Power House Fire 29,584 Acres

If you asked me on June 1, 2013 how my day would go I would have probably said "ok", "going out to take some pictures and enjoy a hike". Instead my day ended up in an unbelievable fire storm in Lake Hughes with roaring hundred foot flames chasing me through a canyon in the Angeles National Forest.

Would I have ever imagined trying to evacuate my daughter's boyfriends home through an emergency window since they were out hiking in the Kern River area and the house was dead bolted shut, probably not. Would I have imagined driving his jeep down a burning mountain road to escape flames from destroying it behind Camp Mendenhall, probably not. Would I have ever imagined my friend Dave Mills would have to push me through a small kitchen window to gain access into the nearly burning home, no way. But it all happened in a few surreal moments.

As the day grew hotter and drier things were changing drastically on the Power House Fire along Lake Hughes Road. Flames started to erupt out of the canyon by 10:00 am, it was clearly evident that the fire was going to jump out of Ruby Canyon and over to Lake Hughes Road. By 5:30 pm radio reports stated that the town of Lake Hughes was going to be impacted by fire and that Cottonwood Campground was being over run with fire.

By now flames with unbelievable speed and intensity filled the canyon devouring anything in its path. At the mouth of the canyon were homes and ranches directly in the path of flames. Chiefs were ordering crews out of the canyon and to go up canyon to protect homes. Fire engines from across the County were summoned to the blaze for immediate need structure protection. My only goal was to stay out of harms way and record some video of the inferno. As I looked back in my rear view mirror from leaving the forestry camp the entire canyon was ablaze in just moments. I had locked all his windows and removed what I could of his personal property for safe keeping. That is if I made it out of the canyon unharmed.

Several homes have been destroyed, 29,584 acres charred and 2,185 people are working the incident. Helicopters and fixed wing aircraft are working the perimeter and much more work needs to get finished before temperatures swell to 105 degrees by the weekend.

I will continue to cover this story as time allows. For now the forestry camp in Lake Hughes will need to be rebuilt, several families will have to try and recover serious loses and hopefully the road system will be opened soon.