THIS POST IS CLOSED. PLEASE POST NEW COMMENTS AT "WEDNESDAY FIREWATCH PM" ABOVE!
Starting yet another day of siege ...
The big story still looks like the retaking of Mt. Wilson. Firefighters are up there on the job, and the largest planes we've ever seen dumped water and orange fire retardant yesterday. It's a good thing.
If you're new here, this is how it works:
- Don't just read the posts, read the comments. The comments are where the action is in this fire. You can read the comments and add your own by clicking on either the "Wendesday Firewatch AM" headline above, or the tiny "Comments" on the lower right of the post, right under the line.
- Need a question answered? Look through the previous posts and comment first. If it's still not answered, ask it in the comments. If you email us directly with a question, we probably can't answer it today.
- Bookmark www.altadenablog.com to return to this page. The increase in hits is astronomical, and that's encouraging the cyber bad guys. Google searches of "altadenablog" are turning up malware sites that will put a virus in your computer. We even saw one yesterday that said "Altadenablog Official Page." It wasn't! We're working with Google to identify and quarantine these jokers, but naturally we can't devote a lot of time to it. If you made it here, bookmark this page to come back.
- Consider a contribution: In response to many requests over the past few days, we have set up a "tip jar" on the right hand column. We've added extra bandwidth with our provider to ensure that this site remains open despite the traffic, and we want to make several improvements to our site and upgrade equipment to continue to cover Altadena like we do, all year long. We are grateful for your support!
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UPDATE 2:30 AM
No evac plans: Town council chair Gino Sund emails us (as of 11:15) :
Just got off the phone with Lt. Mike Bornman. He had just spoken with the Command Center at County Fire. There are no evacuation plans in Altadena at this time, 11:15 a.m.
And, via Robert Klomburg at the Sheriff's Support Group from Sgt. Marsha Williams at Altadena station:
You can add onto the blog – We understand There is quite a bit information being disseminated in various outlets, but this is the most accurate to date “September 2, 2009, as of 11:45 am, there is no information regarding any planned evacuations of the Altadena area.” Bob, this is as simple as it gets. If we get further info, we’ll pass it on to you to update. Marsha
And a note from Beth Andrews:
I just drove up to Rubio Cyn where it meets Loma Alta. I saw hot shots laying fire hose up above the homes overlooking the Cyn. Nobody at Tanoble. The Forest Service professional I spoke with said that they are putting hose up there all the way to Hwy 39 (not sure where that is). He said that right now the fire is moving East. If it comes down towards East Altadena they will see if the line holds and if not back burn up to the fire. I asked in that case how far down evacuations might go...since Loma Alta is at the top followed next by Altadena Drive and Mendicino (as the major streets below)...he said it could come down that low to be able to get equipment in. Right now they don't expect the fire to go that way but if wind shifts then things can change. I guess the bottom line is that East Altadena is not out of risk yet.
Chantry Flats: received this from several sources, from Greg Sweet:
I have just received word from a Forest Service briefing that they are going to let Chantry Flat and Big Santa Canyon burn. The Station fire is to the west and they have cut a fire break to the east. This canyon is home to 80 historic cabins, 113-year-old Sturtevant's Camp, and the last pack station in Southern California. It would be a shame to loose this piece of history, but to have no intention to defend it is disgraceful. This canyon is a living museum and as much a part of LA history as the Observatory. PLEASE pass this along - and fast!
Angeles National Forest
Contact: Sherry Rollman
626-574-5208
srollman@fs.fed.us
Supervisor's Office
701 N. Santa Anita Ave.
Arcadia, CA 91006
Jody Noiron, Forest Supervisor
jnoiron@fs.fed.us
(626) 574-5200
FAX (626) 574-5233
CRS 1 800 735 2929
M-F 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
District Ranger
Mike McIntyre, District Ranger
mmcintyre@fs.fed.us
(818) 899-1900
FAX (818) 896-6727
Going to make hospital visit, back in a few. Comments remain open.
UPDATE 11:30 AM
Play the home game: Reader Tom Rosebrook sent us this pdf, Calfire's guide to firefighting aircraft! Now you can skywatch at home and come off like an expert!
The natives are restless. We're going driving to look at fire trucks and out to lunch. Back later! Comments remain open.
UPDATE 10:30 AM
The Battle for Mt. Wilson: latest from Steve Bass:
A note from Mt. Wilson ops to engineers. Feel free to us if it seems valuable.
Hi everyone,
A group of us are going to be headed up the hill around noon. KNBC, KCBS, KABC, FOX, and more, all in a convoy. The plan is to meet at the la Canada gate at noon, pickup more of us at Redbox around 12:30
Please note as of last night NoMex is required to go past the road blocks and must be worn or you will get thrown out (at least as of last night this AM)
We still have lots of little fire burning so PLEASE be careful to protect yourselves.
Best Regards,
DRD
North of Altadena Dr.: Please note that there now NO evac orders, either voluntary or mandatory. Just know that fire officials are considering it, and the sheriffs have advised residents to be ready if the orders come down. Firefighters are now laying hoses and planning backfires to forestall that event, so don't panic.
UPDATE 9:30 AM
The Battle for Mt. Wilson: President Street's computer dude (and scanner dude) Steve Bass emails the latest:
Report from Mt. Wilson Operations Manager on Wednesday, 9/2 at 9:00a.m. via online scanner
Mt. Wilson OPS: Hi Steve, I geared up on my NoMex gear and was up on the hill last night. The ground attack on the hill was insane .... 100's of crew, ground foscheck tankers had soaked everything all over, trees had been cut, brush cleared ... active fire was everwhere, but the fire was mostly small and under control ... tremendous thanks to the fire fighters.
Back up to the towers today at 11:00am
UPDATE 8:30 AM
Meadows' planned power outage cancelled: A scheduled power outage in the Meadows for today has been moved to Sept. 14 (Edison has been scheduling these outages to work on improving infrastructure -- but now is just not the time!) People in the Meadows need to keep track of local developments by checking out Greg Stanton's fine Welcome to the Meadows blog.
(BTW, we took one of those Facebook quizzes awhile back: "What is your Victorian name?" Ours was Stanton Gregory. We thought it was funny!)
As for power, the main power lines are still endangered, and there may be sporadic outages in Altadena. If anyone is experiencing or has knowledge of someone with an outage, please contact Town Council chair Gino Sund at 794-9609.
UPDATE 8 AM
EVACUATIONS POSSIBLE NORTH OF ALTADENA DRIVE: Just talked to the sheriff station -- as of now (despite what Inciweb and the LASheriff website are saying) the only Altadena area under mandatory evacuation is in the Chaney Trail area (we assume MIllard Canyon Road and Prieto Fire Road north of Risinghill are also included in mandatory evac.)
However: sheriffs are advising that residents north of Altadena Dr. get ready for a possible evacuation. According to the deputy, the fire is only two ridges away, and if firefighters cannot keep it contained in the next few days, that area will be evacuated. More to come.
The bullet: Inciweb says Station Fire is at 140,150 acres. Structural protection crews are on Mt. Wilson. Firefighters are in Altadena at the Cobb Estate, northern Tanoble, Eaton Canyon, and other areas, making preparations in case the fire takes a swing back downhill again.
The Air War: from Inciweb, emphasis ours:
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 retardant 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.
