DC-10 Air Tanker Brought In To Fight Horse Fire

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When I was in chat the yesterday some asked the question. "How did they name this fire and how was it started"? Well the fire started in a area called Horse Creek, so they name the fire Horse, the fire was started by an Illegal who left a camp fire unattended. The fire is about a 20 min. drive from my home, we are in no danger, only the sky is filled with smoke. They say rains are on the way for tonight, much cooler that helps the guys on the firelines, since it has been over a 100 degrees.










DC-10 Air Tanker Brought In To Fight Horse Fire
Last Updated:
07-25-06 at 3:36PM
HORSE FIRE:
Location: Cleveland National Forest/5 miles south of Alpine, Horsethief Canyon
Acres Burned: 15,400
Containment: 5%
Air, Ground Crews: More than 700 firefighters
Injuries: 2 firefighters injured Sunday

THREATENED AREAS:
Carveacre: Mandatory Evacuations
Horsethief Canyon: Voluntary Evacuations
Sky Valley Ranch: Voluntary Evacuations
Corte Madera: Voluntary Evacuations
Pine Valley: Voluntary Evacuations
Guatay: Voluntary Evacuations
Barrett Honor Camp: Voluntary Evacuations
Corral Canyon ORV: Voluntary Evacuations
Lake Morena: Voluntary Evacuations
Potrero: Voluntary Evacuations


FLASH FLOOD WATCH:
A flash flood watch has been issued for San Diego County mountains and deserts. The watch is in effect through 7 p.m. Tuesday. For more information, click here>>

LATEST INFORMATION:
A massive air tanker was brought in Tuesday in an attempt to gain control over the raging Horse Fire, which quickly spread to over 15,000 acres overnight.

The fire is moving west toward Lyons Valley Road, and firefighters are trying to cut off the flames before they get too close.

To the north, the Japatul Fire Station is being threatened, but the structure is well-protected with several engines surrounding it.

The only mandatory evacuation is for some 125 homes in Carveacre. However, several small communities on all sides of the fire are under voluntary evacuation orders. There are 1,500 residences threatened. Authorities also cleared inmates out of the Barrett Honor Camp detention center and moved them to the East Mesa Detention Facility.

More than 700 firefighters from multiple agencies are battling the blaze, and have it five percent contained. Investigators say evidence indicates that a campfire used by undocumented immigrants sparked the flames.

A DC-10 air tanker was called in to help fire crews, CDF officials said. The 31-year-old former passenger jet came from the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville.

The weather Tuesday presents some challenges for firefighters, as they face record heat again. Also, thick smoke is settling in, because there is no wind to move it out, which would allow fire crews to make air drops on the flames. Firefighters are hoping the winds picks up a little bit to clear out the area. However, too much wind would hinder their efforts.

The blaze is burning just wilderness in an area known as the Pine Creek Wilderness. No structures have been damaged. Monday afternoon, the fire also established itself in the Secret Canyon area.

Two firefighters suffered heat-related injures on Sunday, but there haven't been any other injuries reported.

Flames ignited at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday on the east side of Lyons Valley Road, near Japatul Valley Road, prompting the closure of Lyons Valley Road between Japatul Valley Road and the Barrett Honor Camp Detention Center. The fire grew quickly because of dry brush, according to fire crews.



http://www.news8online.com/stories/story.57457.html

[falcon]

Converted Boeing 747 supertanker set to fight western wildfires
LAST UPDATE: 5/31/2006 11:52:57 PM






Coming soon to a wildfire near you: The next generation in airborne fire fighting. It is a converted 747-200. Instead of carrying passengers, the retired airliner has been outfitted with huge tanks capable of carrying 20,500 gallons of fire retardant roughly 7 times the amount carried by the largest air tankers in the current, aging fleet.

Evergreen International of Oregon showed off its "supertanker" Tuesday in Boise. Its spent $40,000,000 converting the 747 and is now campaigning to get the Federal land management agencies to add it to their fire fighting arsenal.
The Federal government is working out the details of a short term this summer only contract for Evergreen. That will allow fire bosses to put the supertanker to the test. Can it fly low and slow enough to be effective against fires burning in canyons and on mountainsides? Can it operate out of remote airports that are often used to stage air tanker operations? Can it do all while not breaking the budget?

These are just some of the questions they hope to answer during the test period. The company contends that if the supertanker had been in service in 2002, it could have saved $108,000,000 fighting seven major fires that destroyed 1.4 million acres.