Fire Update ****15

I just finished talking to Julie Sokolowski, the bride whose wedding party was transported out of Sturdevant Camp in the Chantry Flats area earlier today via helicopter.

Sokolowski told me her stepfather, Chris Kasten, has been managing the camp - four miles from the Chantry Flats Ranger Station - for 17 years and is still up there with his wife. They opted to stick the fire through.

Sokolowski and her husband, Ken Grady, tied the knot on Saturday at 3 p.m., about the same time the Santa Anita Fire started. No one in the wedding party knew about the blaze until Saturday evening.

By noon today, the entire wedding party - 45 people and four pets - were evacuated from the area.

"We didn't think there was any threat to us," she said. "We went on like normal and then this morning, we were all having breakfast and they told us search and rescue was on their way."

Sokolowski said early Sunday the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue team first gave them the option to hike out with escorts.

But smoky conditions caused by the fire made authorities rethink that plan.

Here are some pictures of the couple. Julie was nice enough to send them over.

Sokolowski said early Sunday the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue team first gave them the option to hike out with escorts.

But smoky conditions caused by the fire made authorities rethink that plan.

Here are some pictures of the couple. Julie was nice enough to send them over.