Silverado Canyon Wildfire (Cleveland National Forest)

As many of you know a wildfire broke out on Friday September 12, 2014 in the Cleveland National Forest's Silverado Canyon. The smoke from the fire was visible to many residents in Southern California. The approximate location of where the fire was is right near the hike to Bedford Peak. On Friday the fire blackened more than 1,600 acres in steep terrain, heavy brush and near triple-digit heat, forcing mandatory evacuations of about 30 homes in Silverado Canyon.

The fire grew quickly after starting at about 10:30 a.m., sweeping up the north side of Silverado Canyon, away from homes into the Cleveland National Forest. Firefighters spent the day on Friday digging lines, hoping to starve the blaze of fuel before it reached the top of a canyon ridge.

The fire was moving slowly by late Friday night as it crested the ridge. Coordinated water and fire-retardant drops ended when the sun went down on Friday. Crews were settling in to continue trying to contain the flames overnight, aided by one aircraft monitoring the progression from above. As of Saturday September 13, 2014 the fire is 10% contained and the smoke is generally not as visible/black like it was on Friday. It is hoped that increased humidity levels throughout this week will aide firefighters in battling the blaze. However, extremely hot temperatures are expected in the area at least through the middle of the upcoming week. Ashley and I are thankful for the efforts of the firefighters in battling this wildfire, which thankfully is not wind driven like the 2007 Santiago Fire that burned more than 30,000 acres of land in the Cleveland National Forest. For more information, please check out this Orange County Register article, by clicking Here, The two closer pictures of the fire are credited to the Orange County Register article.