Ironman Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 THANKS! I updated my previous post with details on the fire. I will also update the map as time allows. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Just so you know the military is sending out its firefighting C-130's to help.I should be there by mid afternoon. I will be in the grey C-130 with the big #2 on the side. We will be flying out of Oxnard/Pt Mugu. Hopefully the fires will get scared and go out now that the cavalry is coming. Tom, Is yours one of the Herc's that Gray Davis has kept on the ground for days because he wouldn't issue the order to fly them? I heard Roger Hedgecock ranting about that on the radio this morning. Truth or BS? Or are you allowed to say? Give 'em hell and don't fly like I do. E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 this is a picture of a house 300 yards away. Boy is it smoky. 5:40 pm 10/28/03 The map has been updated. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 My Uncle and his wife had to flee Big Bear last night......... Can't we convert 747 Cargos into big water dropping machines? How'bout huge mist machines strategically placed around the city. These could be fed by 10,000gpm pumps which could draw water from a lake. Just envelope the city’s perimeter in a cooling clouds of water vapor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Freeman Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Well, we got back last night after what seemed like a long time. Long only because we did not get to fly as much as we had hoped. Seems as mother nature once again had the upper hand. We flew as soon as we got in Tuesday and again on Wednesday. The winds kicked up too much for us to get in and do anything Thursday and Friday. We did manage to drop about 120,000 gallons of retardant on the Simi fire. Looking down I could see a real nice Trap and Skeet range just outside the fire line. That was the good part. The bad part was watching the news while homes burned and we, all air tankers actually, were forced to sit. EricW, dont know about what happened prior to Tuesday. We got the call Monday afternoon and were on the road Tuesday morning. I am way too low on the food chain to know what goes on up there. All in all I feel good that I got to do something, but sad as it always seems too little too late. Ironman and 300lb, I hope all is safe and sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted November 4, 2003 Author Share Posted November 4, 2003 Yeah, we (my family) got out unscathed. I wish I could say the same for every one else. Thanks for doing what you do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted November 15, 2003 Share Posted November 15, 2003 I visited my parents' and sister's places in the Alpine area, which was affected by both (!) the Cedar and Crest fires. I also saw the devastated Harbison Canyon and the vast areas of blackened hills of the Cleveland National Forest. The fire came right up to my sister's home and stopped at the creek and easement bordering her yard. It jumped and burned at least one tree in her yard, and turned a few cords of firewood into ash. Hot embers burned holes through her roof. Neighboring homes burned to the ground. Right down the road from my sister's place was Harbison Canyon. There were untouched houses next to smoldering foundations. Scorched earth surrounding an intact home. Then we got to the bottom of the canyon. Holy shit. Almost all the homes there were destroyed. It was freaking Hiroshima, U.S.A. but for the trees, which for some unexplained reason remained singed but standing. There was nothing but chimneys and a few major appliances left standing within the outlines of foundations. Burned-out shells of cars were often unrecognizable as to make and model. I saw a family shoveling the remains of their home into a wheelbarrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted November 15, 2003 Share Posted November 15, 2003 ....but for the trees, which for some unexplained reason remained singed but standing. Apparently, this is the way most forest fires usually worked before we decided we knew better. Fires used to be more frequent, but less epic than they are now and usually burned up a lot of the underbrush, but left the trees and their crowns mostly intact. I forget where I saw this, or I'd cite the reference. I'm glad your family is OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted November 15, 2003 Share Posted November 15, 2003 I grew up in Chatsworth (North-West San Fernando Valley), every few years, a big fire would whip through (especially in the old days when cedar shake roofs were the norm) - afterwards you looked over the devestated areas and just saw chimneys... very erry. And classes would be 1/3 empty.. But even the worst (1972?) weren't as bad as this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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