On July15, 2013, tragedy struck the small town of Idyllwild when Station 53 responded to the fire commonly known as the Mountain Fire. The first day the fire burned 27,537 acres (43 miles). It wasn’t long before approximately 6,000 residents and tourists were evacuated to the Home of the Bulldogs, Hemet High School. It cost the state of California 25.8 million dollars to fight the Mountain Fire. Nearly 3,000 firefighter and more than a dozen aircraft were assigned to the Mountain Fire. Firefighter Eric Norwood on Engine 33 shared some photos from within the fires. He said “it was so windy that the winds literally blew the fire across the road.” The fire burned for 16 days and unfortunately destroyed 23 structures including 7 homes.