | Backpage,A16

sacbee.com

Homes, fire crews in peril

WEATHERRainlikely

61 | 49

CompleteforecastPageB8

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FIRE RESPONSE

IN SACRAMENTOBy far, North Natomascontinues to have the worstfire protection in the city.It affects other areas, too:Trucks from South Natomasoften are sent to cover callsnorth of Interstate 80.

Source: Sacramento Fire Department;Bee research by Phillip Reese

Sacramento Bee

Average responsetime to fire calls, 2007-2008 Less than 4 minutes 4 to 5 minutes 5 to 6 minutes More than 6 minutes

NorthNatomas

NorthNatomas

SouthNatomas

ByCarlaMeyercmeyer@sacbee.com

Mostyears, new movies re-leased in January and Febru-aryareafterthoughts,oftenin-expensively made comedies,horror films or thrillers com-peting withOscar-nominatedfare.

In 2009, with the economydim, the afterthoughts havetakenover thebox office spot-light. Taken, an actionthriller, and Paul Blart: MallCop, a comedy, haveemerged as unexpected hits.Built around non-superstarsLiam Neeson and KevinJames, they have eclipsed$100 million in box office re-ceipts,a keyticketbenchmarkforsuccess.

Throw in Tyler PerrysMadea Goes to Jail, last

weekends box-office leader

(opening at $41 million), andyou have surprising numbersfor the first two months. TheNew York Times reportedthatticketsalesareup 17.5per-cent, to $1.7 billion; atten-danceisup nearly16 percent.

Themovies sharethis trait:they help viewers forget theirtroubles. In dark theatersfilled with silliness or sus-pense,moviegoerscanfindre-lieffromthe gloom.

As long as (Hollywood) isputting out funny films orsomething that really givesthem escape, customers will

be out there, said MichaelMorgan, whooperatesWood-lands State Theatre, whereBlart hasbeenbringingeminfor several weeksnow.

Andthis movie-goingsurgehasprecededthe arrivalof the

MOVIES | PageA15

Unlikely hits show magic

of movies in tough times

RESPONSE TIME | Community at risk

Lone station serves growingNorth Natomas

FireCapt.JackHelvinwasseriouslyburnedinNorthNato-masonOct.7ina firethatgrewduringthetimeittookhiscrewtoarrivefromits SouthNatomasstation.

SUNDAYBEST

VIDEO: GOING INSIDE THE FIRE

Sunday,March 1,2009 v

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COMINGIN THE BEE

THE CONVERSATIONTheBees Daniel

WeintraubmoderatesTheConversation,where youcandiscuss thisweeksissue:Whatis thepublicsstake inthe futureofnewspapers?

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SHARE YOUR VIEWSHowisthe gloomystateof

the economyaffectingyouandyourfamily? Areyoucuttingbackonspending,orworriedaboutyourjob

security?Join the discussioninour Newsforum.

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DINING OUT VIDEOStepinside TheKitchen

restaurantand experience allthatgoesintoan eveningofculinarywonderthats worththe$250tabfortwobeforewine.

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PREP SPORTSStayabreastof whatthe

best youngathletesintheregionare upto withdailyreportingfrom TheBeeshighschoolsportsteaminthePrepBlog.

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BACK-SEAT DRIVERBeetransportationwriter

TonyBizjak answersyourquestionsaboutroads, laws,drivingand othertransportation issues.

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REX BABINBeepolitical cartoonist

RexBabinmakeshiscommentary aboutlocal andnationalissueswith a keeneyeandsteadyhand. Seehisstill andanimated cartoons.

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CAT, HAT, EGGS, HAMTUESDAY: In celebration ofDr.Seuss 105thbirthday,weaskedreadersto submittheirown Seuss-like poemsona topicthatsburblingthrougheverybodysmind:the economy. Thepoemspouredin, andwellshare thebest. LIVINGHERE:FAMILY

DIFFERENCES OF TASTESWEDNESDAY: Ifmenare

fromMars,and womenarefromVenus,how doesthisplayoutwhenit comesto thewaywomenenjoywinevs.theirmale counterparts?Aretheregender differenceswhenitcomesto palates?Weaskthe expertsandgetablendof answers. LIVINGHERE:FOOD& WINE

BATTLE OF HER LIFETHURSDAY: Inthe smallbutbrilliantconstellationoffemaletriathletes,JamieWhitmoreisa bright,brightstar.The Somersetwomanwhowasalwaysamongthetopfinishersin theXTERRAseriesof competitionsnowisfightingforher lifedueto ararecancer.Theillnesshassidelinedher,butsheis everthe optimistand competitor.LIVINGHERE:OUTBOUND

tion 43 facesa toughclimbagainstastaggering budget deficit, and even ifapproved, likely would take at least

threeyearsto complete.Whichbringsthe storyback toCapt.Helvin and the events of Oct. 7, 2008.Fire officials and community leaderssay that if development hadnt hap-pened so quickly or if Station 43 had

been in place, things might not havegottensoout ofcontrol.

Thenewstationcouldhavecoveredit and the response time would have

been a lot better, said Fire Capt. JimDoucette, and what happened mightnothave happened.

A fire gone badHelvin was filling in at Station 15

whenhegot thecallabouta fireonStiltCourt, a North Natomas cul-de-sac2.5milesfromhis station. Thoughhis sta-tionwasin SouthNatomas,he wastwomilescloserthan NorthNatomas ownStation 30.

It still took Helvin and his crew sixminutes and seven seconds to reachthe fire. Thats slower than about65percent of all structure-fire re-

sponsetimesnationwide, federalstatis-tics show,and well abovethe NationalFire Protection Associations five-minute standard.

As he stood outside the home,Helvin saw heavy smoke streamingfrom thesecondfloor.He didntknowifanyonewas inside,but hedecidedhehadtofindoutfast.

Helvin led two of his men into thebuildingto searchupstairs.The smokewas so thick they couldnt see inchesahead, even through a special cameradesigned to improve visibility. Themen opened windows to clear the air.The smoke didnt clear, but they keptsearching.

One of Helvins men shouted badnews.The hose wasflat. Nowaterwascoming through. Later they wouldlearnthe firedownstairs hadburned aholein it.

Helvin orderedhis men therewerenow three of them as another fire-fighter had arrived to evacuate. Asthe leader, Helvin would bring up the

rear.Themencrawledon theirhandsand

knees back toward the staircase. Thesmokewas sobad,Helvin couldnt seethemaninfrontofhim.

Meanwhile,outside, Station 30sfireengine finally arrived on the scene. Ithadtakentheengine nineminutesand47secondstotravel acrossNorth Nato-masto the fire. The crew immediately

began setting up ladders around thebuilding.

As he crawled, Helvin felt a blast ofheat. It was so overwhelming, he in-stinctivelyturnedaway fromthe stairsand headed in the opposite direction.Unbeknownst to him, two of his menhad made it down the stairs, and an-otherhadjumpedfrom a window.

Helvin wasalone.Heretreatedbacktoa bedroom,hop-

ing to jump from a window himself.But the window wasnt where he re-membered it. He searched frantically.Stillno window.

Helvins thoughts, like the smoke,grewdarker:Hestarteddoubtinghim-self.Hethoughtofhiswifeandtwochil-dren. Then he thought about how he

wasgoing to burnto death, and abouthowmuch thatwouldhurt.

Heslumpedto the ground andcon-sidered killing himself to avoid thatfate.

I thought, Ill rip my mask off andjust take a couple of breaths of blacksmoke, Helvin recalled. It soundscrazy,butthat relaxed mea littlebit.

In control of himself again, Helvincrawled for the stairway. It was com-pletely engulfed in flames. In lessthanasecond,so washe.

Helvinjumpedoverthestairwayrail-ing and, still on fire, crawled toward aglass door. He made it outside, got upand ran until he crashed through a

wooden fence.His colleagues grabbed him, and

Helvin was taken to a hospital, wherehespentthreedaysintheburnunit.Hesuffered serious second-degree burnson his hands, neck and left ear. Theotherthree firefighterssufferedmoder-

atesecond-degreeburns,too.Today, Helvin is back at work and

largely recovered, though pink spotsonhisneck area constantreminderofthat October day. If a fire engine hadgotten there sooner, would the firehavebeeneasiertocontrol?If aminutelater,wouldHelvinhave survived?

Time is never really on your sidewhen you are responding in greaterthanfiveminutes,he said.

The aftermathWordaboutthe StiltCourtfire and

what happened to Helvin and his fel-low firefighters spread quicklythrough North Natomas and infuri-ated residents, particularly those wholivefarthestfromStation30.

The home was gutted. Folks col-lected money for the family that livedthere, neighbor Keith Sharward said.Thatfamilymovedto arentedhome inanother neighborhood where theyhave spent months waiting for theirhometo undergomassiverepairs.

Sharward, who has lived near StiltCourtsince2004,saidofthe fire:Wed

just been waiting and hoping itwouldnthappen.The citydid nottakeas seriously as it needed to its obliga-tionto keepthiscommunitysafe.

Theslow responsethatprecededthetragedy was predicted years earlier bycityplanners.Aroundthe timeStation30 opened, a planning document cau-tionedthatin NorthNatomascurrentfirefacilitiesareonly adequateforexist-ingresidentsand businessessothe citymust acquire new fire facilities and

equipmenttomeettheneedsofnewde-velopment.

Yet the city seemingly ignored thatwarning, approving building permitsforabout 3,700housingunits in NorthNatomas after Station 30 opened,recordsshow.

Right now, like the house on StiltCourt, about 7,000 homes and severalapartment complexes in westernNorth Natomas sit outside the areathat fire officials say they can reach

withinfiveminutes,accordingto a Beeanalysis of electronic parcel data andsatellite maps. At least 15,000 people,orabout40 percentof NorthNatomasresidents,live inthat area.

Thatareaalsoishometotwoelemen-tary schoolsanda large middleschoolattendedby almost 2,000children.

And, despite the economic reces-sion,newhomes approvedby thecity

before the federal government im-poseda moratoriumon newconstruc-tion there because of flooding risks stillare goingup.

Assistant City Manager Gus Vinasaid officials were caught in aCatch-22:Theycouldntaffordanotherfire station without the developmentfeesproducedby newgrowth.

Without development, you arecut-ting offthe hand that feedsyou, Vinasaid.

Thespeedat whichresidentsmovedinto western NorthNatomas liketherapid growth elsewhere in the neigh-

borhood caught the city by surprise,accordingto CouncilmanTretheway.

I think we were surprised wewerent able to affect the (promised

fire) response, he said last week. Headded that he had thought new tech-nologyallowingStation30 firefighters

to control red lights would have more

ofan impactthan itdid.That doesnt wash with some mem-bers of the North Natomas communi-ty. First, anyone with a map can seethat North Natomas is a big place it

hasabout asmanysquare milesas thecity of Davis, which has three fire sta-tions.

Howcouldtheynotknow theyweregoingto havedevelopmenton thewestside of I-5? asked Angelique Ashby, a

Natomas resident and community ac-tivist. It was very short-sighted tothink you could build a fire station asfar away as Station 30 and think that

youwouldbe OK.

Second, noted Sharward, the citywasnt handing out fliers along withbuilding permits warning new resi-dentsthattimelyfire protectionwasatleastfiveyears away.

Whenhe boughthishomefouryearsago, Sharward said, I didnt know

whatour situationwas. I hadno idea.

But as the area grew, the fire re-sponse timeworsened.Today,the me-dian response time in western NorthNatomas isabout sevenminutes.Thathasdraggeddownresponsetimefor allof North Natomas to six minutes, just

slightly better than before Station 30opened.

A long struggleAfire stationin westernNorthNato-

mashasbeenpartof thecitysplanforthecommunityfor 15years.The cityal-

waysknewone firestationwouldntdo

the trick, but long ago decided a com-munity center and other projectsshould take precedence over Station43,Vina said.

The Stilt fire added urgency to thecommunitys pleas, and both city offi-

cials and community leaders agreethat thestationfinally maybe movingtoward approval.

The city now has about $30 millioninfeespaidby developers whobuilt inNatomas;the station wouldcostabout$10 million.

City officials have told western

North Natomas residents that for theproject to go through, other commu-nity improvements in the area wouldhave to be put on hold. Many say theyhave come to terms with that assess-ment.

Isat downwithmy neighbors,saidAshby, and obviously our first con-cernis safety.

For the station to be built, a lot stillhas to happen and the timing couldnotbe worse:

The station must be approved bythe City Council. The vote could comeup as soon as May, city officials say.But, even thoughthe station wouldbe

built entirely with fees earmarked forNorth Natomas, the decision comes

amid potential citywide brownoutsand other Fire Department cuts tostema colossaldeficit.

The City Council would have tomake a commitment to staff the sta-tion afterit opened. Thatsan ongoinglabor cost that likely couldnt be paidfor by developer fees, and it comes as

thecity considerslayoffs.Congresswouldhaveto passanex-

emption toits newconstruction mora-torium in North Natomas. Rep. DorisMatsuiis carrying a bill that would al-low the exception for the fire station,

butit hasnot yetpassed.Regardless, it generally takes years

aftera fire station isapprovedforcon-struction to be completed, leaving thearea with inadequate protectionthroughatleasttheend of2011,cityoffi-

cialssaid.In the meantime, fire officials say

theywilldo theirbest,butthey arelim-ited in how well they can protect alarge area so far from any of their sta-tions.Sotheyjointhe residentsinpray-

ingthat nothingcatches fire.Forme personally,saidCapt.Scott

Williams, who tracks response timesfor the Fire Department, I would notlivewestof Interstate5.

CallThe BeesPhillipReese,(916) 321-1137.

FROM PAGE A1

Natomas:Homes still being built

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SLOW RESPONSE IN NORTH NATOMASMany North Natomas fire calls fall outside of the five-minute range of Station 30 (indicated by the solid bluecircle). The dashed circle indicates the same range for

the yet-unbuilt Station 43.

NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com

1/2mile

Source: Sacramento Fire Department; Bee research by Phillip Reese

Station 30Station 30

ProposedStation 43ProposedStation 43

Fire calls withresponse timeof more thanfive minutes

(during thepast two years)

ElCe

4 firefightersburned in Stilt

Court blaze

Firefighter paramedicsJoAnnWhamandMikeDonleybuckle upbeforerespondingto a blaze fromStation30,the onlyfirestationnowin NorthNatomas. Slowresponsetimeswere predictedaboutthe timeStation30openedin 2005 bycity

planners, whowarned thatthestation wasadequateonlyforhomesandbusi-nessesexistingat thattimeand advised, Thecitymustacquirenewfirefacilitiesand equipment tomeet theneedsofnewdevelopment.

AUTUMNCRUZacruz@sacbee.com

STAYCONNECTED

Battalion ChiefMichael Bartley,left, andengineerMartinGennuso dish uptortillasoupin Station30.Contraryto predictionsbysomeofficialswhenthe stationopenedin2005,North Natomascontinuesto havethe citysslowest emergency response times.

A16 TheSacramentoBee | unday,March1,