Ortega Fire: kudos to aerial firefighters.

I spent about an hour yesterday afternoon watching live streaming of the Ortega Fire burning in southern Riverside County, CA (south and east of Los Angeles. To see a map of this rugged area near the Cleveland National Forest, go here. The fire started late yesterday morning when a tractor knocked down an electric pole with a transformer, sparking the fire.

A couple of things that I want to point out. As I was watching the live streaming, I heard someone say (I assume the news helo reporter) that the winds were light or nonexistent. On the downside, they talked about high levels of fuels (vegetation) "fueling" the wildfire. Another downside, while there were a lot of ground crews fighting the fire, the steep terrain meant that the ground crews had a difficult time getting in and fighting the fire safely. This is the type of fire where aerial firefighting air craft can make all the difference.

Fortunately, there were aerial resources available and fighting the fire from above, two S-2's that I believe were from Hemet-Ryan, and four helicopters including one helitanker.

I have to say that I watched with awe as the fire grew during the time I was watching the live feed. I watched as embers blew down from the top of the ridge to an area down slope. The fire made a quick run up the mountain, impressive. I am told that I was watching something known as the chimney effect. And I watched the helos and the air tankers make drop after drop. See this news report from myfoxla for more information.

The good news is that what was reported as 10% containmentlate yesterday afternoon is now 75% containment. I understand that the latest estimate has firefighters containing this fire by around mid-day today.