Day Three of Station Fire Coverage
It all started Sunday with a phone call from my bureau chief at 6am telling me that we needed to go out and start covering the fire.
It’s Tuesday and we’re still at it. Â This fire has spread so quickly, it’s almost unbelievable, especially considering there has hardly been any wind.
If you’ve never worked as a reporter covering a fire….it’s hard to explain the glamorous conditions that go along with it. Â Scorching heat, no where to sit down and eat or even go to the bathroom. Â All the while trying to gather information about the fire, get your facts straight and attempt to look good on television ….. oh and did I mention the profuse sweating?
I’m actually just describing the conditions, but I really don’t want to sound like I’m complaining. Â After all, there are people all around me who have lost their homes, others who don’t know if they have a home left, and families mourning the loss of two firefighters who lost their lives Sunday in the line of duty. Â Horrible.
Yes, this Station Fire has been deadly and destructive. Â 122,000 acre s scorched and 53 structures lost so far….and the blaze is only five percent contained.
Fueling the flames is plentiful, dry brush that has not burned in the Angeles National Forest for nearly 60 years. Â Well, it’s burning now.
More than three thousand fire personnel from around the state and even other states are here to try to stop the flames from spreading.
The temperatures have hovered in the 100 degree plus range but they are a little cooler today. Â We might get some rain which would be a good thing, but firefighters say they don’t need the wind that might also come with it.
I’ve covered many fires in my career, but I always learn something new….and this time I am reminded that when firefighters tell you to evacuate…you should probably go.
One family who didn’t listen on Saturday called for help on Monday, but conditions were too dangerous for the Sheriff’s Department to go in and rescue them. Â Fortunately they were able to wait until the fire passed and they made it through safely. Â They were lucky, Â but not very smart.
Today fire crews were able to complete a line around one fourth of the fire, which is decent progress. Â Hopefully mother nature will also begin to cooperate and lower her thermometer a few degrees.
When the story hits, FOX News is there. With bureaus across the world, there isn’t any news that gets by FOX News. 
A line around this type of fire means nothing if the wind picks up. I was in the Malibu Canyon fire in 1978 and watched it skip up to 1/2 mile ahead at any time. All they’re doing is saving a lot of brush to burn next time. Back fires help but are no guarantee as they found out in the sunland area today.
Stop the building in the fire areas!
We need to sue California for the CO2 emissions from the fire!!! Global warming is upon us!
Just wondering why the news media doesnt ask what the fires are being fought with and why they are using it? Its not even made in the USA! Owned by a foreighn comapny! There is new technology out there and these fires can be contained and put out very fast. Saving lives, property, money and time isnt a bad thing is it?? All of these fires could have already been put out and everyone could be saying why havent we used this stuff before. They say it will be around the 15th of the month before they are contained??? They should already be out!!
A UL tested and approved product is available globally. Its called Novacool.(USA)
It mixes with water right in the fire trucks. It has been used in helicopter drops in Florida and the pilots love it! Best of all it can be used in the super scooper tankers too. This amazing product has a super cooling agent in it. It cools so fast that it makes fire fighting safer!! Secondly it puts out fire fast and doesnt allow for reignition to occur. This means less fatigue, less heat stress and keeps fire fighters much safer.
Fire fighters are learning fast the built in safety strategies of Novacool. Pretreating with Novacool works. Stop fire in its tracks! Mix the proper amount to water (2-4 gallons of Novacool to 1000 gallons of water) puts out forest fires, brush and grass fires. Its green and bio-degradeable.
We send info to the Governor and FEMA, never get a responce. Why?? What are they hiding, and why?
Who doesnt want the fires put out?
In late June 1990, I was visiting my Aunt Ruth in Santa Barbara. She lived just north of Highway 101 in a subdivision off San Marcos Pass, a road that went up into the mountains. There were beautiful homes along San Marcos Pass.
Santa Barbara residents have experienced many forest fires over the years, but they never get used to them. It was about 4 PM when my Aunt and I learned the fire was racing down San Marcos Pass. I suggested we better pack a few things and go to my Uncle Bob’s home. He and his family lived in the heart of Santa Barbara. Aunt Ruth, who had been a widow for four years in 1990, refused to go to Uncle Bob’s with me.
“I’ve lived here more than 30 years and I’m not running away!” she insisted. “I’m gonna protect my home and my things.”
We were told to evacuate. Her neighbors were fleeing. I packed a few things, put my 18-year-old cat, Patches in her carrying case, and drove to Uncle Bob’s. Aunt Ruth stayed behind.
Uncle Bob couldn’t believe her. He sent his son-in-law to plead with her. She finally left with him.
The next day, we returned to Aunt Ruth’s home. The fire spared her subdivision, leap-frogging around homes as it came down the Pass, then hopped over 101 and ravaged parts of Hope Ranch, which has many expensive homes.
More than 600 Santa Barbara homes were destroyed by that forest fire.
George Spink
Los Angel