Sonora Fire Chief Leads Strike Team In San Bernardino National Forest
Sonora, Ca — Firefighters from across the Mother Lode continue to help in the ongoing effort to control the catastrophic fires in Southern California.
Sonora Fire Chief Mike Barrows spent today leading a strike team from Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties help to protect homes and structures in Running Springs, an area located in the San Bernardino National Forest. The location is east of Lake Arrowhead, and west of Big Bear Lake.
“Basically, we are putting out all of the hot spots behind the structures,” says Barrows. “We´ve got one fire that´s working down in the canyon with pretty good potential, so we have aircraft coming in and making drops on that.”
Barrows reports that weather conditions are improving in the area.
“Things are significantly better,” notes Barrows. “Yesterday the fire was running really hard, while today the Santa Ana Winds have dropped off. I understand that there is low pressure coming in, so we are expecting some onshore flow. We are trying to mop up the edges of this, and prevent it from moving towards the structures that haven´t burned.”
The strike team was initially sent to the Malibu Fire when it arrived on Monday, and was re-deployed to the San Bernardino National Forest this morning.
Barrows is unsure how long the strike team will be on scene in Southern California, but says it could be in the neighborhood of two weeks.
Written by BJ Hansen
