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Del Puerto Canyon fire
Del Puerto Canyon Fire Grows To 27,000 Acres
Blaze Also Creeps Into Santa Clara County
POSTED: 7:29 am PDT July 14, 2006
UPDATED: 7:37 am PDT July 14, 2006
PATTERSON, Calif. -- A wind-whipped wildfire that started in western Stanislaus County thrust across rugged canyons Thursday toward a state park in neighboring Santa Clara County.
The fire in the Del Puerto Canyon had burned more than 27,000 acres as of 7 p.m. and was located about six miles from Henry W. Coe State Park, said Henry Dekruyff, spokesman for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Despite the proximity, authorities had no immediate plans to evacuate the 87,000-acre park as more than 2,000 firefighters continued working to build a fireline around the blaze, he said. It was about 45 percent contained by Thursday night.
"It's been really, really difficult country to get into and around," said Shane Lauderdale, another CDF spokesman. "The winds are being difficult, and so that continues to make it hard. Also, it's very hot in the daytime."
Ten homes and one outbuilding have been destroyed in the blaze that started Sunday, about 85 miles southeast of San Francisco. The remote ranching area has steep terrain and little access to water.
The fire was about 45 percent contained early Wednesday at 11,000 acres, but firefighters lost ground as it more than doubled; containment shrank to about 30 percent.
Officials hoped to have full containment by Sunday, although erratic winds and high temperatures forecast through the weekend could delay that effort, Dekruyff said. Four firefighters were treated for heat exposure and some residents voluntarily evacuated.
The cause of the blaze was not determined.
More Resources:
* California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
http://www.theksbwchannel.com/news/9517703/detail.html
CBS/AP) Firefighters dug in for another day of blistering heat Thursday as they struggled to keep a string of desert wildfires from spreading toward the mountain resort community of Big Bear Lake.
The lightning-sparked flames had already destroyed nearly 100 homes and other structures and chased about 1,000 people from Rimrock, Burns Canyon, Gamma Gulch, Flamingo Heights, Little Morongo Canyon and the Wild West film community of Pioneertown, officials said.
It was worst combination for firefighters, reports CBS News correspondent Steve Futterman (audio): dry brush, hills that haven't burned for years, temperatures over 100, and low humidity.
"We're talking about steep hills that make progress by hand crews and engines slow and difficult," San Marcos Fire Battalion Chief Rick Vogt told CNN Thursday morning. "That, combined with the weather, makes it a challenging fire."
Air power was helping to slow the fire down, but the weather continues to heat up, reports CBS News correspondent Vince Gonzales.
A 37,000-acre blaze threatening Pioneertown was one of several fires started by dry lightning that moved through the area earlier this week, Vogt said.
Fire officials worried that if the fires continued west toward the San Bernardino National Forest, they could grow rapidly in the steep terrain and get dangerously close to Big Bear Lake, a community of summer lake and winter ski resorts and about 5,500 residents.
A severe bark beetle infestation has killed many trees in recent years, and the dry trees would fuel the flames.
"If it starts in there it will be almost impossible to stop," said California Department of Forestry spokeswoman Karen Guillemin.
At least 42 houses, 55 other buildings and 91 vehicles have burned in around the high desert communities about 100 miles east of Los Angeles, authorities said. Most of the historic buildings that made Pioneertown famous, old west saloons and storefronts that once were props for movie cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, were spared. Some privates homes were not.
"Here's the front door over here. This was the living room," one homeowner told Futterman.
Temperatures hit 108 degrees Fahrenheit Wednesday as 2,500 firefighters attacked flames devouring Joshua trees, pinon pines and brush in hills and canyons. Highs in the 100s are forecast for the Pioneertown area through the weekend. Higher up at Big Bear Lake, temperatures in the mid-80s were forecast for Thursday.
North of Yucca Valley, a blanket of smoke darkened the sky over the Mojave Desert.
In the Gamma Gulch area, dead animals littered a property where a home and barn burned. Eight firefighters and two civilians were treated for minor burns or smoke inhalation.
Elsewhere in the West, several new wildfires in southern Montana spread quickly — one to an estimated 10,000 acres — because of windy weather.
Wildfires have burned more than 4 million acres across the United States, almost twice the 10-year average for this time of year, according to National Interagency Fire Center.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/13/national/main1798848.shtml
Fires Have Merged; Extreme Fire Behavior Expected Today
Breaking News
By RIMOFTHEWORLD.net
Friday, July 14, 2006
The Sawtooth Complex and Millard Complex Fires have merged in Little Morongo Canyon, according to fire officials. Excessive heat and breezier conditions today are expected to create extreme fire behavior.
The western edge of the Sawtooth Fire slowly is backing westward down a ridgeline about 3 miles to the east of Onyx Summit. Firefighters had hoped for additional air support today, but those aircraft were diverted elsewhere on the fire. And, without air support, officials are reluctant to send in hot shot crews.
http://www.rimoftheworld.net/columns/rotw/fire_creeps