Sunday, August 30, 2009

Heat, 02 and Fuel

Pasadena, CA -- It is the Scarecrow's greatest fear and Southern California's kryptonite.

Add 100-degree days, 15% humidity and wind, and you have a cocktail from hell. The good news is that the winds died down, temperatures are supposed to be lower today and there are no other major fires at the time, which allows all surrounding fire-fighting resources to concentrate on this fire.

All day Saturday, dozens of water and Phos-Chek-dropping aircraft orbited the city, waiting their turn at being a modern day dragon-slayer. Everything from helicopters to a DC-10 swooped over the flames and dumped their precious cargo on the flames.

A Sikorsky Skycrane drops water onto a hotspot near NASA's, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. At the same time, neighbors lining the streets cheered each drop as if it were a show. The same people also gave each passing fire engine a thunderous ovation of appreciation. They usually got a loud blast of the horn in return as acknowledgment.

California Highway Patrol officers turned away both curious observers as well as residents at the top of Lake Avenue today. Some motorist claimed that family members were still in their homes while others just wanted a closer look at the raging fire.

4 comments:

J.J. in L.A. said...

I posted a pic of my view of the fire from my house...

http://jjinla.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Nice shot, J.J.. The wide angle lens makes everything look far away. Can you see and smell the smoke this morning? It's sickening.

Petrea Burchard said...

Great post, JT. I didn't know what all those aircraft were called. I just knew when they flew over it felt like the cavalry was coming in.

So how come the police let you stand up there and take pictures, eh? Nice job.

Hard to breathe today, my nose is burning.

Anonymous said...

That was probably the helicopter I photographed huh?