Title: 1980 Panorama Fire
Date: Tuesday November 24, 2009
Notes: On this date in 1980 a Santa Ana Wind driven firestorm raged in the hills above San Bernardino.
Seventy to ninety mile-an-hour winds pushed the 23,600-acre fire down into the city killing four people and destroying 280 homes, damaging 49 homes, and damaging or destroying 64 other structures causing over $40 million in damage.
Title: November 25, 1956 Inaja Fire
Location: Cleveland National Forest, San Diego County
Notes: At 8:05 P.M. on this date in 1956, a Santa Ana Wind-driven brush fire in the Cleveland National Forest in the San Diego County backcountry experienced a blow-up in one particular canyon that contained a dozen and a half firefighters in it.
Although one USFS employee and six inmate firefighters escaped, eleven firefighters did not and were burned alive when they became entrapped.
Killed were three USFS employees, one state corrections officer and seven inmate firefighters.
Ultimately, 43,611 acres were consumed.
On an ironic side-note, the 2003 Cedar Fire started about 1.5 miles from the location where these firefighters died.
More Santa Ana winds predicted for Saturday.
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