Wandering Aimlessly
Hayfork Fires 2015
by Phil Burkhouse
Last week’s article dealt with the Hayfork fires in northern California, about one hour from Mt. Shasta, that many of our local specialized wildfire fighters were assigned to fight for an eighteen-day period. Hayfork has a population of around 2,000, and Ralph informed me the locals were very receptive and friendly toward the crews. The fires were classified as lightning fires that were preceded by four years of severe drought.
A crew of one hundred firefighters assembled in Harrisburg, flew in a Boeing 747 to Omaha for refueling, and then on to Redding, California. They were permitted fifty-five pounds of gear and personal items. When they arrived they set up their tents in a ball field (and later moved to the local fairgrounds) and were immediately dispatched to the fire. It was a five minute bus drive to the fire line that Ralph had been assigned to, and the air was extremely smoky which greatly limited visibility.