The Pier Fire

Last summer the Pier Fire started just before the Labor Day Weekend in the Tule River Canyon east of Springville.  This is literally in my back yard. I was dispatched to serve on this fire, the first time I've been assigned to a fire literally threatening my home.

I live in front of Black Mountain, the big dark colored mountain dominating the back of the picture I posted here on 2/12/18.  The fire actually started in the bottom of the second canyon to the left, or to the north of the peak.  It ultimately burned across the entire face of the mountain. At the closest spot the western front of the fire was little more than one mile from my back door.

This was taken from my backyard, looking at the hill northeast of the house.  The smoke column is actually close to two miles from the house, but looked as if it were just behind the top of the ridge.  

Fire management publish daily maps showing the progression of the fire, where there remains line that is still burning (red), and where it is cold or at least contained (black).  On the middle-left of this map, look for "Div Z" outside the western perimeter of the fire.  The top-right corner of the letter Z is in my back yard.  That was too close for comfort.  Of course this map, published in the later days of the fire, shows the entire western perimeter, closest to my home, was all contained.  (whew)

On the map, northeast of my home,(up and right), there is a loop in the contained fire line.  The smoke column in the upper picture is burning very near the top of the loop.  That is very steep country, and the fire was burning rapidly uphill, creating a significant smoke column.

My responsibility on any fire is to support the efforts of Ground Support unit.  The drivers all congregate there, and park their trucks nearby. The trailer on the right is the air-conditioned office where the drivers wait until they are sent out on a run. The trucks of the assigned drivers are parked in a row in front of the office.

Many of the runs I was sent on, took me up Highway 190, in the bottom of the Tule River Canyon.  My route was usually not threatened by fire,  especially in the lower part of the road.  Further up however I went very close to the red segment on the northeast portion of the fire perimeter.  It wasn't particularly dangerous, but was often smoky.

Lower in the canyon, the fire burned fiercely, and went up the side of the canyon in a rush of flame and smoke. As fire burns uphill, it will be enhanced,  by the sides of small draws and gullies called a chimney.  When the rocks in the bottom of these areas are hit with the intense heat, they will sometimes chip off hand-sized layers of stone.  The surface of the boulder gets very hot, but the interior is still much cooler.  At some point a hand-sized chip will come off and leave a small light patch, surrounded by the blackened rock.

In this shot, there are several places where the rock has cast off varying sized chips of stone, leaving the boulder underneath a lighter color.  Anyplace you see light patches of stone, chips have popped off.  This rocky area got very hot, as you can see the large number of light spots.

Though the work of containing and putting out fires is serious, we aren't without our lighter side.  One such event was the different ways the big show-steer statue was used and adopted by various departments.  Our Fire Camp was at the Porterville Fair Grounds, where 4-H and FFA kids come every spring to show their project animals.  The Fair Board had purchased a plastic replica of a fat steer on wheels.  The firefighting community at Fire Camp wheeled the steer statue to their area, and made various signs and decorations to hang on him.

Ground Support got their licks in early.  This was one of the first of the "dressing up" of the steer.

Comms had to get into the act with their version.

And the Mobile Kitchen Unit got into the fun adding an apron and hair net which is required by all food workers. They recognized Gabe as an honorary chef, even making a comment on the bucket about "Eat mor chikin"

Wh8le the fire was burning, my wife and a neighbor put sprinklers on the perimeter of the hilltop, and would run them several times a day, in and effort to slow the fire, if it got that close.  She even had the car parked headed out, in case she had to make a run for it.

The face of Black Mountain being burned off to prevent the fire from coming farther west. Once this controlled burning occurred, the risk to my home was nearly eliminated, much to my wife's relief, and mine as well.

The Fire Management used a helicopter to light areas they want to burn off to control the spread of the fire  This aircraft has some very specialized equipment sitting in the doorway. I got a run to take lunches up to the crew operating that system.  After delivering their lunches I started asking questions, and got a tour of their operation

They drop a string of balls, slightly smaller than ping pong balls, containing glycol.  The balls go  through a machine that punches a hole in the ball, injects a chemical into the inside which reacts with the glycol within approximately thirty seconds.  When the chemical reaction occurs, the mixture ignites catching whatever is around it on fire.  They can be dropped from a couple hundred feet in the air, bouncing and falling until they end up on the ground, where they ignite the grass or brush there.

The square hopper at the top holds a supply of the balls with glycol inside.  The balls proceed down in four rows to the level of the four brown buttons on the front.  When the trigger is pulled to drop, four balls are injected at the same time, then dropped down the chute underneath to fall freely to the ground.  The helicopter can fly at ten to fifteen miles per hour, and drop approximately 150 balls per minute.  This will quickly light rough and rugged areas which would be dangerous or difficult for firefighters to hike in to light backfires.  

Fires and Driving

Nine years ago, I signed up with both CalFire and the US Forest Service to provide contract services with my pickup.  In essence, they rent the bed of my pickup and hire me to drive it wherever they want the contents of the bed delivered. 

Parked on a lookout at the top of Sherman Pass, looking northeast toward the smoke column on my way to the Schaffer Fire 2017

When a major fire breaks out, it is often necessary for the responsible agency, CalFire or USFS, to create a Fire Camp, referred to as an Incident Command Post.  As is typical of governmental agencies, it becomes known as the ICP. 

The ICP quickly becomes a city of support for the several hundred firefighters and support personnel assigned to the fire. Porta-potties by the dozens, a hot shower trailer, and a kitchen unit, are all quickly brought to Fire Camp, set up and made operational. 

The ICP also becomes the operational headquarters for the fire. All the management folks have offices and trailers parked in two long lines.  Time-keeping and accounting offices, human resources, often even a copy center, occupy other locations along the two rows.  A communications trailer and a medical trailer, are often parked near the other trailers but often are not in the double row. Big generators are connected in several places, and power is daisy-chained, or linked to all the trailers and offices.  Finally, if there is phone service available nearby, phone lines are often linked between the offices. This double row of trailers, each with their entries facing the area between, is referred to collectively as “Main Street” for this is where the business of putting out the fire occurs.

My job on the fire is drive my pickup and work for Ground Support.  This group usually has a location for their office off to the side and some distance away from Main Street.  Depending on the size and complexity of the fire, the Ground Support Unit Leader will place an order for a number of drivers, such as me.  Of course, each driver has been contracted with a pickup or truck and will need a place to park it near Ground Support. 

The Ground Support trailer to the right, and parking for GS Trucks in the background.  This was from the Pier Fire in 2017, in the mountains directly east of my home. The rolling steer statue is explained below.

 

This very tongue-in-cheek sign was posted on the rolling model of a fat steer.  ICP was on the Fairgrounds in Porterville.  This is a play on the fact that a pickup with wooden racks on the side of a flatbed is called a Stakeside. But the GS folks got bored, so made up the above sign.

When I am dispatched on a run, I may carry anything from fire hose, pumps, lunches, hot meals, ice, water, gator aide, or automotive parts.  Sometimes drivers will be sent to a nearby airport to bring someone in “overhead” to the fire, or deliver them back to the airport to fly home, or to their next assignment.

This was one of my assignments on the Rough Fire in 2016.  This is a lot of used firehose, pulled from the burned area and staged here. This is a large load on my truck, but there was a one-ton flatbed truck who was also on this run, and he also had an even larger load.

When the USFS manages a fire, all personnel, including drivers, bring their tents and sleeping bags and bed down nearby.  We are told what areas we can utilize to set up our camp.  Everyone picks a secure spot, hopefully for the drivers, not far from where we park the trucks.  Some ICPs are in the beautiful high country, so camping there is quite pleasant.  Others are in lower, and often much warmer locales, and are not nearly as pleasant places to camp. 

My camp among the tall pines on the Schaffer Fire in 2017.  This was at the  9,000 ft level, so night-time temperatures were delightfully cool, making sleeping very comfortable.

When CalFire manages a fire, all the management personnel sleep in motels in nearby towns. However, firefighters and other working class folks, sleep in tents and sleeping bags.  On State fires, the meal preparation is most always provided by a Mobile Kitchen Unit (MKU) manned by prisoners.  On USFS fires, the meal preparation is usually provided by contractors with huge meal preparation, serving, and storage trailers. 

Tent-City on the fairgrounds during the Pier Fire in 2017.  My tent was 100 yards away down the left fence.  I was able to park very near my tent, so worked out well.