Beyond Tranquillon Ridge

Book excerpt: For too long, the details of this tragedy have been shrouded in a fog of secrecy. Beyond Tranquillon Ridge is a story that recounts the firefighting efforts during a frenzied 24- hour period known as the "Honda Canyon Fire." It is a history of the strategies and tactics used and it includes many first-hand accounts of the conditions that firefighters and the military faced on the front lines-including the tragic deaths of their comrades. Joseph Valencia offers a brilliant look back; re-creating the sights and sounds of actual firefighting; descriptive overviews of the landscape of South Vandenberg, with rich profiles and command level decisions of the brave men who fought it. In the end, this one day in 1977 stands out as the pivotal time when wind and fire combined into a firestorm and where past compromises affected an outcome.