Hundred Foot Flames Currently
Fire Leaping West of Highway 154 This Morning
As of 8:41 Friday morning, May 8, Indy reporter Ethan Stewart said he sees active flames jumping as high as 100 feet just west of Highway 154, about two miles north of San Antonio Creek. “I see flames under the power line,” he said. He added that it’s clear that the fire jumped Highway 154 in multiple spots, but from what he saw, it didn’t appear it got much further west than 150 yards. The flames he saw occurred on steep rugged terrain, and it appeared to Stewart that the firefighters nearby were waiting for them to reach a spot where they could actually fight back. “The further up 154 you go, the more Armageddian it gets,” Stewart said. He said he was going to pull off to the side of the road so that he could watch but not interfere with the firefighting efforts.
Highway 154 carries heavy significance partly because it was the route the Painted Cave Fire took when it jumped Highway 101 reached into downtown occupied areas, burning businesses near Modoc Road and Hollister Avenue, after destroying hundreds of foothill homes in the foothills.