Fire Engines Fire Engines
Wildland fires (forest fires out-of-control) are a constant headache in California. If winters have little rainfall, the underbrush becomes dry and highly-flammable. If rain is heavy, the trees grow taller and more vulnerable to "crowning" fires that dart from one treetop to another. So, every spring, fire departments from the 5 counties in the San Francicso Bay Area gather for a week of intensive training in wildland firefighting. For fire apparatus buffs like my dad and me, this is a GREAT opportunity to photograph fire engines we would not normally see. This 1991 Seagrave from Watsonville, CA, attended one such wildland fire drill at San Jose, CA, about 1995. Ed Hass photo
This page was last updated on February 16, 2001.