The sun had set Tuesday when Tim Hurley and his strike crew from the U.S. Forest Service’s Kernville station first made it to the front lines of the Creek fire above Sylmar.
Flames were shooting sideways as they tore through the dry brush, fueled by erratic Santa Ana winds.
Hurley immediately got to work manning an engine with one goal: to keep the fire from jumping Oro Vista Avenue into the dense tract of homes below. Even after 11 years as a wildland firefighter, he said there’s still a rush of nerves when he first drives up to such a chaotic scene.
“But you get used to it,” the 39-year-old said. “You just go to work.”
Hurley worked for 24 hours straight that first day, fueled by adrenaline, coffee and Red Bull.