Incredible Video Of The Squirrel Creek Fire From The Air [VIDEO]

Over the weekend the folks of the California Interagency Incident Management Team 4, Rocky Opliger, Incident Commander, flew over the Squirrel Creek fire and took this video with the descriptions of what you are seeing listed below. This video came to us courtesy of KTGA 99.3.

0:10 – Managers fly over Sheep Mountain, assess fire and plan attack
0:45 – Notice helicopter flying close to fire in center of screen
1:15 – Notice flames “spotting” ahead of the main fire
1:40 – The narrow, road cut is historic railroad line
1:52 – Dozers used for creating line around fire’s edge
1:58 – Helicopter drops water directly onto hot spot at edge of fire
2:25 – Lead plane lets out plume of smoke so air tanker coming in from behind can judge wind speed for retardent drop
2:38 – Air tanker lays retardant across edge of fire on Sheep Mtn.
2:56 – Flame engulfs beetle killed trees
3:06 – Fire burns through dead fuels on forest floor and attacks healthy trees. Notice fire line on right
3:23 – “Camp Squirrel”: Type I Incident Mangagement Team 4 from California headquarted at Laramie High School