Photos sent in by reader of a Cal Fire helicopter on its way to an incident.

On July 8th, a Cal Fire helicopter landed in a field not far from the Mad River Hatchery in Blue Lake. A crew weighed down with tools for fighting a wildland fire climbed aboard and headed out to a remote location only accessible by river and helicopter.  They carried a submersible pump and with that and various hand tools they would squelch a fire caused by careless humans.

The fire was just one of many this summer. For comparison’s sake, LoCO asked Cal Fire to provide statistics on incidents they responded to between Cal Fire’s Cricket Baird says

I just watched a cal fire chopper land in the field near the mad river hatchery, in bluelake. They picked up what looked to be a hot shot crew. I was told they were heading to the swazey dam, about 7 miles up river from the hatchery, towards maple creek.

I heard initial calls said someone smelled pot burning. Heard rumors that the fire was associated to a bust. Also heard they were escaping by kayak, but that source is nit that trustworthy. I asked the firefighters getting out of the helicopter if they got it out, they said yes. I work out here at the hatchery