LOS ALAMITOS — People impacted by the Bobcat fire have until December 16 to register for financial support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. However, a missed opportunity is trickier to replace.

The Bobcat fire started in the Angeles National Forest. It burned about 116,000 acres. There are still areas that are inaccessible due to the damage and ongoing risk of landslides, which is why a family’s tradition was almost broken, that is, four generations of Eagle Scouts.

What You Need To Know

  • The Bobcat fire burned nearly 116,000 acres

  • Due to ongoing hazards and closures, Boy Scout Gavin Watts is unable to return to Sturtevant Camp to complete his Eagle Scout project

  • Watts’s father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all Eagle Scouts

  • A special ruling will allow Watts to attain this highest rank

Gavin Watts started scouting while in kindergarten. Now the high school senior is close to achieving the highest rank of Eagle Scout.

Then, nearly a year of planning and thousands of dollars in fundraising for his final project went out the window.

“I wouldn’t say I was devastated because I saw hope in it,” said Watts.

Watts planned to replace some broke down walls at Sturtevant Camp. One has to hike several miles to reach the site in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Days before he planned to start building, the Bobcat fire started. To this day, Watts and his family haven’t been able to return and see how badly the site was damaged due to safety concerns. It was a place he’d visited many times growing up.

“It’s just a place we’ve had fun and I don’t want to see a place that so many people can have fun just go away like that,” said Watts.

Watts thought he’d have to start again from square one despite a swiftly approaching deadline. To become an Eagle Scout you have to complete a project that helps others and demonstrates leadership before your eighteenth birthday, which for Watts, is only a few months away.

If that’s not enough pressure, Watts’s father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all achieved the Eagle Scout rank.

Related Stories

The governing council decided to show mercy. They decided all the work he’d done in preparation for the actual construction will be sufficient for him to advance.

It is a bittersweet gift.

“I do feel a little cheated out of a project because I didn’t get to put it there. It’s not there for me to go back and see,” said Watts.

Seeing the heroic acts of firefighters this year and years past, Watts aspires to join their ranks. Whatever uniform he’s wearing, he hopes to finish the wall he started some day when it’s safe again.