Posted on Sep 6, 2020
Helicopters rescue US campers trapped by fire
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Helicopters have rescued dozens of people trapped after a wildfire set 36,000 acres alight and cut off a popular reservoir in California.
More than 150 campers were rescued from the site, media say. At least a dozen were hurt, some with serious burns.
The Creek Fire began on Friday in the Sierra National Forest, cutting off the Mammoth Pool Reservoir, 40 miles (60km) north-east of Fresno.
The temperature has hit 47C (117F), part of a record heatwave in the state.
The fast-moving Creek Fire started at about 18:45 on Friday in the forest, an area of steep and rugged terrain.
A tweet from the Fresno County Fire Protection District just before midnight local time (0700 BST) said 63 people had been rescued by military helicopter and taken to Fresno Yosemite International Airport.
It read: "Aircraft are returning to continue rescue operations, Unknown how many more."h
More than 150 campers were rescued from the site, media say. At least a dozen were hurt, some with serious burns.
The Creek Fire began on Friday in the Sierra National Forest, cutting off the Mammoth Pool Reservoir, 40 miles (60km) north-east of Fresno.
The temperature has hit 47C (117F), part of a record heatwave in the state.
The fast-moving Creek Fire started at about 18:45 on Friday in the forest, an area of steep and rugged terrain.
A tweet from the Fresno County Fire Protection District just before midnight local time (0700 BST) said 63 people had been rescued by military helicopter and taken to Fresno Yosemite International Airport.
It read: "Aircraft are returning to continue rescue operations, Unknown how many more."h
Helicopters rescue US campers trapped by fire
Posted from bbc.com
Helicopters
Camping
Firefighting
State of California
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
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Congratulations to the California Air National Guard that was able to move in with aircraft and evacuate these campers. This was actually quite an event. Approximately 200 campers were caught behind the fire lines and they brought us Chinook in and took them out in several loads. There were injuries but none life threatening.
I run a Facebook group for the Southern California mountain area. I am surrounded by two way radios and I can hear a flea fart a hundred miles away. I can tell you that the El Dorado fire in fact has blown up and they just called in the fact that there is a family advising that their home is on fire but they refuse to evacuate. Because this is a federal events with County and CALFIRE as Co-operators, aircraft cannot go up until 30 minutes after sunrise and have to be down 30 minutes before sunset. This is because of The Sundowner law that went into effect probably 15 years ago when to aviation assets collided mid-air. There is one CALFIRE helicopter operating under CALFIRE authority. He's limited on what he can do.
I run a Facebook group for the Southern California mountain area. I am surrounded by two way radios and I can hear a flea fart a hundred miles away. I can tell you that the El Dorado fire in fact has blown up and they just called in the fact that there is a family advising that their home is on fire but they refuse to evacuate. Because this is a federal events with County and CALFIRE as Co-operators, aircraft cannot go up until 30 minutes after sunrise and have to be down 30 minutes before sunset. This is because of The Sundowner law that went into effect probably 15 years ago when to aviation assets collided mid-air. There is one CALFIRE helicopter operating under CALFIRE authority. He's limited on what he can do.
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