FIRE!

top photo was the view from my house at 4:55 PM 27 Aug 2012. as i was pruning/shredding in the backyard, i looked up and saw SMOKE at 4:37 PM. dialed 911 and was told fire had already been reported...this photo taken right after Ventura County Sheriff's chopper dropped a hand crew, exactly 18 min after I dialed 911: how's that for a response (don't know when the first call was made, actually, but i'm giving them all the credit). this area is Lloyd Corp land and i believe it is part of a cattle operation run by the Atwaters, inaccessible to firetrucks, so handcrews, choppers and eventually a Ventura County Fire Department bulldozer fought the fire and brought it under control. i could still hear chain saws and bulldozer at 10:30 PM but by 6 AM the next morning (second photo), all was quiet and smoke free.

there is no way to express the relief i felt when i heard that huey whomp whomp whomp up over my house from the southeast. my late husband was commander in charge of Sheriff's Air Unit back in the day and i've ridden in that chopper many times on the job (back in my day) BUT the very best part of the whole experience is when you see that pilot balancing on the top of an inaccessible ridge in order to allow handcrews and their chainsaws out to protect me and my loved ones (current husband and dogs, not necessarily in that order). chopper then returned to Camarillo A/P, added water drop equipment and started dousing. Air Unit Support staged with County Fire Department at Arroyo Verde Park and chopper was able to drop retardant, return to staging area, refill, and drop again in a matter of minutes.

we watched the dozer operator maneuvering up those fire trails trying to avoid going over the side into the ravines and i was reminded that my Dad, a heavy equipment operator, was 'pressed' into service to fight fire about 1950 in Matilija Canyon (upper Ojai?, can't remember exactly at this point). i think he was gone for several days and spent the whole time operating a dozer. no air support in those days. i can remember him coming home, covered in soot. we were rooting for that dozer operator the whole time it took him to make his way up those ridgelines for 'our' fire.

we've seen California Department of Forestry equipment on Atwater's lease before, i suspect that it's a great place to train and whatever the reason, we appreciate it very much!