Fires often take unexpected turns; winds can shift and cause them to spread rapidly, jump or change  direction. Despite the efforts of first-on-scene firefighters, more resources are often needed.

“My first estimate when I saw the fire was that we were going to lose 30 to 40 structures,” said William Frankel, fire chief, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton’s Fire and Emergency Services.

Frankel was describing the Juliett Fire that started at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 13, and burned approximately 4,000 acres on Camp Pendleton and 27 acres off base, with the majority of those acres in Oceanside.

The fire spread quickly and once it started threatening structures, the focus of the firefighting turned from trying to put out the fire to protecting lives and homes, Frankel said.

The potential of the flames to destroy residential homes forced the evacuation of 656 families from the Serra Mesa and San Luis Rey military housing areas, 1,240 homes in Oceanside and between 50 and 75 homes in Fallbrook. Stuart Mesa housing accepted 109 families that were evacuated, and had room for 91 more.

“These families were housed in units that were designated for renovation but were still habitable,” said Lt. Col. Andrew N. Killion, director of Family Housing, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

The American Red Cross came out to help in the Stuart Mesa housing area by supplying the displaced residents from Serra Mesa and San Luis Rey with food, snacks and drinks. Stuart Mesa residents also provided pillows and blankets to these residents, Killion said.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection joined forces with Camp Pendleton fire officials and attacked the fire with the help of two Superscooper planes, but soon realized they needed more help.

Around 5 p.m. Oct. 13, Mike Wakoski, division chief for the San Bernardino National Forest, got the call from the Southern California Geographic Area Coordination Center to send the Southern California Incident Command 3 to Camp Pendleton to assume control of firefighting efforts.

This 45-member federal team is composed of firefighters from multiple agencies which include: Wakoski’s unit, the San Bernardino County Fire Department, the cities of San Diego, Oceanside and Los Angeles, the Cleveland National Forest and the Bureau of Land management.

The SoCal Team 3 was briefed at midnight by Frankel and base officials and the delegation of authority  was given from the base commander to Wakoski at 6 a.m., Oct. 14.

The federal team came in to handle the main fire and allowed the base fire team to go back and fight other fires that might spark on base, said Marc T. Peebles, public information officer, SoCal Team 3.

A second fire, the Las Pulgas Fire, did occur in Drop Zone Tank Park, located south of Camp Las Flores, and burned around 110 acres. It started around 11:30 a.m. Oct. 14, and was caused by a mowing machine’s blade striking a rock and igniting surrounding brush.

The SoCal team had three helicopters; one Type 1 “heavy” and two Type 2 “medium,” which helped achieve knock down for Camp Pendleton ground crews to be able to hold the Las Pulgas Fire and keep it from getting much larger, said Peebles. During the Juliett Fire, these helicopters were aided by one air-attack aircraft, and three air tankers as well as the two Superscoopers.

“The challenge of this Juliett Fire was to keep it from spitting off base,” said Wakoski, who has 32 years experience fighting fires.

Eight state acres and 19 Oceanside acres burnt. Coordination was made between the unified team under SoCal Team 3 and the city to help keep the fires from the houses, said Mike Bratton, division chief, Cal Fire.

The success of the federal team was a result of effective fire attack and management before we arrived and while we were here, said Peebles, a 25-year-fire veteran. He also praised the aggressive firefighting that helped protect the homes in the initial attack stage of the blaze.

SoCal Team 3 returned control of the Juliett Fire back to Camp Pendleton officials at 7 a.m. Oct. 16. The fire was 90 percent contained and no residential structures were destroyed, said Peebles. Some structures in Serra Mesa Housing and San Luis Rey sustained minor damage.

“This was the most challenging fire on Camp Pendleton and had the potential to be worse,” said Bob  Praytor, deputy chief, Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

At the peak of the firefighting effort, there were 719 firefighters from local, state and federal teams that came together to fight the Juliett Fire, which was declared 100 percent contained at 6 p.m. Oct. 17.

One other fire started on Camp Pendleton the week prior to the Juliett and Las Pulgas Fires. The November Fire, which started Oct. 8, burned approximately 1,500 acres on Camp Pendleton.

The causes of the Juliett Fire and the November Fire are under investigation, but Camp Pendleton officials can confirm live-fire training did not start the Juliett Fire.

“We may use different terms but we attacked the enemy together,” said Col. Osamah A. Jammal, chief of staff, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, when talking about last weeks combined firefighting efforts.

These fires are a reminder that everyone needs to take extra precautions, such as having defensible space around your homes and family evacuation plans, said Peebles.

The results of these three fires could have been very different had Camp Pendleton not had the assets it had with the help of various other firefighting agencies.

The Juliett Fire threatened approximately 1,300 homes on base and in surrounding areas, Peebles added.

“The key message here is that aggressive initial and extended fire attacks kept the fire from really getting established beyond what it did and that fire managers from USFS, state and local fire agencies had prepositioned air assets, engines and crews from the western U.S. and northern California in anticipation of the wind event (Santa Ana's) we experienced,” said Peebles.