Esperanza fire

For those of us that grew up here major wildland fires are commonplace. It's Southern California. It's hot and dry, and we are in a valley surrounded by hills covered in (usually) dead brush. We are accustomed to seeing large smoke headers throughout the summer. For those of us that were former volunteers, it makes your heart race and makes you really miss the fire line. However, when a fire turns deadly, which is rare, it makes your heart sink, and you feel a knot in your stomach. The fire dept still seems like family, and any loss of life is tragic. They haven't released any names yet, and hopefully I don't know any of them. I am out at work and can't see much beyond the mountains but mom says its miserable at her house. It's raining ash and you can hardly see in front of you. Some have left the valley because it is too hard to breathe. Its been a long time since we had one this bad.

The Esperanza fire started earlier today, and by 1600 hrs it was at 10,000+ acres, claimed 4 lives, and is suspected to be caused by arson. Our local paper / www.pe.com has good coverage and photos, its free to register. For those of you that are aware of the beetle problem in Idyllwild, this fire is dangerously close and poses a major threat. The trees have been dying off at an alarming rate for the past few years, and if a fire makes it up there it will be disasterous.

Our agency sent one engine to the fire, but the fatalities were from the US Forest Service. Please pray for the families of the firefighters.

This photo was taken in Lamb Canyon.

For incident information: http://appsweb.co.riverside.ca.us/firepio/process?action=viewIncidents