Stand 6 - Zero Point
At 16:11 the Incident Commander called Dispatch to report that he was losing the fire on the side where the homes were and that he needed air tankers. At 16:20 an air tanker was dispatched.
Between 16:14 and 16:18 the fire was observed to spot back to the east side of the drainage below the crew that was walking up the fireline on the west flank. As the fire raced up the slope, it was influenced by increasingly stronger winds estimated to be 40 m.p.h. The spot fire grew rapidly and reached the ridgeline in less than 10 minutes, overrunning 14 firefighters.
On the afternoon of July 6, 1994, there were 16 smokejumpers, 20 hotshots, a 6-person helitack crew (2 on the fire and 4 at the helibase), and 12 local firefighters (11 on the fire and 1 at the helibase) assigned to the fire, for a total of 54 firefighters.
The trip from the Trailhead (Stand 1) to Zero Point (Stand 6) and back is about four miles. It climbs 700 vertical feet to the Overlook Point (Stand 3), and another 450 feet to the top of the ridge leading to Zero Point. Visitors making the entire trip should plan on spending between three and four hours and should bring food, plenty of water, and wear sturdy hiking shoes and clothing appropriate to the weather.
At Zero Point, you get a feel for the gravity of the situation, this is where the last survivors from the west flank were literally "blown" over the ridge into the East Drainage. All of the other survivors from the ridge also used the East Drainage to escape imminent death. This location serves as an excellent place to conduct an Integration session of the Staff Ride. Facilitators can build a terrain model for individuals to discuss their perceptions of how events unfolded that fateful day.
|
