Mop Up and Clean Up

We had now been about five days on the fire. It had been considered fully contained. But here was still work to do before we could leave the fire line. We had gone all this time without bathing or changing our clothes. We were all dirty, smokey and bone tired. But we still had to do "Mop Up." This was when you go into burned areas and look for anything that is still burning and could reignite the fire.

The burning stumps were the hardest to deal with. If it was from a pine tree, the stump and roots had plenty of pitch and tar to keep burning for weeks. You would have to chop at it with your Pulaski tool. This tool was half axe and half pick. Other tools we used was the brush hook and the McCloud (half rake, half hoe) and, of course, the shovel.

Chain saws were beginning to be used. But they were still too big and bulky to be used for the work we were doing. The brush hook was our elite tool. It lead the way. Cutting at a 60 degree angle, it could fell a four inch diameter tree in one swing. The Pulaski came second finishing off what the brush hook started and attacking the root system. Next came the shovels clearing brush and vegetation. Last but not least came the McCloud. With the raking and hoeing motion you got the area down to dirt.

Let's see, we were mopping up the area. If we couldn't completely stop the stump from burning, we would cover it with dirt to smother the fire and prevent sparks from escaping. We did our mop up operation as we advanced down the mountain toward the fire camp. We arrived off the mountain in the early afternoon.  As soon as we approached the camp, we picked up the smell of smoke in the air. But this was a good smell of steaks cooking. The mess tent was set up and operated by the convicts. We just called them "cons". They were brought them in to do the cooking and also to fight fires. They were excellent at both jobs. We had been eating C-rations for five days and the smell of real food almost caused a panic in the ranks.

Like I said before, we had not bathed for the past five days and there were no shower facilities at fire camp. But some of the other crews had discovered what this area did have, hot springs, Willet Hot Springs, to be exact. Nature's own hot tub. For tired aching muscles, this was a Godsend.  All you saw was a trail of dirty jeans, shirts, socks, boots and yes, underwear. It was definitely skinny dipping time. In God's Country were all "al natural" and loving it. Soaking in that hot water after five days of dirt and smoke was almost spiritual in nature.

After the "Johnny Cash Fire," we adopted his "Ring of Fire," as our crew's official song. Paul, our crew leader, declared if we heard his song on the radio, we'd be going out on a fire. Remarkably, it turn out to be fairly accurate. 

In closing, I want to mention and pay tribute to the twelve members of the El Cariso HotShot crew who died on Novemeber 1, 1966. We worked with this crew on several occasions and on a fire in the Cleveland National Forest. That was their home base. We all felt a kinship with the crew. May they rest in peace.

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."

Burning Ring of Fire

As we proceeded up the canyon, it was becoming quite evident that we were not going to reach our object doing what we were doing.  The weather was hot and we were starting to get some strong breezes. You learned in basic firefighting that fire travels uphill by day and downhill by night. With these winds, we could see that the fire was building in intensity.

The mushroom cloud was being stoked by the updraft of air and there was nothing we could do but watch it. Fire is an interesting phenomenon. It acts like it's alive and has broken free from its restraints. The genie in the bottle effect. It hops, skips, dances and spins wildly. It was fascinating to watch, but always deadly. We had all learned from our fire bible what fire could do. How it would kill you if you ever forgot or let your guard down.

We proceeded up the ridge, Everyone was starting to realize that we would not be able to reach the fire before nightfall. The foreman was beginning to become concerned. Remember, communications back then was primitive at best. There were no cell phones. They used these bulky WWII radio phones to try to contact the base camp. In mountainous terrain they seldom worked. If you didn't receive a new directive, you just continued on. We ended up spending the night in the middle of a burned out area. We were carrying C-rations and water so were survived the night there.

The next morning we were recalled to base camp. A new plan had been made. We would be helicoptered up to the fire. Helicoptered?  Most of us had never been in any aircraft, let alone a helicopter. This helicopter was one of those two man versions with a big glass bubble on the front and this erector set for a tail.

You were told to duck your head, so the whirling blade would not decapitate you.  When I got into the seat and strapped in, the pilot looked at me and said, "When I tell you to jump, you jump or we'll crash! Do you understand me?" I said, "Yes, sir!" 

As we took off, I watched the ground move away from me and saw the crew members waving. As we flew towards our destination, I looked out on the terrain below. It looked so different. Where we had been just a day ago quickly went by. The view from the cockpit was of billowing clouds of smoke. The pilot circled a small patch of ground that was the  drop zone.   I could now see some of the guys who had flown in a bit earlier. The pilot said, "Okay, unbuckle your seat belt. Step out and stand on the skid." I did as I was instructed. The helicopter came within about five feet of the ground. He shouted, "Jump!" I jumped  and hit the ground and rolled. I looked back to see the helicopter exiting at about a 45 degree angle.  I thought to myself, "That was cool, lets do it again."

Ring of Fire

Rumors were running rampant that the truck had been identified as belonging to the country singer, Johnny Cash! Yes, it was the one and only "Man in Black" who had started the fire. More correctly, his truck which he was driving, had started this fire. It was really hard to believe. The man,  whose  music that most of us listened  to, had actually been the cause of this fire. But what the hell was the famous Johnny Cash doing in a pickup truck in a remote area of the Los Padres National Forest?  Camping? Maybe.  But again the rumors were already spreading about why he was here.

The next morning we gathered at the command center with the other crews to get our marching orders. The fire had spread up a canyon and was burning furiously on three mountain peaks. All were the habitat and breeding area of the California Condor. Each supervisor and crew foreman was told what the plan would be for attacking the fire. The weather conditions: air temperature, humidity, and wind speed were given for the day. But in mountain conditions you knew all that could change without warning. And it did. 

We were to walk in, up through the burned area of the canyon, and make our way up to one of the three fires. As we proceeded out of the fire camp, we passed by the now infamous "Johnny Cash" truck. We all gave it a whack with our tools. It had now become a symbol of the fire we had to beat. (More then about the man who had caused it.)

Fire Camp

After traveling for four to five hours we finally reached the road that would lead us to the battle. You could smell the smoke in the air and could now look up and see under the cloud. It looked like a straight column of smoke jetting into the sky. The only reference I had in seeing such a view was the pictures of the A-bomb we dropped on Japan during WWII. I wondered if they looked at that cloud the way I was looking at this one that day?  Theirs was a view of utter destruction, while mine was letting me get there so I could help stop this thing.

This was not a developed area. We were on dirt roads all the way in. It was a wilderness area. If you wanted to be here you had to make some effort to get here. There were no conveniences. You had to bring in everything you needed to survive. We arrived at a wide open area. This was my first view of what a fire camp looked like. There were firefighters, trucks, equipments, tents everywhere. It looked like pictures of the invasion of Normandy. You saw Hotshots crews from all over California, Arizona, Montana, Idaho and New Mexico. We knew we had arrived. This was the big time.

Once we got settled in, we began talking to the other crews.  We learned the fire had gotten into a remote area and that it was threatening the Condor habitat. The next question was, what started it? Usually, in this type of remote area, it was a lightning strike. That was not the case in this fire. They knew where it started, knew the point of origination. In fact, they could show us where the fire started. 

In high parched dry grass sat a pickup truck with a camper unit on the back. At the rear of the truck, down by the exhaust system, you could see blackened burnt grass starting from a small area under the truck.  It had quickly fanned out into a broad burned area leading to where the active fire now raged. 

The truck was not burned, but every inch of the body of the truck and camper had cuts, scrapes and dents left by the crews that were going out to fight this fire.