San Diego firefight takes turn for the good

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North San Diego County:

After 12 hours of supervising air support above San Diego County’s Witch and Harris fires, Chief Ray Chaney ended his day on a note of optimism.

‘Today was a day of twists and turns, but twists and turns for the better,’ said Chaney, air tactical group supervisor with Cal Fire.

Speaking from the Ramona Airport, where a command center was located, he said: ‘There are certainly areas where we’re having difficulty getting air crews and ground crews to the fire. But we were able to make a stand and succeeded. The DC-10 (water tanker) did exceptional drops.’

In the Deer Horn Valley, where there are hundreds of homes, the tanker was able to tamp down the fire to the point where ‘it went from black, boiling flame to a white smoke.’

Ground crews followed up with engines and bulldozers. None of the Deer Valley homes were lost, he said.

The day began with winds above 35 mph that caused moderate to severe turbulence, grounding air tankers above the Witch Fire. But by the afternoon, three air tankers, one helicopter, an air attack, fixed-wing plane and a command and control plane were in the air above both fires.

Chaney said that in anticipation of high winds, the agency had brought in helicopters and other aircraft from Northern California days earlier. But they lacked enough command and control craft to direct the air attack.

‘Anytime you have this number of fires, you’re going to be strapped for resources,’ said Chaney.

But Chaney said he and his crews were ready to begin operations again at daybreak Tuesday, with ‘tons’ more aircraft expected to arrive from northern California and outside the state.

-- Garrett Therolf