Caminos -1 Staged as the fire runs fro Mt. Bigelow on May 30th.
The Bullock Forest Fire started May 19th in the Reddington Pass area of the Coronado National Forest, Santa Catalina Ranger District - Arizona. The fire spread to threaten homes and communications resources on top of Mt. Lemmon, north of Tucson. On Monday, May 27th, "El Mac" was dispatched along with 7 other CAF units to the Summerhaven residential area to protect homes. Units worked for days prepping the area, (raking pines needles away from homes, moving wood piles, setting up sprinklers, etc). On Friday the 31st, a burn out was conducted adjacent to the Summerhaven village. Just prior to the burn out, the compressed air foam (CAF) units foamed down homes and land area in the community. The fire made a serious threat to the community, but favorable winds shifted the fire brand storm back over on itself and away from the village. "El Mac" continued spot fire patrol through Sunday, June 2nd.
| FIRE THREATENS MT. BIGELOW
Caminos -1 Staged as the fire runs fro Mt. Bigelow on May 30th. |
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| Fire continues up Mt. Bigelow. The white smoke in the foreground is the burn out near the Upper Bear Wallow cabins. | |
| Caminos 1 stages with Apache Junction CAF unit at Aspen Lookout. | |
| A water pumpkin sits ready at Aspen Lookout as Mt. Bigelow burns. A Type 1 Sky Crane is barely visible in the center of the smoke. | |
| One more shot of Bigelow | |
| Painting Cabins with foam on the 29th in the Upper Soldier's Camp area. | |
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| And foaming a Soldier's Camp cabin on the 31st. | |
| Laying foam in Summerhaven (Bisbee Road) on the 31st | |
| A Summerhaven Cabin on Tucson Ave. (May31st) | |
| Foam covered as much of the village as time and resources allowed. | |
| Almost looks like snow in the mountains. | |
| The major threat to the cabins was a fire brand storm. The foam was applied to extinguish any fire brands landing on or near a structure. | |
| Note the fire (smoke) just over the the Loma Linda Ridge in the upper left of this photo. | |
| Water and equipment is stored at the Loma Linda Extension turnoff in preparation for the Loma Linda Burn. | |
| Loma Linda area burns hot in the dusk photo on the 31st. | |
| This photo was taken at Loma Linda Extension Road and the Mt. Lemmon Highway on the 31st. Fire threatening the village is a real thing. | |
FOAM PRODUCTION:
Seven CAF units were on hand to aid in protecting the cabins of Mt. Lemmon. Due to the high number of cabins, approximately 500, and the limited time, resources, and most importantly water supply, most of the foamed cabins only received one coating of foam. The large foam bubbles only remained for an hour or less, however, the applied areas remained damp for much longer. The goal was to spread as much moisture as possible over as large an area as possible to reduce the threat of fire brand ignition. No cabins on top of the mountain burned.
Caminos -1 applied a total of 15 gallons of foam at .3%.
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