Tag Archives: El Dorado National Forest

Air Attack – What Does That Mean?

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For the best explanation of the question in the title listen to Life With Fire podcast featuring my son, Matt, who explains Air Attack and discusses the expectations and reality for use of aircraft in wildland firefighting. This is what you will hear. I think it’s a great podcast, even if I am a little biased.

I wrote this blog post when Kirby was here and we visited Matt’s office at the USFS Wildland Fire Training and Conference Center at the old McClellan Air Force Base, now the McClellan Business Park. Matt is hardly ever at his office, at least not during this season. Right now he is near San Bernardino on the Line Fire.

This is from this morning’s (9-15-2024) CBS News online: “Firefighters continued to gain ground in their firefight against the 38,421-acre Line Fire, which was burning in San Bernardino County. The fire, believed to be the result of arson, was 36% contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) reported Sunday. .. Over 4000 personnel are assigned to the fire across multiple fire agencies…”

Last month I picked Matt up in Placerville after he returned a rental car he was using on his last fire assignment. We stopped at the Placerville Airport where helicopters had been staged for some of the recent fires in Northern California.

This is the helicopter Matt is usually in. He is in touch with the other aircraft and ground personnel and helps direct the air attack where it is needed.

Another view of Matt’s helicopter with the pilot waiting for action.

This Chinook helicopter is huge. I can’t remember the details now. I think it can carry 2000 gallons of water. (I may have pulled that number out of the air and I can’t ask Matt right now. I just asked Mr. Google and see that Chinooks of various configurations may carry 2500 to 3000 gallons and fill at a rate of 4000 gallons/minute.)

The Chinook fills with a retractable snorkel. There are windows down low in the front to give a better view of the ground.

This is the cargo area.

If the Chinook is called into action this whole crew goes with it. There is a fuel truck, and a maintenance/mechanic truck and trailer. I think Matt said that two mechanics are with the team at all times.

After seeing the helicopters we drove to Matt’s house outside Pollock Pines and shared a firefighter lunch he had brought with him. There are a lot of calories there–needed when on the fire line.

Then we drove up the mountain to take Ralston for a swim.

The destruction of the Caldor Fire in 2021 is obvious.

On lands that are privately owned much of the burned timber was harvested while it could still be used for lumber. Trees have been replanted, but I won’t see the return of this forest in my lifetime.

A Birthday Hike

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M birthday was last week and I spent the day with my son exploring some of the El Dorado National Forest.

Matt drove and I wasn’t looking at a map so all I know is that we headed up Ice House Road and went beyond some of the other areas we have hiked in the past. The first stop was to look at the Van Vleck Bunkhouse, built in 1957, and now rented by recreational users from the Forest Service.

I had no idea that the Forest Service was in the vacation rental business. This might be a fun place to stay with a group of people. It sleeps six, has propane for cooking, but no electricity, and has running water during the summer.

This is the meadow south of the bunkhouse with Desolation Wilderness in the background.

Matt didn’t care that there was no water. He tried out the bathtub at the edge of the meadow.

This is more of what was the meadow. Matt said that several years ago they did a prescribed burn here to maintain the meadow, but trees are encroaching again.

After leaving the meadow we drove further and then followed GPS coordinates to find the site of a plane crash in 1941. The info at that link tells of the air force pilot and crew that were flying a B-17, known as the Flying Fortress, from Salt Lake City to Sacramento. Due to weather and mechanical issues it went down on November 2, 1941. The pilot had ordered the passengers to put on parachutes. They all made it out but the pilot did not and two days later the crash site was discovered. We were here exactly 83 years later.

There is a trail of sorts to the site, but you’d still have to know where you’re going to find it.

The wing stretches off to the right. The other wing is at a different location.

This is what the remaining wing looks like.

Matt had the coordinates of other parts including the wing, and we walked farther to find the site, but didn’t see it before we turned back.

As we walked back down the trail I turned and could see the plane from an angle where I hadn’t noticed it before.

There were several downed trees in the area. I was surprised to see so many down with the roots pulled out of the ground. I suppose the severe storms last winter were to blame. The root structure of this one is massive.

Check out the size of this tree.

This was my view.

There were some big mushrooms too. You can’t tell from the photo but that one is bigger than my hand.

We drove back towards Matt’s house, but first turned up the road to Big Hill, the heliport where Matt used to work. This is the view of where we had been earlier with Desolation in the background.

View to the west. I wish I could make an arrow on this photo. I’d point it to the mountain top that is Mt. Diablo, the mountain that I see due south when I walk Across the Road at my house. There is a strip of white above the mountains, below the blue-turning-pink part. Do you see a small dark bump just above that white strip, just to the right of center? That is the tip of Mt. Diablo. I think it’s interesting to see it from a totally different vantage point.