The fire was nearly contained when the wind picked up and blew embers onto another ridge. Suddenly, the firefighters were surrounded by fire. They dug a fire line around the cabin to keep the flames away, watching as the blaze consumed more than 1,000 acres in the next few hours. Seeing an 80-foot tree go up in a matter of seconds is unbelievable. The heat is so intense that you have to back out.
Safety comes first.
Not only did the unpredictability of the blaze tax the firefighters' skills, but temperatures hovering around 100 degrees and humidity below 10 percent also took their toll. Unable to haul around the heavy breathing apparatus used to fight structure fires, the men wore goggles and wrapped bandannas around their faces to keep from breathing the choking smoke. The hilly terrain presented its own hazards. Underground mines, sometimes unmarked, had to be avoided, and partially burned trees could snap and fall at any time. Returning to camp around 8 p.m., the crew faced long lines for food and often a two-hour wait to use one of six showers available to the 1,200 firefighters in the camp.