WrightwoodCalif.com Forum
Public Forums => Wrightwood History => Topic started by: GRAHAM_RANCH on Jun 23, 08, 11:14:37 PM
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(http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o267/tjranch91/wwfire1960.jpg)
Out of harm's way, several hundreds of children evacuated from area camps sit in Wrightwood's village. Looking to the west, many eyes could see the billowing dark smoke of fire eating its way through the timber of Big Pines.
Smelling the smoke coming from the vegetation fire in Cajon Pass should be a reminder to all of us that we are entering another bad fire season. Forest fires, of course, are not new around here. Being an old hotshot, I can tell you many stories of fires...and there is one that comes to mind. It was this time of year forty-eight years ago that the full campgrounds of the Big Pines area were force to empty in an evacuation that emptied Wrightwood of many volunteers.
Lightning storms struck the northeast area of the San Gabriel Mountains on Wednesday, July 21, 1960, leaving fire crews battling blazes on San Bernardino's Mt. McKinley and in Jesus Canyon and Puzzle Canyon, just three miles northwest of Big Pines. The San Bernardino Daily Sun newspaper heralded the bad news, "900 youth evacuated as massive forest fire burned uncontrolled towards Big Pines!" As the fire continued its match towards Big Pine, alarm got bigger as the fire got larger. The next place in line to be hit was Wrightwood! School buses, trucks, private cars and law enforcement vehicles were used to evacuate campers, many of them Boy Scouts, out of the camp grounds between Wrightwood and the Jackson Lake area. Many citizens from Wrightwood aided in the evacuation.
Hope was raised when the fire reached the timber. The tall wet trees were slowing down the spread of the fire! The high moisture content was heaven sent. Sure, it rained many times over the summer, but it was the timing of the moisture that made many raise a relieved, "Thank you," to the heavens. You see, hardly any crews were around to face this biggest body of fire. Several small crews of firefighters were already scrambling to extinguish twenty-seven other lightning caused spot fires in the Wrightwood area! Despite the slowing of the fire through Big Pines, there were some pulse racing times, especially when the fire entered Mescal Canyon and raced towards Jackson Lake and Big Pines. Next door was All Nation Camp (present day Elk), in the canyon was a small hand crew working desperately to anchor a fire line to a large bald spot on a ridge. Whipping smoke, sweat and grit from their eyes, the firefighters couldn't miss the two 1,000 gallon tanks of butane gas ready to explode! Fire creates its own wind. Influenced by weather and fire behavior, it is these factors that determines what type of wind the fire would cause. As luck...or providence, would have it, the wind reversed the fire for a moment. It was long enough for the fire to "button-hook" away from the pair of tanks of explosive gas, and avoid them completely! No doubt some hotshots thanked the boss upstairs, some crossed themselves-north, south, east and west-, and a few rubbed their lucky rabbit's foot that hung from the banjo canteen that was strapped to their backs.
Work was far from over for the fire fighters. Thankfully all the young campers were out of the area and safe and sound. A few days later, crews had all the hot spots surrounded. Wrightwood once again had dodged the bullet. The massive fire was dead. Fire crews sharpened hooks, pulaski', chainsaws, McClouds and shovels in preparation for the next big one. This massive fire, as the newspaper accounts put it, was 2,000 acres!
Over the years, technology to fight wildfires has improved, so they say. These days, computers literally dictate how fire bosses are to fight them. So much for years of progress in the fight against forest fires. According to the Forest Service National Fire Plan of 2002, the average size of a fire was over 20,000 acres. Think of the destruction this area would suffer if such a fire would once again come knocking on our door. Be careful out there...it's fire season. Our prayers and well wishes go to our fire crews that face the beast.