Wildfires: Additional Firefighting Resources Needed

by: Lou Angeli

San Diego County, CA (October 24, 2007) -- While fire crews late Tuesday began to control some fires in Los Angeles county, officials in San Diego were concerned that the fires could march toward more populated areas along the Pacific Ocean.

A shift in the prevailing winds in the area late Tuesday, from the fierce but predictable Santa Ana winds, to more volatile western ones, also plagued firefighters.

The LA Times reports that by late Tuesday, the blazes had burned 420,424 acres -- about 656 square miles -- and destroyed 1,155 homes, making these incidents nearly as large as the fires in October 2003 that are considered the largest in California history.

CNN is reporting that nearly 1 million have been evacuated or displaced.

The blazes have killed six and injured at least 70 more. Thirty-four firefighters have been hurt, authorities said. Two firefighters were in critical condition, including a woman firefighter who had been burned severly and was placed in a medically induced coma.

San Diego Fire Department Battalion Chief Bruce Cartelli described scenes of "utter devastation" with hundreds of homes lost and "many hundreds" of others damaged.

“It's probably the worst significant event in my career of 36 years," Cartelli said.

"It will not end ... until it reaches the ocean or the winds turn around." (1)


In many areas, firefighters were no match for speeding flames and sought refuge in aluminum fire shelters or retreated in the face of burning hillsides. Strong winds made attacks from the air difficult.

The winds are so fierce that flames simply leap over firebreaks created by dozer crews. At one hot spot near Pamona, the fire hurdled an eight-lane interstate where firefighters had staged for a defensive stand.

“This is absolute bullshit” said one San Diego County municipal firefighter. “Had we been given air support earlier, many of the fires could have stopped dead in their tracks.”

A senior fire official agreed. "If we had more air resources, we would have been able to control this fire," said a frustrated Orange County Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather. "Instead we've been stuck in this initial attack mode on the ground where we hopscotch through neighborhoods as best we can trying to control things." (2)

The head of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection dismissed Prather’s claims. Ruben Grijalva said the fires, spread by winds that at times topped 100 mph, would have overwhelmed most efforts to fight them.

“We have 90 aircraft here,” Governor Schwarzenegger told ABC News. “And they can't fly because of the wind situation." (3)

Immediate Need: Additional Firefighters

Governor Schwarzenegger ordered the state’s corrections department to deploy more than 2,640 trained inmate firefighters to the southern California wildfires. The inmate strike teams’ deployments are being coordinated through the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

The OES is also coordinating the movement of strike teams from central and northern California. Each strike team is comprised of 15 firefighters, from various municipal departments, under the command of a Team Leader. The teams respond aboard OES engines that are placed strategically throughout the state.

Just last week, CalFire laid off it seasonal firefighting force of 1,400 employees. Those who are still available are being called back on a unit-to-unit basis.


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Sources:
(1) CNN.com
(2) Los Angeles Times
(3) KGTV 10News.com

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Half Million Californians Are Evacuated

Southern California (October 23, 2007 – 1512 hours) – Six thousand firefighters have been joined by 1500 National Guardsmen in an attempt to extinguish 19 massive wildfires in the area between Santa Barbara County and the Mexican border. Early this morning President George Bush issued an emergency declaration for the area with a promise of additional equipment and manpower.

Two citizens are dead, 16 firefighters seriously injured and half million Californians have been evacuated, with more mandatory evacuations expected. Five of San Diego's 23 emergency shelters reached capacity Monday evening. Others evacuees took shelter with friends or relatives.

Officials say that the fires have 340,000 acres, claimed 1300 homes with another 60,000 others threatened. The number and intensity of the fires have stretched California's firefighting resources to the limit, with one department reporting the "lack of resources [is] hindering suppression efforts."

Two of the largest blazes East of San Diego are expected to join later today to become a superblaze. Firefighters and equipment have been withdrawn from the area in anticipation of the combined fires. In Los Angeles County the Ranch, the Buckweed and the Magic fires -- are projected to merge in about 48 hours into a more than 80,000-acre fire, according to Roger Richcreek of the Angeles National Forest.

By mid-morning thousands of evacuees were taking shelter in Qualcomm Stadium and other locations throughout San Diego. Marines began evacuating aircraft from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar to other military bases in California and Arizona. The San Diego Wild Animal Park moved some animals to the on-site animal hospital for their protection

Officials have stated that they fear the inferno could become even more destructive than the 2003 Cedar Fire, considered the worst wildfire ever on record. During that blaze 50,000 citizens were evacuated, compared to the the current ten-fold number of 500,000.

sources:
-CalFire
-OES (California)
-San Diego County

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The Perfect Firestorm

SOCAL (October 23, 2007 -- 0930hrs) -- As the Sun rose over Southern California on Tuesday, Wildfires continue to devastate a dozen counties. Nearly 350,000 people have been evacuated from San Diego county alone, and additional evacuations are expected.

According to the National Weather Service, the Santa Anas will continue to blow today, rendering any effective containment unlikely. 245,957 acres, or 384 square miles,are now burning with more expected. New fires seem to sprout up every hour and the National Interagency Command Center reported 19 new blazes over the past 24 hours.

In San Diego County, the Witch fire now covers 10,000 acres and is zero percent contained. This fire is one mile east of the City of Ramona, and all citizens have been evacuated. Further East, the 20,000-acre Harris fire is spreading unchecked. Strong winds are hampering suppression efforts. The blaze is threatening the Potrero CalFire station and structure protection is in place.

The San Diego Sheriff's Department reports that there were two arrests overnight for looting in the Ramona area. Two 18-year-olds were taken into custody. Sheriff's Lt. Mike McClain says that the deputies are on patrol looking for criminal activity in evacuated areas.

CalFire will launch a search and rescue mission today in the Harris fire scorched area to look for illegal immigrants who are lost or have been killed. The fire burned a rugged region criss-crossed by trails used by illegal immigrants. Several were discovered Sunday night injured with burns.

Further North the Los Angeles Fire Department has assigned two Strike Teams of Firefighters to assist the Los Angeles County Fire Department in their battle against a brush fire between Agua Dulce and Canyon Country, California, twelve miles north of the City. The Agua Dulce Fire in Canyon Country is currently at 35500 + acres and is 20% contained. The fire is heading southwest to Santa Clarita.

Detailed fire suppression efforts can be found on the Los Angeles Fire Department’s twitter, which is regularly updated by the department’s communications specialist Brian Humphrey. Locations of major fires can be found on Google Maps.

Additional firefighting teams have arrived from southern Nevada to assist San Diego County firefighters who have been stretched so thin that many stations are unmanned. The Northwest is sending strike teams to help fight the Southern California wildfires. In all, 25 units are being dispatched from Oregon and Washington state.

Volunteer firefighters from the East coast are self-responding and airlines are offering discounted fares to firefighting teams.

The worst California wildfire of the past decade was the Cedar Fire in October of 2003, which killed 15 people and destroyed more than 4,800 structures, many of them houses, as it burned nearly 300,000 acres in San Diego County.


sources:

Bloggers Blog

Los Angeles City Fire Department Blog

San Diego Fire Department Blog

The Santa Ana Winds -- Explainer

Santa Ana winds are a California firefighter’s nightmare. These blustery, dry, and often hot winds blow out of the desert and race through canyons and passes in the mountains on their way toward the coast.

The air is hot not because it is bringing heat from the desert, but because it is flowing downslope from higher elevations. As fall progresses, cold air begins to sink into the Great Basin deserts to the east of California.

As the air piles up at the surface, high pressure builds, and the air begins to flow downslope toward the coast. When winds blow downslope, the air gets compressed, which causes it to warm and dry out. In fact, the air can warm at a rate of 29 degrees Fahrenheit per mile.

Canyons and passes funnel the winds, which increases their speed. Not only do the winds spread the fire, but they also dry out vegetation, making it even more flammable.


Source: NASA

Deadly Firestorms Ravage Southern California

SOCAL (October 22, 2007) -- Dozens of wildfires are out of control in Southern California leaving behind major damage. One person is dead, hundreds injured and fire officials say that none of the firestorms have been contained. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency seven counties.

Today, a quarter-million San Diego County residents were ordered to evacuate as blazes ripped across dry brush and vegetation, fed by desert hot Santa Ana winds. At last report tens of thousands of homes are at risk of being destroyed.

One band of wildfires about 70 miles southeast of San Diego had already blackened 14,000 acres or 22 square miles and there are no signs that the wildfires can be halted.

Further North, along famed Highway One, out-of-control wildfires threatened thousands of Malibu area homes late Monday, as firefighters raced to beat back the blazes. 700 firefighters worked to protect hundreds of homes in several upscale communities nestled in the hills.
The fires, which covered swaths of drought-parched land, from the high desert to the Pacific Ocean. Some of the worst damage in Malibu, included a church, homes and a castle – all burned to the ground.

In many areas near Malibu, the fires were like flashbacks. Between Oct. 21 and Nov. 4 of 2003, 15 fires in many of the same areas killed 22 people, destroyed 3,640 homes and blackened 750,000 acres.

"It was nuclear winter. It was like Armageddon. It looked like the end of the world," Mitch Mendler, a San Diego firefighter, told the AP while he and his crew stopped at a shopping center parking lot to refill their water truck from a hydrant near a restaurant.

"I lost count," he said when asked how many homes had burned
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Meanwhile, California officials appealed to fire agencies in other states for help.

As flames roared down on communities with amazing speed, firefighters complained that their efforts to stop them were delayed when people who refused to leave their homes confronted them.

In the San Bernardino Mountains, mandatory evacuations were ordered in several communities where 1,500 homes were threatened by two blazes that had blackened more than 600 acres west of Lake Arrowhead and in the Green Valley area.

At least one of the fires, in Orange County, was believed to be caused by arson, said Orange County Fire Authority spokeswoman Lynnette Round. It consumed about 8,800 acres was 30 percent contained.

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