Fire Triangle

After our leap from the helicopter, we assembled our gear and began an assault on the fire. We were going to try to get ahead of the fire and cut fire breaks in order to starve the fire of fuel. A fire has three components: Air, Heat and Fuel.  Take away any of the three elements and the fire dies. Since we  couldn't remove the air or the heat, fuel was the only solution.

An air tanker was used to drop fire suppressant liquid onto the fire. Back then it was called DAP. It was a mixture of water, seeds and fertilizer. It would cool the fire and coat the surrounding area with this thick pink compound. Plus, the fertilizer and seeds would help in the growth of new vegetation.  The crew boss, or foreman, would call in for a drop.

An airplane, called the "bird dog," would come in first. He would locate the drop zone and radio the position to the pilot in the tanker.Then the "bird dog" would fly low over us and wag his wings. This was the warning to get clear of the area where the air tanker was going to make its drop.                                                                                                    

The tanker could hold about 3,000 gallons of this liquid. The total weight would probably be around 40 tons. Something you definitely didn't want to be under it when it hit. The tanker would come in low and then open its bomb bay doors and pull up sharply, releasing a massive cloud of pink looking liquid. Being an air tanker pilot is probably the most dangerous job in firefighting.  Many tanker crews have died while fighting wildfires.

We would clear the area, although some of the guys would try to get downwind of the drop so they could get in the spray of the cloud. It would coat your hard hat and clothes with pink droplets. It was sort of a badge of courage to the other crew members, showing that we had been on the front lines and in the thick of it.

As we moved along the ridge of the mountain, we were aware there was a raging fire below us. We moved cautiously, but with confidence in our ability to get the job done. Everyone was told to stay in sight of each other. We had learned to know about fire and to know the directions of the winds. Fire travels uphill by day and downhill by night. The winds were the tricky part. In mountains, winds tended to swirl, change directions and go shooting up into the air. Wind tunnel effects were common, because of the changing terrain.

The winds that day were fairly calm, due to it still being early morning. But we knew, when the sun heated the air and the cool sea breezes flowed in, the updrafts would start and  it would be a whole different story. Remember, that's why the Condor chose this area, because it has tremendous updraft.

It was about midday when we started down into a small valley. We were going to start making our cut across the face of the mountain. As we proceeded we began to hear this roaring sound below us. There was no visible smoke, but you knew this sound was not good. What was happening, the fire was burning clean. The fuel air mixture was just right to produce an almost smokeless fire. What was also happening, the fire was super-heating all the vegetation in front of it. The volatile oils from the plants and trees were being released into the air.

When the mixture of air and fuel reaches the ignition point, you have what is referred to as a "blowup" situation. We had reached that point. The order to evacuate the area was given. We all ran back in the direction we had come from. As we were running, the brush and trees we had been working in, suddenly burst into flames, sending fire shooting twenty feet into the air.

We had survived. Some guys had suffered a few minor burns, but nothing serious. For the next five days we fought skirmishes with this fire, doing what we could to knock down hot spots. We set backfires and did all we knew to stop the advancing flames. But Mother Nature had other ideas. The fire continued to burn despite the best efforts of all those involved.  It didn't stop until a cooling ocean fog blanketed the area. This caused the fire to give up its heat and die. All told, the fire destroyed 508 acres of the California Condor habitat and killed 49 of the endangered birds.

During the trial that followed, Johnny Cash was unrepentant.  It's reported he told the judge that it was his truck that caused the fire and that "I don't care about your damn yellow buzzards." Mr. Cash was sued by the federal government and charged with  $125,172 in fines. Cash eventually settled the case and paid $82,001. Mr. Cash never served any time in prison for this, and in fact was never in prison, although he continued to cultivate his outlaw image of the "Man in Black."