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Ukiah, CA
95482-1488
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Orr Springs Road,
August 3rd 2010
Gotta love them choppers!!
This fire was on Orr Springs Rd about 8 miles west of Ukiah. The photos are courtesy of Paula Ondov who has graciously consented to their use.
| The fire burned only an acre or two, and was kept confined mostly to grass with little forest involvement. The helicopter was very prompt getting onto the scene and was there for a couple of hours. Fortunately there was a pond right down the hill, so every couple of minutes he was dipping into it and dumping a new load of water. |  |
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The ground firemen came later when the helicopter had pretty much everything under control. After the helicopter left, they made a fire break all around the burned area to make sure it wouldn't spread.
The helicopter in these pictures is Copter 101, based at the Cal Fire Mendocino Unit headquarters at Howard Forest on the top of the Ridgewood (Willits) grade. Its bright orange Bambi Bucket carries 325 gallons of water plus a tiny amount of foam that makes the water “wetter.” There are 11 such copters in California, operating from 9 bases. The next nearest copter to us is located at the Boggs Mountain base near the town of Cobb.