On December 10 about six days after the Thomas Fire started it made a significant run to the west while pushed by strong Santa Ana winds. According to a “Blue Sheet” released by CAL FIRE, two strike teams of hand crews, which would normally be four crews of 12 to 20 persons each, had to retreat to a safer area. The report says they went to a “temporary refuge area”, TRA, which is a new term.  This is unlike a safety zone where firefighters could stage without a risk of fire impingement or the need for a fire shelter.

In this first incident one of the emergency crew transport (ECT) vehicles sustained minor heat damage when its route was blocked by another ECT.

In two other unrelated incidents on the fire that night involving staged equipment, a dozer and an all-terrain vehicle were damaged by the fire and an excavator was destroyed.