Thomas Fire in California - My Eye Witness Update
I just got back to Minnesota yesterday. I was in California to help bring my 93-year-old mother back from the hospital. She's fine.
Anyhow, they live on a citrus/avocado farm that is located across the road from the currently active fire area. When I left, the fire was burning on the hillside across the road. There are farms on the other side of the road, as well. I just finished talking to my father on the phone. He reported that the entire hillside had burned overnight, destroying any possible fuel for additional fires. No damage to their farm or the avocado orchard that is adjacent to that road. No damage to the farms across the road, or the houses on them, either.
The many fire departments on the scene did a great job of protecting homes and orchards on both sides of the road. There is a mandatory evacuation order for that area, but virtually nobody has evacuated. By the end of the day today, all of the brush on those hillsides will have burned, removing any fuel for further burning.
While I was there, I watched a continuous stream of large helicopters dropping red fire retardant strategically, along with water drops from fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, as well. They can't put out these fires, but they are very, very good at keeping them out of the orchards in that area, as well as the homes on the individual farms. There are also numerous fire crews and trucks stationed along that road, along with bulldozers that are clearing areas adjacent to the farms.
Although there is a mandatory evacuation, nobody is actually being forced to leave, so most residents and property owners are simply staying put, my parents included. By the end of the day today, the issue should be gone, and the fire will have moved to a new area. Those hillside fires in California move fast, consume all of the brush and leave nothing else to burn on the hills.
The Wednesday Shed Fire
Coincidentally, an electrical short caused a fire in an outbuilding at my parent's place on Wednesday. A neighbor came over to tell us that a shed behind the house was on fire. My father called 911, and I rushed outside. Sure enough, the contents of a steel shed and some leaf debris behind it was on fire, along with an old tire, and some wood. I grabbed a garden hose nearby, turned on the water, and started putting out the leaf fire, the tire, and then the wood. Once those were extinguished, I started on the shed. One of the doors had opened on its own, exposing the burning shed contents. I started watering that down, and then cooled the doors with water and jerked them both off their flimsy hinges to give me better access. Just as I had knocked down almost 100% of the flames in the shed, the first fire truck pulled in.
Interestingly, the first fire truck was one from Colorado, there to fight the Thomas fire. Soon, three more fire trucks showed up. All of this took less than five minutes. I had the fire mostly out already. A fireman came over and said, "Good job. I'll take it from here." So, I handed him the garden hose and stepped away. A couple of other firemen used big claw hooks on long poles to pull the contents of the shed out, so the remaining flames at the back of the shed could be extinguished. To my surprise, they just kept using the garden hose, instead of running a fire hose line to the fire. Once the shed was mostly empty, they could reach the last of the flames I couldn't get at. Another five minutes and it was over and out. It didn't take that much water to extinguish what was still burning.
So, I got to play at being a firefighter, which was sort of exciting. My father, who is also 93 years old, was frustrated to have to stand by and watch. He was the Fire Chief in the nearby town for over 40 years. He uses a walker now, and couldn't participate. He said I had done just what he would have done, and in the same sequence. I got another "Attaboy" from him. The thing is that I've heard him describe so many fires he had fought, so I guess I learned some of the tricks of the firefighter's job by osmosis.
Excitement's over. My parents are fine. There won't be any more risk to their property.
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