There was a brush fire today on a hill right next to where I was working. I am often at a construction site in Lake Elsinore. I don’t know the scope of the whole fire, but when I got there this morning there were at least a dozen fire trucks. There was an RV set up as a base unit and there was smoke everywhere.
Presently, the smoke cleared and I could see little smoldering spots on the hill. Firefighters were hiking around the hill. It was already close to 90 º F (30 º C) I got to work setting up my equipment. Fire fighting planes circled high overhead, presumably going back an forth between Lake Elsinore and another fire in Temecula.
A little while later, I saw a smoky spot begin to grow then flame. Soon fire began to spread up the hill. The flame was dark orange and the smoke was black. It was even hotter now and I could only imagine the heat near the fire. I heard the sound of a helicopter warming up. A small chopper lifted off nearby and headed off toward Canyon Lake. It came back very soon and began dropping water on the fire. I was close enough to hear the whoosh of the water.
As I looked in the direction of the lake I saw something else; a Sikorsky Skycrane. I had seen a picture of one of these lifting a house once. This loud helicopter swooped around, surveying the fire like a hungry man before a cheeseburger. As I watched, a huge spray of water gushed down and extinguished a patch of flame. Then another circle and another drop and it was off to Canyon Lake again.
I looked around to see roofers, equipment operators and others. We had all watched the show. The littler chopper and the Skycrane worked together for as long as I was there. It was a comforting reassurance to see man triumph over such a powerful force today. A victory like this doesn’t always happen. And there was no wind today. Last week the wind had been ferocious. I won’t think about if it had been that way this morning.
Is it one of these? -----> http://www.nbc4.tv/news/3262470/detail.html
The 2004 wild fire season is predicted to be worse thn 2002. Overall, fire indices across the West for March-April are showing levels that should be existing in August!
*Gafford Fire
Another fire, this one just east of Lake Elsinore, had burned across 350 acres and was about 70 percent contained Monday. About 340 firefighters were battling it, aided by water-dropping aircraft.
One structure was burned but it was not a home, said Lorri Larson, spokeswoman for the Riverside County Fire Department.
Resident Pam Allen told NBC4, “We just sat and watched it and did a lot of praying.”
One firefighter suffered heat stroke battling the blaze and another sprained an ankle. A third firefighter was reported injured from dehydration while working the Wolf Valley fire.*
yep that was mine I looked for news on it and didn’t find it. SDMB rules.
The smaller helicopter was there dumping water today. The hill had burned a lot, but no damage to the strucutres. I think the water was just mopping up.
I could see the smoke from the fires in Corona and Temecula.
Man, I could smell the fires this morning. This is the earliest start to the fire season we have ever had, isn’t it? :eek:
It is going to be a long, hot summer around Southern California this year…
I had a couple of ashes on my car this morning. I guess the stuff out by Camp Pendleton was blowing its way south a bit.
Granted when you get hot weather like we’ve had, it’s just asking for fires, but I hope this isn’t indicative of what the rest of the summer is going to be like. Better keep the hoses and pails at the ready.
I was informed this morning the two Type I national incident teams based in the Southwest have been pulled off the national rotating list (there are only 16 Type I teams in the entire country) because of the fire potential in Arizona and New Mexico. Fire indices in those states apparently at levels normally not seen until August.
Nationally, we are at Level I, the lowest level. That is expected this time of the year.
The Southern California fires are still managed by the local CDF teams, also expected. They may be great pictures for television but that’s about it. The SoCal fires could be an abnormal blip on the screen. We will know more by the end of this month just how bad this fire season potential may be.