Posted on 07/06/2008 9:57:21 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Exhausted firefighters raced to contain hundreds of wildfires raging across California as forecasters warned on Sunday that a looming heatwave was set to deliver drier, hotter conditions.
More than 330 wildfires blazed across the state, as firefighters focused their efforts near the tourist haven of Big Sur and the town of Goleta, near Santa Barbara, 103 miles (165 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.
The blazes have burned around 559,000 acres (239,000 hectares) across California since igniting on June 20, when lightning from dry thunderstorms triggered a series of forest infernos.
Firefighters reported some progress in their fight against the two largest wildfires along the state's central and southern coastline, with the southern blaze 28 percent contained and the Big Sur fire five percent contained.
Light winds overnight boosted firefighters' efforts, but forecasts of higher temperatures on Monday combined with lower humidity were set to deliver a fresh setback to the fight to contain the flames.
Temperatures in southern California, likely to hit the low to mid 80s Fahrenheit (27-29 degrees Celsius) on Sunday, were set to rise to 90-98 (32-37 Celsius) through the early part of the week, forecasts said.
Fire chiefs overseeing efforts to quell the blaze near Santa Barbara, which has claimed nearly 10,000 acres, said the fire was far from under control.
"This is still a gorilla," the fire's incident commander Wally Bennett was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times.
"We have a lot of work to do on it, and a lot of bad country to work on it in. It's just one step at a time, and we're going to get this thing."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Now I guess they can relate to our soldiers, marines, airmen, sailors, and coast guardsmen in Iraq and Afghanistan in 120 degree weather except they aren’t dodging bullets, ieds, or mortor rounds.
California since igniting on June 20, when lightning from dry thunderstorms triggered a series of forest infernos.
Mon., June. 16, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO - Dozens of gay couples were married Monday after a landmark ruling making California the second U.S. state to allow same-sex nuptials went into effect
Just sayin......
06.25.2008
advertisementSAN FRANCISCO — In less than a day, an electrical storm unleashed nearly 8,000 lightning strikes that set more than 800 wildfires across Northern California
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
One of the things you have to remember whenever hearing about California wildfires is that the state of California generally refuses Federal assistance in the form of USPS/USFS/BLM wildfire fighting assets (tankers, crews, smokejumpers, logistical help, etc.) until the situation is way out of hand.
Wow! I thought I was the only one who took notice. I doubt it is coincidence. Someone is not pleased up there =)
One week - Gay Marriages the following week - Lightening / Fires.
Memo to Californians: Keep it up California just remember “You can’t fool HIM”
Don’t forget that misguided forest management policies have a major part in these conflagrations. No lumber harvesting anywhere, anytime leads to monstrous deadwood buildups.
The vast majority of large fires currently active in California actually started on Federal land, thus the initial response was by Federal agencies, using whatever Federal assets the agency chose to respond. The state became involved either because of mutual aid agreements, or as the fires migrated to non-Federal land.
http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/sitreprt.pdf
How many brigades of Sierra Club supporters are out there with shovels battling the fires? They’re probably all in Sacramento stuffing bribes in the pockets of California’s law breakers to ban cutting manzanita bushes and make the state safe for man-eating mountain lions.
Can’t deny that lightning strikes qualify as an act of God...
thanks to the envirowackos and the limiting of logging practices we have built us up quite a little tinderbox in this state.
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