Tankers in SoCal

Last week 10 Tanker was working on two major fires in Southern California.

The first being the Rowher Fire that broke out on Jul 1, around 2:45 p.m. near Sierra Highway and covered an estimated 400 acres by 5 p.m, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. By Jul 2nd the fire grew to 620 acres, but with 400 firefighters leading the attack on the ground & Tankers 912 and 910 overhead, containment reached 60%.

Our Tankers did a combination of 7 drops in total, dropping over 64,096 gallons of retardant over the Rowher Fire. As of today the fire is at 98% containment thanks to everyone involved.

Not long after, the Soledad Fire started at about 3:30 p.m on July 5. It spread along the 14 Freeway east of Santa Clarita, with gusty 20 to 30 mph winds, the fire grow into an 800-acre blaze within a couple of hours.

The following morning at a press briefing a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Fire Department said an updated size estimate of the Soledad Fire east of Santa Clarita is 1,300 acres “but the number could grow a little”. Lucky the fire currently remains at 1,498 acres with 200 personnel on the job containment percentage continues to grow (currently at 87%).

Here’s a shot of Tanker 911 doing a drop over the Soledad Fire: