Hot shots wait for planes to clear path

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Arrowbear-Running Springs:

Two 21-man U.S. Forest Service crews -- the Feather River Hot Shots and the Breckenridge Hot Shots -- sipped boxed Starbucks coffee in the parking lot of Blondie’s Bar and Grill as they waited for water-dropping planes and helicopters to clear a safe path for them. The crews planned to hike in when it was safe to build a containment line with their saws and pulaskis, an axe-like tool used to fight wildfires.

“We’re just getting a feel of what the fire is doing ... it’s a pretty steady line of fire moving down the southwest,” said Hot Shot Capt. Ray Torres of the Feather River group. “We’ve got some folks scouting to see how we can get in there to actually start attacking this thing.”

Jason Foreman, lead saw on the Breckenridge Hot Shot crew, said the clouds of smoke signified the peak burn period of the day.

“It’s so erratic, we haven’t been able to get out there. ... We might spread ourselves too thin,” said Foreman, 29. Most recently, Foreman said his crew had worked the initial attack on the fire around Lake Isabella in California and the Gray’s Creek Fire in Idaho in early September.

“They were nothing like this,” he said, eyeing the smoke along the ridgeline.

-- Maeve Reston