Zaca fire documentary (new version)

These photographic stills show a timeline of the 2 months that the Zaca Fire burned in the Los Padres National Forest in California. The fire started on July 4, 2007, contained on September 2, 2007 and officially out on October 29, 2007. Almost 4 months later! There were no persons or homes lost so I feel that we are very lucky. I am not a photojournalist but hope to be one day, so I can get my Press Pass and get closer to the fire lines. All photographs © Cathy L. Gregg The Air Attack base had just been moved to the Santa Maria Airport and this was their first major fire. I heard these planes everyday for two months and it was quite strange when the sounds of the props stopped. But...I knew that was good news. Hearing the chatter amongst the Air Attack pilots was quite enjoyable. They take their job very seriously but have time for some humor too. Job well done! I photographed 12 different fixed wing air tankers that were on that fire. I just wish I had seen the DC-10...on a side note the oldest plane flying was Tanker #07 a P2V-5 Neptune built in 1954. There was one other Neptune from 1955 (Tanker #55). The newest was the AT-802A Air Tractor (Tanker #498) built in 2007. There are a few helicopters in here but that was only a fraction. Their base was at the Santa Ynez Airport which I did not have time to go to. I think at one point there were over 20 helicopters helping out. This fire became so large they actually had to split it into two staging areas. One in Live Oak, near Paradise Valley, CA and one in New Cuyama, CA. The section in New Cuyama became the Zaca II incident. Thank you to all of those who put themselves on the fire line to save our lives and property. This fire could have been a catastrophe but all entities fought it valiantly. THANK YOU!!