On Tuesday morning, the Larson fire wasn't much to worry about. It was 80 percent contained and barely smoldering, much less the raging inferno it would turn into hours later.
After all, the fire had three days of attention, including a red flag warning on Monday without taking off.
But, on Tuesday morning, factors combined to cause the fire to explode into a conflagration that took two outbuildings and forced evacuation of the town of Coleville.
Firefighters' quick response from Mono County and surrounding jurisdictions are the only thing that stood between Coleville and destruction.
The surprise about the Larson fire wasn't that it rekindled but that Friday's lightning storm didn't set more major fires than it did.
There were strikes in the Pine Nuts and Sierra that could easily have turned into another Larson fire and if one large fire was difficult to extinguish, several would be that much worse.
We recognize the firefighters of the Sierra Front for their hard work and thank providence that no one was injured and no one lost their homes in the Coleville blaze.
However, we urge residents to help firefighters by being careful with fire, because it's early yet and this fire season looks like it's going to be a doozy.
