Today was an exciting day for our fire lookout staff – Rich Kinney and Sierra Swinney at Delilah Lookout, and Peggy Hellweg at Park Ridge Lookout.

Shortly after 1:00 PM, our lookouts spotted the “Peak” fire in the Three Rivers area. The fire was located about 6 miles north from a residential area on North Fork Drive, which could have posed a serious threat to the Three Rivers community. Emergency response was immediate and impressive – three air tankers were dispatched, including two large air tankers.

Park Ridge Lookout called in their smoke report to the Porterville dispatch center at 1:08 PM. However, since the fire was in a populated area, it had already been reported, and emergency crews were already responding. While Park Ridge didn’t get credit for being first to report it, they didn’t let that stop them from doing their job.

Both Park Ridge and Delilah lookouts worked together to triangulate the fire’s exact location – a valuable training exercise that doesn’t happen often. By taking readings from both lookout points, they were able to pinpoint the fire’s precise location like marking an “X” on a map.

The good news: firefighters successfully stopped the fire’s spread at 35 acres, preventing what could have been a major disaster for the Three Rivers area.

This was an excellent example of our fire lookout teams working together to quickly identify and help respond to a wildfire threat. Great work to everyone involved!