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Ridge Fire 100 Percent Contained (Update 4)

Mop Up Continues

By News Team
Monday, July 7, 2008

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Update 4 — Monday 3 p.m.

Yucaipa, CA — Firefighters battling the Ridge Fire near Yucaipa have declared the fire 100% contained. Fire officials stated full control should be expected later in the week as firefighters continue to mop up hot spots within the fire perimeter.

The Ridge Fire started July 3 at 1:34 p.m. on Yucaipa Ridge near the community of Yucaipa. Hot dry conditions allowed the fire to spread rapidly up to the top of the ridge line burning 263 acres in an area surrounded by ranch style homes. Firefighters arrived shortly after the first call to discover the fire was immediately threatening to burn homes in the area. Quick and decisive actions by firefighters prevented any damage to homes or structures in the area.

"The firefighters got in there, quickly assessed the fire and immediately worked to reduce the threat to any structures in the area — very commendable work," said Dan Snow, Chief with the San Bernardino National Forest.

Smoke looms behind Yucaipa Ridge to the south of Mountain Home Village as a firefighting plane continues the fight. (Photo by Scott Straley.)

At the peak of the fire, over 400 fire personnel from the US Forest Service, CAL FIRE, San Bernardino County Fire Department and local agencies fought the fire. Ground crews were supported by six airtankers and three helicopters and an air attack plane. The airtankers alone dropped 60,721 gallons of fire retardant. An estimated 500,000 gallons of water was used by helicopters and ground crews.

One US Forest Service firefighter suffered heat exhaustion early in the battle Thursday and was transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center. The firefighter was treated and released that evening and has returned to work.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. The preliminary findings ruled out arson and fireworks as the cause, according to a Forest Service media advisory.

Update 3 — Monday 4:40 a.m.

Yucaipa, CA — Fire officials have declined to declare the Ridge Fire near Yucaipa fully contained but did pull weary fire crews off the fire overnight.

At 8:29 p.m. last night, the Ridge incident commander informed fire dispatchers the fire would be un-staffed overnight but all units would be returning Monday morning.

"The fire will be re-staffed Monday morning at 8 a.m.," according to scanner transmissions. "There will be some smoke showing through the night."

Update — Saturday 9:51 a.m.

Yucaipa, CA — Firefighters now expect full containment of the Ridge Fire near Yucaipa by 6 p.m. TODAY. It is now considered 85 percent contained and has slowly grown to 275 acres.

Windy conditions in the area Friday kept ground and aerial crews scrambling to put out hot spots while the mop-up operation continued. About 200 personnel remain at the scene.

US Forest Service spokesperson John Miller reported the cause of the fire is still under investigation. However, Miller did indicate the fire was started by a human but investigators do not consider it arson.

No evacuations were required during the Ridge Fire and officials only reported one incident involving a firefighter who was transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center suffering from heat exhaustion.

Update — Friday 2:25 p.m.

Yucaipa, CA — The Ridge Fire is now 75 percent contained with fire authorities hopeful that full containment can be accomplished by late this afternoon or early evening.

The fire is holding at 250 acres and winds at 1:30 p.m. were reported to be about 16 miles per hour blowing in a northwesterly direction. Temperature on the fire line at the same time was 96 degrees.

Ridge Fire as seen from Bryant and Fir Street in Yucaipa. Retardant on the mountainside can be seen in upper left hand portion of photo. (Photo by Deb Nelson.)

Aerial support is assisting about 375 ground crews in the mop-up operation that is expected to last 2-3 days.

Original Story

Yucaipa, CA – Fire officials are reporting the Ridge Fire near Yucaipa is about 15 percent contained and expect to be on the fire line for two to three days. Containment is expected by 8 p.m. tonight.

The Ridge Fire broke out at 1:34 p.m. Thursday and has consumed about 250 acres with one US Forest Service firefighter transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center suffering from heat exhaustion.

Tanker 00 making a retardant drop on the Ridge Fire (Photo by Dave Henderson.)

At 10:18 p.m. Thursday evening, the command center requested two air tankers to be available on base by 8 a.m. today. The incident commander had earlier requested water dropping helicopters for 7 am.

Forest Service officials told RIMOFTHEWORLD.net reporters on the fire line that the blaze is burning toward the area where the Jefferson Fire burned in 2006. The same public information officers—John Miller and Bob Poole—reported the cause of the fire is under investigation.

At the current time," Miller said late yesterday, "there is nothing to lead us to believe its arson or fireworks."

KNBC Channel 4 reported yesterday that a homeowner clearing brush away from his residence with a tractor might have started the fire. Authorities have not confirmed that report.

No evacuations have been ordered even though at one point the Ridge Fire threatened several homes. Structure protection crews were in place and prevented the flames from reaching the residences.

One of the helicopters involved in aerial support yesterday was a Type 1 chopper (Helitanker 761) stationed at Camp Pendleton. Aerial tankers came from as far away as Porterville in the San Joaquin Valley near Fresno.

Highway 38 remained open during yesterday's firefighting efforts and smoke and ash drifted into the Big Bear and Mountain Home Village.

Spokesperson Poole told RIMOFTHEWORLD.net that while resources are spread thin because of fires burning in Northern California, incident commanders were getting the resources they needed to fight the fire and securing equipment and ground crews had not been a problem.

See BLAZE for original story.

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