Adventure Fire burns 100 acres northwest of Placerville, California

Adventure Fire
Dozer puts in fire line on the Adventure Fire north of Placerville, California, July 16, 2015. CAL FIRE photo.

The Adventure Fire burned about 100 acres 8 miles northwest of Placerville, California Thursday afternoon. The only reason we’re writing about this 100-acre fire is that we ran across this excellent photo of a dozer that we wanted to share.

But, since we’re here — we might as well mention also that we have an unconfirmed report saying the first engine that arrived at the fire observed a slow rate of spread and canceled the aircraft. Sometime after that, the slow rate of spread changed to a rapid rate of spread.

CAL FIRE said it was reported at 12:05 p.m. In mid-afternoon quite a few additional resources were ordered, including several crews and an “immediate need” strike team of engines. Later, many resources, both on the ground and in the air, were able to corral it. By about 5 p.m. most of the spread had been stopped.

Below are the weather observations taken from the Pilot Hill RAWS weather station 3 miles west of the fire:

Pilot Hill weather
Weather at Pilot Hill RAWS station, July 16, 2015.

By 1 p.m. it was 90 degrees with 26 percent relative humidity and a 7 mph wind gusting to 13. Over the next three hours it got hotter and drier.

One of the cardinal rules of initial attack on a wildland fire is, do not turn around any responding firefighting resources until you are absolutely, totally, unreservedly, unconditionally, altogether, certain that they are not needed.

Have I ever mentioned Dr. Gabbert’s Prescription for how to keep new fires from becoming megafires?

Rapid initial attack with overwhelming force using both ground and air resources, arriving within the first 10 to 30 minutes when possible.

Map adventure fire
Map showing heat detected by a satellite on the Adventure Fire at 2:46 p.m. July 16, 2015.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.