The Day Fire has just been contained as I write this on October 2, 2006. The fire burned for four weeks in the mountains of Ventura County, a part of Los Padres National Forest called the Sespe Wilderness. Over 162,000 acres burned, the fifth largest fire in California history. Four thousand six hundred firefighters worked on the fire.
I went backpacking in the Sespe last October with Kristin and Mike. At that time the leaves of the black oaks were at their peak color. The views from 6,870-foot McDonald Mountain were a pleasant surprise. The area felt remote for being so close to Los Angeles.
According to the maps I've seen, the area we were in is at the center of the area that burned.
These photographs show what else was lost to the Day Fire, besides the three mobile homes, one unoccupied cabin, and five vehicles reported in the news.
Let it burn: the battle between firefighting and fire guiding (LA Weekly)
