Tim Eggar, 59, uses the back of his hand to feel for hot spots under debris on the forest floor in a fire zone. Using your palm or fingers instead is a good way to get burned, he said.
If an area feels hot to the touch, then they spray it down with water, Eggar said.
Eggar and his son, Trevon Eggar, 23, traveled 500 miles from Idaho to help fire crews battle the Caldor Fire in El Dorado County. The men spent much of Thursday along Mormon Emigrant Trail just east of Pollock Pines “cold trailing,” a fire mitigation process that involves digging up the forest floor to extinguish embers and prevent flare-ups.
Embers can smolder and hide for hours in pine needles and other debris on the forest floor. Just a little breeze moving through the area can ignite it, they said.
As of Saturday, the Caldor Fire has burned more than 82,000 acres — 130 square miles, an area more than twice the size of the city of Stockton — and destroyed at least 245 structures since it ignited early last Saturday morning near Omo Ranch and the unincorporated community of Grizzly Flats, which saw entire neighborhoods destroyed. …
Cassie Dickman 