The LaBelle family: Bob, Nancy, Julie and Matt The October fires that charred Simi Valley, Oak Park and Bell Canyon hillsides called into service members of a unique Simi Valley family.

During the firestorm, Bob LaBelle, principal of Royal High School and 40-year veteran educator, manned an evacuation center at the high school.

Not far away, the fire forced the opening of another evacuation center. Matt LaBelle, 33, baseball coach and athletic director for Simi Valley High School, manned that center. He’s LaBelle’s son.

And south of the blazing Simi Valley hillside, LaBelle’s daughter, Julie, 31, a youth counselor and activities director at Chaminade College Preparatory school in West Hills, stayed late so that fireevacuated Bell Canyon parents could pick up their children.

Nancy LaBelle is the family matriarch and a college counselor at La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks. “We’re very proud of (our son and daughter), she said. “They both work very hard and put in many hours doing what’s right for kids.”

She said neither Matt nor Julie started out interested in a career in education. Matt wanted to be a professional baseball player but an injury in college sidelined those dreams. He pursued a career in coaching instead as a way to be close to the sport he loves.

Julie LaBelle wanted to be a religious counselor for youth. After college, she did some substitute teaching in the area, and when the job at Chaminade opened up, she took it.

The October fires also activated Nancy’s nephew, Travis Simpson. Simpson is a member of the Helitack team stationed near Bishop, Calif. Helitack is a crew of highly trained federal firefighters who often repel into the fray from helicopters.

“We’re the first ones in and the last ones out,” said Simpson, 22, who’s been on the crew for four years. He loves the job.

During the nine days the Helitack crew was in the area, they spotted a man near a new fire behind Simi Valley High School. The crew alerted police and flew an officer to the location. He handcuffed the man and a Ventura County Sheriff’s Department helicopter picked up both of them.

It was pretty much out of Helitack’s job description to help apprehend an alleged arsonist, but it got the job done, said Simpson.

Bob LaBelle plans to retire from his 40-year career in education in February. He’ll help Matt coach baseball and maybe teach a college class or two.