County Fire Chief Inspects Site Where 4 Firefighters Were Injured in Gilman Blaze

The county fire chief climbed blackened hillsides Tuesday to inspect a site where four firefighters were injured during the fast-moving Gilman Fire next to the 60 Freeway in the Badlands.

Cal Fire-Riverside County Chief John R. Hawkins went alone into the 945-acre burned area Tuesday afternoon to see first-hand where a Cal Fire captain and three inmate firefighters from Oak Glen sustained minor injuries Saturday.

"I want to go look at a particular area down here where there was possibly a close call," Hawkins said after he parked his command truck next to the eastbound 60 around 4 p.m.

"I want to go look at it myself and see what actually went on," Hawkins said, raising his voice above the wind and the vehicles passing close by. "The fire was active in one spot. We had firefighters above the activity. We just want to make sure from an after-action standpoint they were ok."

Hawkins took a shovel with him and used it for balance on the steep, unstable hillsides.

The county fire chief ascended several hundred feet over a pair of charred, dusty ridges south of the 60, disappeared from view, and returned in less than 30 minutes.

"I looked at the site and I reserve any comment until we have a chance as Cal Fire to look at what actually happened, and to interview the people who were here, and to try to determine exactly what they saw," Hawkins said.

The firefighters' injuries were described by Cal Fire officials as minor on Saturday.

"There was one inmate and one fire crew captain, a Cal Fire fire crew captain, who went to the hospital," Hawkins said. "There were two other inmates who reportedly had some smoke. They're all ok now."

The Cal Fire captain and the three inmates have all returned to work, Hawkins added.

The cause of the Gilman Fire remained under investigation on Tuesday, a Cal Fire spokeswoman said.

The fast-moving fire was reported just after 4 p.m. Saturday east of Gilman Springs Road and south of the 60 Freeway.

At one point Saturday, as many as 50 motorists were temporarily stranded on the 60 by smoke and ash. California Highway Patrol officers escorted the motorists out of danger.

The burned area was eventually mapped at 945 acres, and the fire was declared 100 percent contained by 6 p.m. Sunday. It was declared 100 percent controlled at midnight Sunday, according to Cal Fire.

Suppression costs were determined to be $479,000, Cheri Patterson of Cal Fire-Riverside County said.