"SMOKE!" by
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"SMOKE!" by
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Father’s Day 2002 has become a bright flame in the memory log of days spent watching the forest, from our historic lookout towers, high in the Angeles. It was a demonstration of why it is important to have extra “eyes in the forest” and of how coordinated communication and suppression efforts between different forest staff teams gets the job done, asap.
Driving north from Azusa, up Hwy 39 early that morning, it was surprising to see how low the water level already was in the Morris and San Gabriel Reservoirs, as low as it had dropped the previous autumn. Hwy 39 is a paved forest access road, in a narrow corridor filled with visitor recreation sites, inbetween two gems of our Angeles NF – the San Gabriel Wilderness Area to the west and the Sheep Mountain Wilderness Area to the east. From its 7800 ft perch east of Crystal Lake, South Mt Hawkins Lookout Tower had a good view of these wilderness areas, with the busy public access road tightly winding down the middle.
Bob and Maria Moore and I were the Forest Service volunteers manning the tower that Sunday in June 02. Lookouts often work solo, making three in the tower a rare day to enjoy both solitude and friendship. All morning incidents were being called in, out of our sight, until a sudden dark smoke column rose east of Mt Baldy, in the early afternoon. We were notified through the radio network that this fire was in the Cajon Pass area, under San Bernardino National Forest jurisdiction. Fire crews were called out and suppression efforts continued into the evening.
Later, a serious accident near Morris Reservoir closed Hwy 39 to all traffic, in mid-afternoon.
A particularly friendly hummingbird visited often that afternoon, buzzing just inches from our faces. Wildlife, great landscapes, and then suddenly there it is... Orange... Red... Flames in our view.
Orange flames are in our trees. Not much smoke yet, but how surprising that the groundflames are visible from approx 2 miles away. The lookouts provide a view from above, down into the forest floor, giving the fire signal even before dark smoke is seen.
Here we go. Time for action.
The new fire appears to be alongside Hwy 39. The distinct curves of the road allow its exact location to be pinpointed on a forest map, that has had the mileage markers hand-drawn in. We’re able to call in a smoke report to district HQ and provide all the location data necessary. The antique Osborne FireFinder has enabled us to find the estimated distance and compass degree location, relative to South Mt Hawkins. The x – y grid of Township and Range also provides coordinates. And perhaps the mileage marker location will be the most useful, in this case.
The forest radio comes alive with the equipment response to this fire threat. One call results in a lot of action. But Hwy 39 is still blocked, far south of where the engines are needed. Will the ground equipment have to be rerouted through little-used forest roads? Forest miles take a long time to cover by ground.
Two Forest Service recreation officers hear these radio reports from nearby Crystal Lake. Knowing that they are the closest forest personnel to this small but growing fire they grab shovels and a truck and head south on 39, and there it is!
Flames from an unattended campfire have reached to dry grass groundcover below dry pines in the "Valley of the Moon" plantation area. Hwy 39 reopens for emergency traffic only. We can picture the engines slowly pushing their way through the back-up. The two Rec officers and some concerned passersbys are knocking down the flames, cutting a firebreak into the groundcover and topsoil.
More emergency calls are coming in to HQ – CPR being done, medical response needed.
It’s been a day threatening enough to the Forest and its visitors for HQ to send the message that all staff hours will be extended until 7 or 8 PM. The hand to hand efforts of the Rec staff and their impromptu crew are making real headway on “The Moon Fire”. We can no longer see flames from our tower view, and the smoke isn’t increasing.
The report finally comes over the radio, that the Moon Fire is out, and amazingly has been held to less than a quarter of an acre! We are stunned at the amount of smoke and flames that came off of a fire that was that small.
Several hours later, we lookouts stopped at the fire site on our way back down Hwy 39. By flashlight we could see the black, burned, hummocky ground, the firebreak line cut into the groundcover, and the hundreds of dry pines all around and above the burn area.
Because of the fast work done by the first staff on-site, a fire that could have escalated greatly was knocked out in less than a quarter of an acre. Communication and personal effort got the job done.
This story now has two footnotes: In Sep 2002, the "Curve Fire" roared up this same area of Hwy 39, burning the pine plantation and our treasured South Mt Hawkins Tower. Open-air lookout efforts with radio and binoculars will continue from her summit during the summer of 2004. Fundraising efforts to raise her tower again are now in full swing. The second footnote is at the November 2003 Fire Lookout Year-End picnic, Bob, Maria and Deb were delighted by chance meet Rita and Nathan -- the 2 recreation staff first on the Moon Fire scene, a year and a half before.
(For more on this adventure, and photo, see "A night and a day" by Bob Moore here.)
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