NEWS - Wildfire builds quickly in eastern Tulare Co. foothills

By Tim Sheehan / The Fresno Bee
07/14/07 04:24:07

SPRINGVILLE -- Water-carrying helicopters and airplanes laden with fire-retardant chemicals battled a wildfire Friday in the foothills of eastern Tulare County.

Cal Fire officials said the Yokohl fire was reported shortly after noon burning on Blue Ridge, off Yokohl Drive about 8 miles north of Springville.

Initially reported at about 10 acres, Cal Fire Capt. Larry Harris said, the blaze burned quickly through thick stands of tinder-dry chaparral, primarily manzanita and chamise, charring more than 200 acres within several hours and filling the valley below with acrid smoke.

Harris said the rugged terrain of the mountain ridge, at an elevation of about 4,500 feet, limited the initial firefighting efforts to aircraft.

"It's a very steep, rocky area that hasn't burned in years," Harris said from a staging area at Cal Fire's former Milo Station on Yokohl Drive.

"No one around here remembers when this area had a fire last," he said.

Becki Redwine, an information officer with Cal Fire's Tulare Unit, said officials estimated the fire had the potential to spread to about 1,000 acres.

No injuries were reported among either firefighters or civilians Friday, and there was no immediate threat to structures in the lightly populated area, she added, but some communication and radio towers on a nearby peak could be endangered.

Firefighters said they didn't know yet how the fire started.

By Friday evening, 13 engine crews, eight hand crews, five helicopters, seven air tankers, seven bulldozers, three spotter planes and 20 fire commanders -- a total of about 300 people -- were committed to the blaze by Cal Fire, the Tulare County Fire Department, the U.S. Forest Service and the Kern County Fire Department. One of the helicopters was sent from Sequoia National Park.

But in the afternoon, conditions were simply too dangerous because of an abundance of dry brush for firefighters to tackle the blaze on the ground.

"We had one crew hiking in," Harris said, "but they were uncomfortable with the amount of fuel between them and the fire so they decided to withdraw."

Instead, bulldozers were being used to cut fire lines, but by Friday evening firefighters reported they had yet to gain any degree of containment.

A 20-mile stretch of Yokohl Drive between Myer Drive, about 3 miles south of Highway 198, and Balch Park Road was closed Friday afternoon to keep traffic from interfering with the fire crews.

The rumble of airplane engines and the rhythmic chop of helicopter blades pierced the normal quiet. Guided by spotter airplanes, helicopters and air tankers flew into the column of smoke to drop their loads of water and chemicals on hot spots and then circle back.

Harris said the firefighting effort was expected to continue at least through the weekend.