READER’S EDITORIAL: THANKS TO OUR FIREFIGHTERS—AND TO THE VIEJAS WILDFIRE ALERTS

 

 

 

On the way out to investigate,  I ran into my daughter-in-law and two granddaughters who had witnessed the lightning strike and immediate wildfire ignition right next to the home of another neighbor just across the dirt road from our chaparral covered 50 acre parcel. By the time I got there, the dense  chamise-redshank chaparral was being rapidly consumed by flames that reached taller than the adjacent 30-year old pine trees.  As others know, who have been too close for comfort, the ominous and beastly noise made by a fire  greedily consuming old growth woody vegetation, with lots of chamise (greasewood) ,  is utterly bone chilling.

When added to the acrid, thick black, voluminous, and roiling clouds of smoke and raining ash cinders, it is also nerve wracking. The fight or flight adrenaline rush was immediate so I stayed just long enough to take some video and then rush home to make sure my husband, with his broken ankle, and neighbors were fully alerted to the potential  disaster that was blowing our way at about 25-30 mph. There were  additional lightning strikes, and new fires already started across the border in Mexico and to the north of us near Manzanita tribal lands. We heard there were 4-5 fires started that day.

In less than 10 minutes, the firefighting crews started arriving from the Forest Service, Cal Fire, San Diego Rural Fire Authority, Boulevard Fire& Rescue and Campo Reservation Fire, along with Sheriff deputies, CHP officers, and Border Patrol agents who handled traffic, closed roads, and went door-to-door in area. Campo Reservation Fire Department also had firefighters standing ready at one neighbor's home that was temporarily evacuated.