Cuyama Wildfire

[JimFox]

Coming back from running up to Pismo Beach for the worlds best Clam Chowder, I decided to head back to SoCal by cutting across to the I-5 to go south as opposed to taking the normal 101 PCH Highway. I had no idea there was a wildfire that was very close to the 166 Highway. It wasn't until driving for 45 mins or so that some smoke was seen on the horizon. The 166 Hwy was open, but about 20 mins after shooting these, they did close the road behind me.

I did take these shots from 3 different vantage points as I headed east. Here are a few photos, I have some more to process that I will post later.

Jim

It's amazing to me that this one tree burned while 2 trees next to it were not touched.

These next two are not quite as sharp as I would like but are sharp enough to document the plane dropping the fire retardant.

 

[AlanLichty]

Nice shots of a not so nice event. I find it amazing to even think about making fire retardant passes in a 747. That's not exactly an agile airplane.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Good ones Jim.

But Alan, just think of the capacity or a 747? And now that they are being phased out, probably a bargain as well.

 

[AlanLichty]

Good ones Jim.

But Alan, just think of the capacity or a 747? And now that they are being phased out, probably a bargain as well.

No question about the carrying capacity and bargain basement prices (on a relative scale). I was thinking more about trying to maneuver one of those behemoths in close quarters over a fire.

 

[JimFox]

Thanks you guys!

As for the 747, for sure it's not the most nimble. Now they did have a lead plane that the 747 followed. And they did seem to take wide sweeping turns to get into position.

 

[Bob Denton]

Sad but good photography.

 

[BarryHamilton]

Good shots, Jim. But man.....sad there's another fire!

 

[MonikaC]

Good PJ work, Jim. I'm used to seeing helicopters carrying fire retardant here, not planes, so that was interesting. So many fires....

 

[Jeffrey]

Oh man, this state is burning up. And others, too. Nice pics Jim but sorry you had to get close to this event. I'm so sad for the displaced or dead wildlife all over the west as a result of all these fires.

 

[JimFox]

Good PJ work, Jim. I'm used to seeing helicopters carrying fire retardant here, not planes, so that was interesting. So many fires....

Thanks Monika, yeah so many fires with no end in sight.

 

[David S]

If they are using that powdery stuff some really big industrial drones might hit the target even better ! But thats probably in the works for the future. Nice shots, sad fire..

 

[dan swiger]

Good "on-the-spot" captures! Too many, too close

 

[JimFox]

If they are using that powdery stuff some really big industrial drones might hit the target even better ! But thats probably in the works for the future. Nice shots, sad fire..

Ha ha, I haven't seen any 747 sized drones yet. So I think these airplanes will be in service for a while. I would also think an airplane would perform much better in that hot environment with rapidly shifting thermals then a drone would.

How big are these industrial drones you are referring too? I have only really seen the little ones that are like 18" wide. I think the military uses drones to fire some missiles? Not positive, but I guess they would have to be pretty good sized if that was the case.

 

[JimFox]

Good "on-the-spot" captures! Too many, too close

Thanks Dan. That was pretty close, and by the time we had left and driven 20 or so miles past it, the road was closed to traffic in both directions, so we really made it through there just in time.