The photos and total acreage burned may look familiar, but rest assured the conditions faced by California Team 3 have been drastically different on the 55,756-acre Ranch Fire near Castaic, Calif., than they were in central Idaho in late August. The close-knit crew, led by Wood River Valley darling Jeanne Pincha-Tulley, is the Type 1 incident management team that oversaw firefighting activities on the Castle Rock Fire near Ketchum.
Arriving in the Ketchum area on Aug. 20, Pincha-Tulley and the rest of her team made the decisions, called the shots and managed the 1,700 or more firefighters that finally brought the Castle Rock Fire into full containment on Sept. 4, a full 19 days after the blaze began.
Since last Sunday, Pincha-Tulley and the team have managed the Ranch Fire, one of the numerous Santa Ana winds-driven wildfires that have scorched nearly 500,000 acres in Southern California in the past few weeks. In the onslaught of the largely uncontrolled blazes, an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 homes have been destroyed and thousands more remain threatened.
Official counts state that the fires have also caused the deaths of at least three people.
Out of 11 large wildfires burning across a wide area of Southern California, the Ranch Fire is the third largest. The most extensive blaze is the 196,240-acre Witch Fire one mile east of Ramona, Calif., which at last count on Thursday was 20 percent contained.
On the Ranch Fire, Pincha-Tulley and her highly efficient team had successfully brought the blaze to 70 percent containment early yesterday morning.
Late Wednesday, Pincha-Tulley took a several-minute break to report by phone on the conditions firefighters are facing there.
"It's pretty amazing," she said.
A seasoned hand in the Southern California October-to-November wildfire season, Pincha-Tulley said the dry and windy conditions that have led to this season's record-setting fires are without precedent, even when compared to the terrible 2003 fire season.
"I think this is coming out worse," she said.
Exuding the calm demeanor that made her regular updates so comforting for Wood River Valley residents, Pincha-Tulley predicted the Ranch Fire will be brought to 100 percent containment by today, Friday, Oct. 26. Once that's done, California Team 3 will likely be assigned somewhere else in Southern California, she said.
"I'm sure they'll keep the team intact," Pincha-Tulley said.
The conditions that have led to the extreme runs made by the fires have included winds in excess of 70 miles per hour, single-digit humidity readings and temperatures in the 90s, said Pat McElroy, liaison officer for the team.
"Welcome to fall in Southern California," McElroy said.
He said that within 48 hours after they were assigned to the Ranch Fire, the fast-moving blaze grew from just 200 acres to a whopping 54,218 acres.
"Our fire behavior analyst has informed us that with today's weather conditions, a one-acre spot fire could be expected to grow to 1,600 acres within one hour," McElroy reported in an e-mail earlier this week on Tuesday.
He said the fire has even impacted the lives of the California Team 3 members personally.
"Our operations chief lost his district office in the Angeles National Forest a couple of miles from here as he was out commanding the initial attack," McElroy said. "Some of us have friends who have either lost homes or been evacuated."
Both McElroy and Pincha-Tulley expressed gratitude for the concerned phone calls and e-mails they've received from residents in the Wood River Valley.
"Your concern for our well-being is greatly appreciated," McElroy said. "We thought we had made a few friends while we were up at the Castle Rock Fire. Thanks for proving it to us."
The Castle Rock Fire scorched approximately 48,000 acres around Ketchum but claimed no structures or lives.
Photo by Alexis West/Forest Service
Firefighters work the fire line on the approximately 55,000-acre Ranch Fire in Southern California. California Team 3, the Type 1 incident management team that fought the Castle Rock Fire near Ketchum in August and September, has been assigned to the large blaze since Sunday, Oct. 21.
