The Charlie Fire was reported at 2:40 pm. Not long after, my youngest daughter ran into the family room where I was watching football and said there was a fire that looked really close. So I went to our stairway landing and she was right. The fire, from my vantage point, was somewhere between Castaic Lake and San Fransiquito Canyon. It was certainly closer than I’d like to see any fire.

It turned out the fire had started on Charlie Canyon Road, a beautiful area about 12 miles by car from our neighborhood, but about 6 miles as the crow flies. My neighbor, Mike Whitman, texted me to see if I wanted to go get a better view and perhaps watch the water pickups that would most certainly be originating from Castaic Lake. We took off from our neighborhood near 3:15 PM when the fire was only 60 acres in size.

By the time we returned home at 5 PM, the fire had grown to 1200 acres. By 6 PM it was at 3000 acres. The growth was amazing considering the swift response. By the time we left our neighborhood, we could already see the three helicopters and two super scoopers that had been ordered to the fire.

It was amazing to watch the efficiency of the effort. At first, the super scoopers were returning every five minutes, then it increased to every two minutes for a time. Eventually, we were asked to evacuate the spot on Lake Huges Road where we were taking photos, but I was glad to have the chance to see the effort up close. These firefighters are amazing.

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