I was driving home from our Salinas store this evening and had just gotten over the top of the pass on Hwy 152 when traffic came to a dead stop. I then noticed some smoke over the hills in front of me. At the same time I saw two airplanes circling rather low. As we inched forward I could see ahead what appeared to be a blackened hillside next to the road. Right then one of the planes swooped down and dropped its load of fire extinguishing stuff (orange) just ahead of me over a hill that bordered the road. At this point I was talking to my brother on the phone so he could check the caltrans website for reports. As he told me what it said, I encountered it. Fire in the road, burning cardboard in the road. Our eastbound traffic crossed over the gravel divider and entered the oncoming lanes. Fire and smoke and burning debris was blowing everywhere. I witnessed three tanker planes drop their load on the fire that had spread on both sides of the road (and was in the divider in spots as well.) Made for an exciting drive to say the least. It appears a truckload of cardboard overturned at some point. Still not sure what set the fire ablaze.
