Orr-Montgomery Woods fire update - 6/29 at 1:45am

A busy day became a busy evening and finally a quiet night. There were at least 8 fire trucks working all day, and overhead at least two helicopters and planes were flying at all times. I never thought I would like the sound of helicopters buzzing the ranch quite so much... As the sun went down, a train of fire trucks left the ranch, and it was impressive the manpower and equipment that had been here all day.

Shirlie and I just took a pot of coffee to the 3 crews that are keeping an eye on Running Springs tonight. After setting all those back-fires all day, there is still lots burning on the North side of Running Springs out by Tim and Jeanette's and then down the road to Clay's and on to Leslie's place. Walking along the road, it was eerie with all the light from the fires warmth from the heat of the coals. Every now and again we heard a branch or tree fall and then the sparks would dance like fireflies. Even knowing the crew was right there, it didn't seem right to see the hillside burning.

Every one of the firefighters was in high spirits, even well into their "24" shift. They were very pleased to have created a more defensible hillside. Even through our inexperienced eyes, it was easy to tell how open and free of debris and "fuel" the area was.

Earlier we spoke with one of the crew bosses, and he told us that they also had success with the air attack. They used a large military helicopter to drop retardant on some areas they want to defend. The smaller Cal Fire helicopter dumped load after load on the fire that flared up again below Peter's. Before they were able to drop their first bucket, it had grown to 20 acres. By the end of the day, they think it is completely out. This is good news, since it was on the East side of the fire break, putting it on the wrong side of their defense zone.

Good success all around! We still have a long way to go, as the Orr/Montgomery Woods fire is still burning strong and growing, but the work done today feels like it should give them a shot at containing it.

We decided to go ahead and repair our phone line, even though they may bulldoze it again. As of now our land lines are working again! While we were repairing the line, I think the spotter helicopter was worried that we were going to wander into the fire zone, so they kept buzzing us and watching.

Later when I was describing this to an out-of-state firefighter, he said "What exactly were you and your wife doing that got the helicopter crew so interested?" I said we were "fixing our phone line" and he said "Oh, so that is what you call it out here." It was nice to have a laugh!

I also learned that Shirlie sells a lot more coffee than I do. We finished off a pot and could have sold more. People seemed more animated and talkative, too. Go figure.

Rod