One shower a day is enough

Monday evening after dinner Kevin wanted to take a ride up into the hills north of here to take some photos of the valley at night. I went along to "watch his back" while he took pictures because it is an area with gated communities and he didn't want to be focused on his camera and have a security guard sneak up behind him. As we were to make the final turn to go up into the area we were waiting at a light when three fire trucks crossed the intersection and went up the hill ahead of us. About a mile up the road they were at another intersection and heading up a side road, so we continued on while trying to see if we could see any fires anywhere. Driving down to the end of the road we noticed helicopters overhead and thought they were news copters covering the fire. We turned around, looking for a place to park where Kevin could get his shots of the valley. Drving back along the ridge road one of the helicopters was coming in low and was landing nearby. At this time we were passing a small parking lot for a park and pulled in. Sprinklers were on so we had to park where we wouldn't get wet if we got out. The camera was taken out and set on a tripod waiting for the helicopter to leave, but it stayed. The zoom lens revealed that the lettering on the side of the copter was LAFD, so it was related to the fire on the other side of the hill. So we waited and watched, not really seeing much in the darkness. Another helicopter was circling the area and when the first one finally took off the second one landed. It was then that we concluded that they were taking on water for a drop over the fire. As the second one was loading up the first one returned and set down nearby, waiting for its turn again. After they had both left the sprinklers went off and we decided to walk toward where they had landed to get a better shot of the valley. Kevin bent down to find the grass dry and worried that sprinklers might come on in the area. As we were walking we heard one of the helicopters returning. The searchlight was moving across the ground and lit us up as we walked. I felt like Richard Kimball. Then I looked toward the landing area which was also illuminated by the light and pointed out to Kevin that the sprinklers had come on in that area and I was concerned that where we were could be next. Ready to turn back as the helicopter flew overhead we watched as it dumped what water it had left. Had he done it a few seconds sooner we would have gotten a good drenching. At that point we headed back to the car without a shot of the valley's lights, but lucky to be dry.