brushfire21 Posted November 7, 2007 Posted November 7, 2007 I just got back from the Harris Fire in San Diego a few days ago and figured I would post a few pics of our 10-day stint. I was the Captain of one of the engines in a Type-3 (wildland engine) strike team dispatched to SoCal Sunday Oct. 21. We had experianced crews for the most part and big fire is not new to us. But this fire put us all to the test the first 4-5 days, which was pretty much non-stop with very little sleep. We did everything from hose lays, to putting miles of fire on the ground, and active structure protection where the larger structure engines couldn't make it. We all had fun, a few close calls, and most important everyone came back safe and hardly any paint was peeled. The air shows were awesome as usual when we could get air support into our location. We had the DC-10 flying along with the really cool looking Albatross and most importantly alot of Type-1 and 2 copters doing what they do best! The military had a bunch of helo's at base camp when we finally made it into base camp mid week, but we didn't see any of them flying the fire. As I am having a problem posting a few choice pics, below is a link to all the pics that we took. None have been edited, so don't be too harsh on me! Harris Fire Pics Quote
BOATFIXERGUY Posted November 7, 2007 Posted November 7, 2007 Wow! Nice pics! Glad you guys made it ok. Stay safe.john Quote
Taylor04 Posted November 8, 2007 Posted November 8, 2007 Very Nice to see some new pics. Great shots. Quote
beckwith Posted November 8, 2007 Posted November 8, 2007 Brushfire,I have a lot of family out there none of them got burned. thanks.If your ever in Colorado give me a shout and I'll buy you a beer. Quote
Helihead Posted November 8, 2007 Posted November 8, 2007 (edited) I was on the santiago fire in orange county Edited June 15, 2008 by Helihead Quote
Goldy Posted November 8, 2007 Posted November 8, 2007 Roger- all those pics and not a single one of you in action? No Roger with a hand line holding back the flames shot ?????? That Boeing dropping fire retardant is one great shot..send it over to Vertical 911 and get it in the magazine. Goldy Quote
brushfire21 Posted November 12, 2007 Author Posted November 12, 2007 I meant to jump on before I left for another trip, so I am delayed in answering some of you. We only had 250 some odd structure destroyed. But the potential was alot more than that if the wind hadn't shifted when it did. I will try and get more pics up when I get them in from some of the other engines. I only grabbed the camera when I remembered it, and most of the time this meant missing some great shots. The victoria's secret magazine shot for those of you who made it through all the pics is a story of its own! Goldy, I wasn't quite clear on what you were saying and where to post the pic of the retardent drop? The day I took that pic, we ended up putting in 4-5 miles of line to stop the fire progression into several sub divisions off Hwy 94. Because of this we had (2) type-1 copters and a type-2 assigned four our strike team to use as needed for dropping retardent/water assisting in cooling the fire down and picking up hotspots near the fire edge. It was a beutiful aerial ballet for about 3-4 hours until the copters either timed out or shutdown because of lighting. My hat is off to those guys for assisting us and watching our backs and being another set of eyes. As far of pics of me, I am camera shy so I am the one behind the lense 99% of the time! Helihead, sorry to hear you guys didn't so much. Not sure if you were in a Type-1 strike team or what, but I have been in the same shoes you have been. In fact our last assignment to the Butler-II fire in San Bernardino a month ago was similiar, except 12-hour mopup shifts. But this year has been good for us for the most part, with the one exception, we have had good active and hot line assignments, no sitting around thank goodness. Keeps the moral up for the crews! Harris Fire Incident Information: Last Updated: November 5, 2007 9:45 pm FINAL Date/Time Started: October 21, 2007 9:23 am Administrative Unit: CAL FIRE / San Diego County Operational Area County: San Diego County Location: Highway 94 and Harris Ranch Rd near Portrero Acres Burned: 90,440 acres Containment 100% contained - 90,440 acres Structures Destroyed: 253 residential structures, 2 commercial properties and 293 outbuildings were destroyed. 12 residential structures and 3 outbuildings were damaged. Injuries: 40 firefighter injuiries have been reported. Five civilians have died and twenty-one injured directly due to this fire. Cause: Under Investigation Cooperating Agencies: San Diego County, Office of Emergency Services, California Highway Patrol, San Diego County Sheriff Total Fire Personnel: 756 Fire crews: 15 Engines: 36 Helicopters: 3 Water tenders: 6 Costs to date: $21 million Major Incident Command Team: Command of this incident has returned to the local unit. Quote
Goldy Posted November 12, 2007 Posted November 12, 2007 (edited) [quote name='brushfire21' date='Nov 11 2007, 20:06 ' post='56457'Goldy, I wasn't quite clear on what you were saying and where to post the pic of the retardent drop? The day I took that pic, we ended up putting in 4-5 miles of line to stop the fire progression into sTotal Fire Personnel: 756 Fire crews: 15 Engines: 36 Helicopters: 3 Water tenders: 6 Costs to date: $21 million Major Incident Command Team: Command of this incident has returned to the local unit. Roger, Vertical magazine takes pictures of helo's in action...and that shot dropping the red fire retardant was a great shot. They also have a new magazine coming out called Vertical 911, which is all LE/Fire related stuff. Holy cow, you only had 36 engines on that fire ? In Los Angeles, we put 36 engines on a 3rd alarm ! Heck, I'll get 5 engines to a single car over the side, plus a truck company, an airship or two, an Urban search and rescue 60' truck/trailer, and then 3 of the local S&R crews! You cant see them all in this shot, but there are 13 pieces of equipment on this one call, plus Air 5. Seriously, having only 3 airships on a fire that size is horrible. Unfortunately there just wasnt a lot of ships to go around that week. Great job to you and your crew. Thanks Roger Goldy Edited November 12, 2007 by Goldy Quote
brushfire21 Posted November 13, 2007 Author Posted November 13, 2007 Goldy, We had more than 36 engines and 3 aircraft during the incident, the stats from the CDF website from the previous post were from Nov 5th and the equipment listed is probably doing interior mopup, PR work, seeding, and rehab. Late in the week after the wind event, I counted 17+ strike teams of engines from Mexico, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and I think Oregon as well (these were local gov't engines, not Federal or State owned either which is a first for some of these states). There was a rumor going around that FEMA had organized and sent 50 strike teams of engines from east of the rockies, some coming as far away as Maryland. What was in short supply was wildland engines, dozers, overhead and aircraft initially. But as the incident grew, alot of larger Type-1 strike teams of structure engines arrived and kept the grass down and porta potties full in base camp! I will have to check out the Vertical 911 mag. Not sure the picture is that good, but I may try and submit it anyways. I will try and give you a call in the next few days and we can catch up. Quote
Sparker Posted November 13, 2007 Posted November 13, 2007 The victoria's secret magazine shot for those of you who made it through all the pics is a story of its own! Do tell. Quote
THE_COYOTE Posted November 20, 2007 Posted November 20, 2007 Great pics, I was in the red and cream S-61N. Crazy fire huh? Quote
brushfire21 Posted November 21, 2007 Author Posted November 21, 2007 Yah it was a crazy fire at times. I saw some S-61's, but I didn't get any pics of them Quote
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