(6 photos) On a mid-March dog walk I spotted these firefighters walking the ridge.
I think they’re clearing trails that they’d use if they have to fight a fire, and I wonder if this is also a practice for the terrain. 
This fire station in Angeles National Forest near where I walk the dogs is staffed by about 6-8 people. I see guys in fire ranger T-shirts doing their morning runs all through these hills.
Below are charred trees from a fire in the San Bernardino National Forest. The green brush we walk through here is about 8′-10′ tall.
Early spring is the time in Southern California when homeowners are notified to clear their property of vegetation that will make their homes more susceptible to fire. Inspections of hillside properties are especially stringent. Failure to clear brush will incur a fine as well as fees for the city to do the work.
Signs like these are seen throughout all Southern California forest areas.
MK pix 
Since the drought lifted the vegetation is going bonkers. Good to know that they’re doing more toward having brush cleared.
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I can’t remember seeing so many flowers. It has rained here in March and even in April! I hope we have some green left on the hillsides come summer.
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The firefighters do an amazing job! Great photos MK. 🙂
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We who live in southern California and you who live in Australia are always grateful for these firefighters. It is a dangerous job. I find it such a “coincidence” that one of my homes as a child was up in these very same mountains. And then my family left California, and returned many years later to a different part of this area, and today I am retired only a few miles from my childhood mountain home. It was that home which burned in a fire while my father was working off in another part of the mountains … as a fire watchman. It all seems that I am in the process of coming home over & over.
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Wow amazing story MK. You will always have these special memories.
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wonderful to see them
there for your community 🙂
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Indeed, David. I am grateful for their service.
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The first two are really great pictures with the back lighting.
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Thanks David. The ridge is traced in morning light every time we go up there, and never fails to delight.
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Dangerous work and so glad they have answered the call. I say, “God bless them!” Great post highlighting their important work. 🙂
I didn’t know that your childhood home burned. Were you living there at the time and had to be evacuated? What a scary thing for a kid!
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So true – “God bless the firefighters”
Yes, we were at home (dinner time) when the fire happened. It was terrifying. Nightmares for years afterwards. The Red Cross came to our aid afterwards with clothing, furniture & housewares. So “God bless the Red Cross” also!
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I can imagine the trauma must have been terrible, especially as a child. Were you able to conquer the fear or does it still pull at you when you hear of wildfires? I imagine it must be tough to let go of that viscerally.
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Well, that’s a tough one. It’s more like — it’s one of many traumatic events, as opposed to that big one. I’m not alarmed by wildfires at a distance, but I’m very alert to the slightest hint of smoke. I invariably smell it before anyone else.
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Hypervigilant, of course.
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