We happened to be right down the street, after hearing of SIX major wildfires in San Diego County burning at the same time. These included the "Bernardo Fire" near Rancho Bernardo, the "Tomahawk Fire" on Camp Pendleton, "Poinsettia Fire" in Carlsbad, "San Luis Rey Riverbed Fire" in Oceanside, "Cocos Fire" in San Marcos and the "Highway Fire" in Fallbrook/Bonsall.
Dubbed by the news media as "San Diego's May Firestorm". By the time it was all said and done a total of 9 wildfires broke out, over 29,000 acres were scorched, the trail of destruction spanned from the coast to inland cities and the county estimated $60 million dollars worth of damage
We witnessed the start of the "Highway Fire" from Interstate 15 and Highway 76 in Fallbrook. The flames started as a low rumble over the hillside and threatened the nearby Rancho Monserate Senior Community. Accelerating in speed and ferocity, the flames quickly spread over the hillside, down into the creek and then shot up into firenado's that were seen for miles. These tornado's of smoke and fire were a sight to see and I was able to capture a few photos of these "Twisters of Fire" as well as the quick response of CalFire planes.
I was tweeting the pictures, when the Weather Channel saw the photo and asked to use it on their broadcast. Later that day, I saw my name and photos on TV (ironic that hubby is the photographer and yet my picture was on TV...neener neener)!
I have included the Google Map that shows the location of the fires throughout the county. Many thanks to CalFire and the local fire agencies for working tirelessly this month! https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=z2vmEWbf1lFA.k4IKPtjk6YJ4
Circling the fire to make another drop
I kept snapping and got a whole sequence of the plane's fire retardant drop
The infamous Smoke-Firenado photo!
