Sawtooth & Millard complexes char more than 85,000 acres, destroy buildings in historic California town

PHOTO JEFF ZIMMERMAN The Sawtooth Complex burned 446 acres and the Millard Complex burned 9,004 acres in California's San Bernardino National Forest.

Not even the Cisco Kid could have battled the fast-moving fire that recently swept through historic Pioneertown, Calif., the setting for many Hollywood Westerns of the 1940s and 1950s. The Sawtooth Complex, ignited by lightning strikes on July 9, burned multiple structures in the desert community and forced the evacuation of at least 1,000 residents in the Yucca Valley area, about two hours east of Los Angeles.

On July 11, a multi-agency team from local departments started structure protection in the area. Mike Cassidy, a fire information officer working in the fire's joint operations center, says crews initially had the upper hand on the fire; however, with the high winds and low humidity, the fire escaped containment lines and "came back to life."

The following day, winds shifted, pushing the fire in a southwesterly direction into the rugged, inaccessible terrain of the San Bernardino National Forest. A unified command was then established between the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) Type 1 Incident Command Team, led by Rick Henson. The fire had already burned at least 37,000 acres and was only 15 percent contained.

2 Fires Merge
Also on July 9, lightning triggered another group of fires, the Millard Complex, near Cabazon, located along Interstate 10, which cuts through the San Bernardino Mountains.

On July 13 a unified command was established among a Type 2 incident management team (IMT) led by Norm Walker, a CDF Type 1 IMT led by Dale Hutchinson and the Riverside County Fire Department. The complex, comprised of the State, Jump Off, For Sure and Millard fires, burned through chaparral and conifer. Cassidy, who was the safety officer on the Millard Complex, says fire officials realized the fires would merge; fortunately, the Millard Complex was positioned to burn into the heel and inactive part of the Sawtooth Complex, limiting worries that this merging would create explosive fire behavior. On the afternoon of Friday, July 14, the fires merged in the Mission Creek drainage. "Once they joined, we could focus on one perimeter instead of two," Cassidy notes.

The 53,000-acre Sawtooth Complex and the 8,300-acre Millard Complex were then brought under the unified command of both the CDF (San Bernardino Unit) and the USFS. Despite the unified perimeter, fire officials chose to treat the complexes as separate incidents. "Both incident commanders stayed in close contact with each other," Cassidy says. He adds that the teams listened to each other's radio frequencies to ensure any tactics would not hamper fire suppression activities. Further, the teams used Mission Creek as a line of demarcation, primarily for the safety of the aircraft. "Aircraft on the Sawtooth stayed to the northeast; aircraft on the Millard stayed to the southwest," Cassidy notes.

PHOTO RYAN MYERS More than 3,000 fire personnel battled the Sawtooth and Millard complexes, which together burned approximately 85,000 acres.

Together, the fires now covered more than 95 square miles. According to the CDF, as of July 15, the Millard Complex had burned 15,500 acres and was only 10 percent contained. More than 900 fire personnel worked that fire, including 20 crews, 31 engines and 22 helicopters. As for the Sawtooth Complex, 2,896 (1,363 CDF) fire personnel worked the fire, including 83 crews (53 CDF), 239 engines (80 CDF), eight CDF airtankers, 15 helicopters (two CDF), 30 dozers (18 CDF) and 40 water tenders. Further, this complex had already destroyed 30 structures, damaged 42 homes and damaged or destroyed 89 vehicles.

To make matters worse, the complexes were now advancing through the heavily populated San Bernardino Mountains and toward the mountaintop resort community of Big Bear. The mountains were littered with trees killed by bark beetles and drought, providing ample fuel for the fire. Fortunately, Cassidy says, an aggressive air show prevented the fire from reaching the community.

On July 16, history was made when a modified DC-10, Tanker 910, dropped fire retardant on the Sawtooth Complex, marking the first time a DC-10 has been used in a firefighting capacity. Three separate external tanks with a capacity of 12,000 gallons of retardant were used during Tanker 910's two flights, helping build a buffer of retardant between the fire and Big Bear, while allowing ground crews to get in position to build a containment line. (For more information about firefighting DC-10s, see "Fire Aviation News," August issue, p. 41.)

1 Complex Down
The Sawtooth Complex was declared 100 percent contained on July 18. According to the CDF, the fire ultimately burned 61,700 acres and destroyed 50 homes, eight mobile homes, 13 garages, 171 outbuildings, 191 cars and pickup trucks, three RVs, 27 trailers, two railcars and nine tractors; 12 residences were damaged. There were 17 minor injuries and one civilian fatality.

With the containment of the Sawtooth Complex, command of the Millard Complex was transferred to a Type 1 IMT led by Bill Molumby on July 19. A week later, once the fire was further contained, command was transferred to a Type 3 IMT led by Ron Hunt. Cassidy says the team checks the fire many times a day, but there's no way to make a complete containment line on a fire located in such inaccessible, rugged terrain. As of press time, the Millard Complex had burned approximately 24,000 acres and was 75 percent contained.