The landscape is now charcoal black.
BLOG: Valley View
By Zenobia Khaleel
SAN FRANCISCO:You kiss your Monday morning blues goodbye when you step out of the house to be greeted by a dreadful vision. A not so distant hill alighted by fiery trails and plumes of smoke blending into the post dawn sky. The mad scramble of the day screeched to a halt as the neighborhood stood out in the street watching in morbid fascination as the natural disaster unfolded right in front of our eyes.
California is notorious for its wildfires and this year’s drought ridden summer saw hectares of the mighty Yosemite and the Sierra succumb to flames. But this weekend’s blaze at Mt. Diablo; which is just a stone’s throw away from my town, hits personally, like a calamity that befalls a close friend.
Mt. Diablo (named after the devil) is the highest peak on the eastern fringe of the San Francisco Bay region. Its extensive network of trails, far fetching views that stretch up to the Golden Gate, numerous campsites and wind sculpted rock formations, make it a favorite watering hole in the East Bay, where the best travel options are hike, bike, backpack or horse back. For family campouts or community picnics, to catch a meteor shower or sight Venus in its full glory, and for our only access to snow in the whole of Bay Aarea; we head off to the Diablo hills.
The wildfire was reported shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday, on dry, steep terrain that fueled the rapid spread of the blaze. Aided by erratic winds, it tripled in size and scorched more than 3,700 acres of dry brush and old oaks. The fire threatened electrical transmission lines, communications infrastructure on Mt. Diablo and historical buildings at the summit.
By Monday morning, an evacuation order was in effect for about 100 houses in the rural community on the outskirts of the mountain. Fire officials had to call in a reserve of 700 firefighters to battle the fury of the flames.
With the continuous spate of fires this summer, the reserve firefighters have been battling fires back to back for almost a month. The force was on the line fighting the Aspen Fire in the Sierra National Forest for 11 days before being dispatched to the Rim Fire in Yosemite for 12 days.
The reserve force takes it in their stride, relying on training, coffee and lots of moral support from back home.
The Diablo neighborhood is made up largely of sprawling ranches and rural farmhouses. Among the evacuees were horses, cows, goats, hens and miniature ponies. Horse trailers snaked down the mountain slopes, carting the animals out of the fire zone. The Contra Costa county fairgrounds, and the Equestrian Center of Walnut Creek, have taken in the animals. Red Cross has set up an evacuation center at the Clayton Library, where shelter and lunch is provided for displaced residents.
“It feels like a neighborhood sleepover”, says a resident.
The biggest challenges faced by the firefighters were the rocky terrain, and accessibility. The dry foliage acts like a tinderbox, ready to burst. Air tankers and helicopter hovered over the summit dropping fire retardants, while bull dozers paved way for firefighters. They managed to isolate the inferno into unpopulated canyons southwest of the summit.
The cooler temperatures, and humidity of the midweek has aided the rescue efforts, and the fire containment is now 60 percent and rising. The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District is upbeat that the fire would be fully contained by the next weekend.
The estimated burn area of the Mt. Diablo fire is 3,243 acres, structural damage has been limited to a few outhouses, and human casualty is limited to minor injuries to three firefighters.
Meanwhile, the evacuation orders have been lifted by Tuesday evening, and residents are trickling in to find the charred remains of their panoramic backyard. The landscape that once featured blades of golden grass, wildflowers and oaks, is now charcoal black.
(Zenobia Khaleel has donned a lot of hats; writer, photographer, travel enthusiast, troop leader, amateur actor, event coordinator, community volunteer, but predominantly go by the title Mom.)
To contact the author, e-mail: zenobiakhaleel@americanbazaaronline.com