Posted on 07/17/2004 4:05:43 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
There is a large fire in the Santa Clarita Area of Los Angeles County....if you are in SoCal, that is the very large smoke clouds to the north.
Los Angeles Area Forecast Discussion
FXUS66 KLOX 180314
AFDLOX
SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA
815 PM PDT SAT JUL 17 2004
.SHORT TERM...YET AGAIN...ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL AND WARM DAY ACROSS THE
DISTRICT WITH NO THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT AT ALL. LATEST SATELLITE
SHOWS GENERALLY CLEAR SKIES ACROSS THE AREA...BUT WOULD NOT BE
SURPRISED TO SEE SOME MID/HIGH CLOUDS DRIFT OVERHEAD TONIGHT. SO
CURRENT PARTLY CLOUDY WORDING COVERS THINGS WELL TONIGHT. WITH
FLOW STILL ONSHORE...SOME PATCHY STRATUS/DENSE FOG SHOULD REFORM
ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COAST LATE TONIGHT. AS FOR TEMPS...LIMITED
LOOK AT 00Z MODELS DOES NOT INDICATE MUCH...IF ANY...SIGNIFICANT
CHANGE IN THICKNESSES OR BOUNDARY LAYER TEMPS. SO...SUNDAY SHOULD
BE ABOUT AS WARM AS TODAY.
OVERALL...CURRENT ZONES LOOK GOOD WITH REGARD TO CLOUD COVER...FOG
AND TEMPS. THEREFORE...NO UPDATES ARE PLANNED AT THIS TIME.
.LONG TERM (FROM PREVIOUS DISCUSSION)...THE TROUGH WILL LINGER JUST
OFF THE COAST THROUGH AT LEAST WED...KEEPING THE FLOW SWLY...AND
LIKELY HOLDING MONSOONAL MSTR AT BAY. TEMPS WILL CHANGE LITTLE TUE
AND WED. THE UPPER HIGH NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS AREA MAY BUILD BACK
TOWARD THE FCST AREA THU AND FRI...AND THE FLOW ALF MAY TURN MORE
SELY ONCE AGAIN. THIS COULD SET THE STAGE FOR AN INTRUSION OF
MONSOONAL MSTR INTO THE AREA BY THU OR FRI. TEMPS WILL LIKELY BEGIN
TO GRADUALLY RISE AGAIN LATE IN THE WEEK AS WELL.
&&
.LOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY (SEE LAXCWFLOX).
&&
$$
THOMPSON
Last year in the Paradise fire the Escondido water treatment plant was threatened. There was a huge shortage of hand crews at the time. One of the guys from the city Park and Rec called and said he had a whole bunch of guys with a lot of experience cutting stuff down and all the equipment who'd been chomping at the bit to go do something useful. They jumped in and cleared enough space to start backfiring from. Then our guys got up there, doing a huge progressive hose lay for almost a mile.
At the end of the day, exhausted, they just came down the hill, planning to pick up the hose the next morning. When they got back the next day it was all donut-rolled at the bottom of the hill, courtesy of the parks crew.
Red Cross was swamped by the load futher south and called to say they wouldn't be able to get here for at least a day. By the time they called, the city had a full shelter operation up and running and told them there was no hurry.
As you said, everybody jumped in and helped. There's an old story of Ireland to the effect that the way to draw a crowd is to loudly proclaim, "I could use a little advice". I think there's something similar that's a uniquely American response that you get when you say, "I could use a hand here". One of the best parts of our culture, I think.
San Diego CDF's got a considerable amount of resources in Riverside tonight, just as we did last October when the major blazes hit us, so it's a nervous night down here. As you know, the fire season in California generally works north to south, so this is just the beginning for us, I fear.
The surviving section ends at Castaic Lake, off the 5. This fire's to the south and east of that quite some distance. The other fire's to the east of where the north end of the Ridge Route ends near Quail Lake.
The Ridge Route's a really interesting drive and brings back memories of going over it in the days when you had to watch out for runaway trucks. There was one gas station north of Gorman located right at a bend in the road. I think the thing was wiped out several times between '48 and '60. We used to stop there, go to the edge and stare at the wreckage in the canyon below. Now THAT was entertainment!
Fire forces evacuations, closure of 14
Hundreds evacuated from Santa Clarita fire
By Andrea Cavanaugh and Greg Botonis
Staff Writers
SANTA CLARITA -- A fast-moving brush fire erupted Saturday afternoon near Santa Clarita, prompting the evacuation of more than 100 homes and sending up a mushroom cloud visible in the San Fernando Valley.
The new blaze, which blackened 2,525 acres by early evening, broke out just as Pine Canyon residents, forced from their homes six days ago by a raging fire in northern Los Angeles County, were allowed to return.
No injuries had been reported from the new fire and no structures were immediately threatened in the sparsely populated area east of the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway. Scores of firefighters stood by in case the blaze moved closer to homes, Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Ron Haralson said.
"This fire is really moving," Haralson said. "With the winds and the dry temperatures, it does create a challenge. These aren't favorable conditions for firefighting."
The flames were fueled by temperatures in the high 90s, 20 mph winds and extremely dry conditions, Haralson said.
Upscale homes in Sand and Placerita canyons and the Placerita Canyon Nature Center were evacuated late Saturday afternoon, Haralson said.
Evacuees were sent to the College of the Canyons.
The Antelope Valley Freeway was closed in both directions at Placerita Canyon Road on Saturday afternoon, but southbound lanes were reopened about 6:40 p.m. and northbound lanes reopened an hour later as the fire moved away from the freeway, said California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Joy.
Parts of San Fernando Road, Dockweiler Drive and Placerita Canyon Drive also were closed.
As the fire raged in Santa Clarita, officials were optimistic about another blaze that has burned for a week in the Angeles National Forest.
As the more than 1,000 Pine Canyon residents evacuated six days ago were allowed to return Saturday morning, fire officials reported the fire was 54 percent contained and all mandatory evacuations had been lifted.
"I'm just so happy," said Lindia Bryer of Lake Hughes. "I was sure we wouldn't have a home when they let us back in. We were well taken care of."
Officials said that by Saturday, 16,000 acres had been charred and four homes and 15 outbuildings destroyed. The estimated cost of damage and the cost of fighting the blaze has soared to over $4.5 million.
An army of firefighters has been called into service from as far away as Colorado, Ventura, Kern County, Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino, as well as the U.S. Forest Service. Nearly 2,000 personnel were called out to help battle the blaze.
Pine Canyon hasn't had a major brush fire since 1924 and the Liebre Mountain area last experienced a large-scale fire in 1968. Firefighters said this has led to dense brush, grasses and trees and has given the fire more fuel to feed off.
Only two injuries to firefighters had been reported, both heat-related.
A Los Angeles County fire captain, David Elkins, was killed when he lost control of his Toyota pickup truck as he was apparently on his way home about 8 a.m. Tuesday after working on the Pine Fire from about 10 p.m. the night before, officials said.
---
Armsted, are you with San Diego RU? Spanky (Bratton) is my litle girl's godfather, and we're with RRU. My husband spent a long time on the Cedar fire and he got to take pics of the President and Arnie (and Davis, too) when they toured fire camp.
Maureen
PS: "old saying from Ireland..." I know it well as I'm from Ireland, as well, and there's another ould bit of wisdom from the land. This is what keeps me sane in my own job and in my husband's and son's: "If you're born to hang, you'll never drown."
We're full of them, aren't we? Or is it, we're full of "it?"
Maureen :-)
they are talking about safety zones....the north part of the fire is reaching a peak, and they are going to fire the downhill side (south) to try to burn up to the flames to slow its advance...
The blaze was started when a red-tail hawk, electrocuted by a power line, fell to the ground and ignited the brush, said Ed Littler, an investigator for the U.S. Forest Service.
No kidding. WOW.
No, just a fan. I hold them in high regard.
The Feds, on the other hand....
Guess I'm also a fan of RRU in the traditional sense of "fan".
151.385's a regular stop for me.
Now we've got another fire down here in SD per CHP site...closed WB I-8 out near the Golden Casino (from what the site said) and also saying prepare for a long-term closure.
News from Sage fire camp re: Foothill fire:
It is being reported in camp that the Foothill fire was caused by the crash of a private plane. Moments after the crash, an "explosion" was heard which may have been a fuel tank on the aircraft igniting. So far, none of this is in hard copy.
Maureen
Wow! Someone actually said that on another thread right after it happened...about a really loud sound and then the smoke...They had asked if anyone else heard it, and didn't sound like anyone (on that thread) had...wow...
the downed plane report was ruled out...as they didnt find any wreckage at the start point....
perhaps someone saw the flaming bird dropping to the ground...
The northwest corner of the Foothill Fire has gone over the dozer break, and they are calling for evacuations in the Chaparral Tract (across from Nature Center)
Apparently these people were let back in....or it was voluntary last night.
Also, an inmate firefighter fell 20 feet off a hill and was airlifted to Holy Cross Hospital about 1130am.
"perhaps someone saw the flaming bird dropping to the ground..."
Yeah, must have been that flaming bird again! :-)
Thanks, Karl!
Maureen
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