Firefighters find human remains

  • Firefighters working on the Ridge Route fire came upon human remains Saturday. [photo by Jeff Zimmerman]

    Firefighters working on the Ridge Route fire came upon human remains Saturday. [photo by Jeff Zimmerman]

Did Ridge Route fire solve a mystery? Or has a new one been discovered?

By Patric Hedlund, Gary Meyer and Jeff Zimmerman

A fire in a rough area between the Old Ridge Route and Highway 138 has opened up new questions about an old mystery.

Gary Sherfey of Frazier Park says he was one of the first to call 911 on Friday, March 14, along with a crew for AT&T and Joan Kotnik of Lake of the Woods. Kotnik was on the east side and Sherfey was on the west side of the fire at about 12:50 p.m., shortly after the fire started. Both snapped photos.

After about 40 minutes, when no firefighters had arrived, Sherfey (a former hotshot crew firefighter) said he called the Chuchupate headquarters of the Mt. Pinos District of the Los Padres National Forest.

Meanwhile, the smoke exploded into the sky over Frazier Park. Michael Braget called The Mountain Enterprise to ask how close it was. By 1:50 p.m. U.S. Forest Service engines began to…

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Photo captions:

Firefighters working on the Ridge Route fire came upon human remains Saturday. Above, the fire sweeping across dry brush Friday, March 14; (right) crews,putting out hot spots.

Left and above, the SuperScooper contract has been extended until March 29, L.A. County Supervisor Antonovich’s office confirmed Monday. They helped limit the fire to 50 acres.

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This is part of the March 21, 2014 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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