Cali Wildfires

[Deberg_1990]

Tiny, Dane, and Lohan everything ok?








http://www.reuters.com/article/compa...40804320090830


* About 2,000 homes under mandatory evacuation orders
* Governor Schwarzenegger says fire "out of control"

* Fire 5 percent contained, 10,000 homes threatened

* Fire threatens major communications facilities (Updates with quotes from residents, new numbers)

By Mary Milliken

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif., Aug 30 (Reuters) - A wildfire in the heavily populated Los Angeles foothills threatened 10,000 homes on Sunday, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger warned residents to heed evacuation orders for the "out of control" and "very dangerous" blaze.

The heat-driven fire nearly doubled in size overnight and has now burned 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares) of thick, bone-dry brush in the mountains above five towns, a 12-mile (19 km) stretch from La Crescenta to La Canada Flintridge, the California Fire Department said.

Authorities have ordered residents to evacuate about 2,000 homes threatened by the fire about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

"These fires are still totally out of control," Schwarzenegger told reporters at the firefighters' command post in Lake View Terrace, California. "This is a huge and is a very dangerous fire. The fire is moving very close to homes and to structures... this is why it's important to pay close attention to the evacuation."

In La Crescenta, the streets were deserted on Sunday afternoon except for a few residents fleeing with their suitcases and other belongings on foot.

Bob Sebesta, 47, sat watching the burning ridge from his in-laws' house, which everyone evacuated last night with pictures, paperwork and "stuff you can't replace."

"I keep thinking I should go water the backyard," Sebesta said.

Three remote homes have been destroyed so far and some 10,000 others and 2,500 other buildings are in danger, as is Mount Wilson, the nexus for key telecommunications facilities.

"That site is the nerve center for most of communication in the Los Angeles area," Station Fire Commander Mike Dietrich said. "It is not out of danger as we speak."

Fire commanders said at a news briefing that more than three homes were lost in the Big Tujunga canyon, though they did not know the exact number.

"We have eyewitness reports that our house is gone and as many as 30 may be lost," said Beth Halaas, who lives year-round in the canyon, where most homes are for weekend use. Continued...

[Delano]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

In that case, PM me, Bro.

We'll be in San Diego for the Holiday weekend but otherwise, I'll be around.

Be safe.

Thanks man.

Honestly, when I get the call I'll be whisked away and flown out on a transport plane (comfy ride, right ). The 16 hour days don't allow for trips into the city, unforunately.

They still have the containment date set at Sept. 8th. I expect the percent contained number (it's at 5% now) to rise in the next few days. Smokejumpers are actively conducting burnout operations that create areas of unburnable fuel and hopefully stop the spread, but with the long distance spotting going on, other fires could start. Hopefully the weather starts to cooperate.

[googlegoogle]

New law = mandatory stone exterior housing that is fire insulating.

[Delano]

Originally Posted by Delano

They still have the containment date set at Sept. 8th. I expect the percent contained number (it's at 5% now) to rise in the next few days. Smokejumpers are actively conducting burnout operations that create areas of unburnable fuel and hopefully stop the spread, but with the long distance spotting going on, other fires could start. Hopefully the weather starts to cooperate.

Containment date has been pushed back a week. Bad news.

[CaliforniaChief]

Well if you do come down to help, thanks a lot. I know it's a really tough job, and we are all thankful. Well all of us except for the dumb ass people who ignore mandatory evacs. and then cry out for help and put people in danger.

[Delano]

Good noose guise.

Night Shift September 1, 2009

With great opportunity come great expectations. That seems to sum up the plans for the night shift. Excellent progress was made on the Station Fire today setting high expectations for additional progress by the night shift. Higher humidity is expected overnight. This will reduce the active fire behavior and allow firefighters to attack the fire directly, rather than just creating fireline to rob the fire of fuel.

There is still a chance for isolated thunderstorms tonight that may affect operations if gusty winds blow ahead of the storm. Most of the winds however, will be terrain driven. Blowing down the canyons as the air cools. Firefighters will be extra vigilant as fires usually burn up slope.

Along the Southeast flank of the fire, crews tied together several independent firelines creating a great firebreak in the area. This activity greatly reduces the risk of the fire advancing on the neighboring communities. Crews conducted several burn out operations ahead of the fire in this area. The burn outs were successful in the area today and will allow night operations to continue aggressive burn out operations and to monitor and mop up the burn area stopping the western migration of the fire.

Devils canyon continued to burn actively in the Southern Flank of the fire. Additionally, there was increased fire activity around Mt. Wilson today. The fire established itself to the north and there still is the potential for the fire to run back up the mountain. The Martin-Mars heavy scooping air tanker made high volume drops raising the humidity in the area. The lower humidity and the preparation work done by the day shift will allow the night shift to aggressively attack the fire directly.

The Northern Flank of the fire, south of Highway 14, is under a monitor and mop up mode. This is where the firefighters hand check the fire to make sure it is dead out. The work done by the day shift completed several miles of dozer line adding to the increased containment numbers.

As expected, the fire burned in to the San Gabriel wilderness. Because of limits on the utilization of mechanized equipment in the wilderness areas, firefighters will be working in San Gabriel canyon as a contingency over the next couple of days. The fire is now west of the canyon. Planning ahead will assist in stopping the blaze if the fire continues to march east. Currently, there is no immediate threat to the area. Residents are urged to use caution in their travel as firefighting vehicles may be in the area.

[Delano]

The morning update:

The Station Fire is now at 140,150 acres. The Station Fire continues to burn within the Angeles National Forest and near surrounding foothill communities of La Canada-Flintridge, La Crescenta, Acton, Soledad Canyon, Pasadena and Glendale. Steep terrain, decadent old growth brush and hot dry weather are factors that drive fire activity. Evacuations and a forest closure order remain in effect.

On the more densely populated southern flank of the fire where terrain has not allowed crews to directly attack the fires edge, firefighters have instead (when weather conditions allow) performed tactical firing out operations to remove fuel in the vicinity oof structures. This strategy was successful last night and will continue throughout today and tonight added by higher humidity and predicted southwest winds that should push the fire away from communities and back onto already burned area. In the area of Sierra Madre and Monrovia where terrain is more favorable for firefighters crews are attempting to keep the fire north away from the communities with the assistance of helicopters and air tankers.

Crews have measured success on the western flank of the fire and are working to hold yesterday and last night's successful operations. Crews have taken an aggressive direct attack strategy to the Bear Divide area, constructing fire breaks with dozers and by hand crew. Last night they followed up with a successful burn-out operations and are working hard today to strengthen that line. Additional contingency lines are being constructed down to Highway 14. A large group of structural protection engines are in place in Little Tujunga Canyon.

The fire has gained little ground to the north in the last 24 hours and favorable conditions have allowed crews to begin construction of direct dozerline on the north flank of the fire from the Juniper Flats to Soledad Canyon Road. This effort has lowered the risk to the Acton and Soledad Canyon area, however substantial work remains to secure the north flank

Due to limited access to the fires eastern perimeter and predicted southwest winds, the fire is expect to continue it's easterly progression towards Juniper Creek, Highway 39 and San Gabriel Canyon area. Crews are preparing several lines of defense along the northeast side of the fire in the Juniper Hills area.

Structural protection crews are back in place on Mount Wilson today continuing preparation for its defense. While the mountain top is not yet out of harm's way, crews are more hopeful about its defense today after additional fuel break construction has been put in place.

There are a variety of aviation resources available to this fire, including our typical helicopters and conventional airtankers. The helicopters are being used for a variety of Logistical and Operational type missions. Logistical missions including: moving equipment and firefighters to remote locations on the fire. Operational missions include providing water dropping support to ground fire fighters and structure protection. The conventional airtankers are dropping fire reerunant in direct support of personnel and equipment constructing fire line, and structure protection as well as indirect line construction for perimeter control. In addition to these resources we also have available an unprecedented number of additional aviation resource that can be deployed. These include the DC-10 and 747 aircraft that have a capacity of 12,000 gallons and 20,000 gallons respectively. We also have the Martin Mars and 2 Canadair 415 water scooping aircraft available with a 7,200 gallon and 1,600 gallon capacity respectively.

All of these aircraft serve a purpose in different situations and conditions and we try to deploy them where they can do the best job in the safest manner. It is important to remember that all of these aircraft are support tools for the ground firefighter and do not "put out" the fire by themselves. Drops need to be followed up by ground crews and more importantly they may be totally ineffective due to high fire intensity or long range spotting of the fire. Visibility is also a very critical factor for aircraft as they need to have sufficient forward visibility in order to get in and fly safely. Fixed-wing aircraft will require increased visibility requirements then helicopters due to their higher airspeed and their inability to stop and hover.

Containment is at 22% with a total of a little over 140,000 acres burnt.

They also added two more incident commanders.

[Buck]

How big is this fire compared to the one in San Diego in 2007 or 2003?

[Delano]

Originally Posted by BuckinKaeding

How big is this fire compared to the one in San Diego in 2007 or 2003?

Right now, the Station fire is half the size of the big 2003 San Diego county fire (280,000+). That fire was the biggest since 1889.

There were three large fires in San Diego county in 2007. The biggest one was just under 200,000 acres, the middle one was about 90,000, and the smallest was 50,000 or so.

[Buck]

Damn. Thats still pretty huge, considering that Los Angeles is much more densely populated than San Diego.

Hopefully it gets put out soon.

Would Rain help the situation right now or cause bad mudslides?

[Delano]

Originally Posted by BuckinKaeding

Damn. Thats still pretty huge, considering that Los Angeles is much more densely populated than San Diego.

Hopefully it gets put out soon.

Would Rain help the situation right now or cause bad mudslides?

The concern ATM is that thunderstorms will cause unpredictable winds. When crews dig fireline they install channels that work to prevent erosion, but there is only so much that can be done. If the vegetation is completely burnt out, mudslides will happen.

Rehab is a huge part of the operation and is taking place as speak we at containment areas. Rehab and mopup are very tedious. A crew will line up and pace an area looking for hot spots. When one is found, the entire line stops while the smoldering log, the torched tree, etc are put out/cut down. They also have to rehab every foot of fireline they installed - miles upon miles of hand dug or dozer dug line.

[Delano]

If you aren't familiar with acre measurements, about 1.1 acres fit in a football field.