California Fire News

2,500 Acres Burned In Wind-Whipped Gorman Fire

Posted: 19 May 2007 09:57 PM CDT

2,500 Acres Burned In Wind-Whipped Gorman Fire:

A fast-moving wildfire has scorched over 2,500 acres of dry brush at the edge of Los Padres National Forest.

(AP) GORMAN, Calif. A fast-moving wildfire has scorched over 2,500 acres of dry brush at the edge of Los Padres National Forest.

The blaze was reported just before 2 p.m. along the Golden State Freeway near Gorman Road.

Over 3,000 people were evacuated from Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area but no injuries were reported.

LA County Fire says about 200 firefighters with aircraft support were battling the flames, which were fanned by 40 mile-an-hour winds.

SoCal Edison reported 18 customers without power as a result of the fire, but no homes were immediately threatened.

The cause of the blaze wasn't immediately known, though there were early reports of a vehicle fire in the area.

Gorman is a rural, unincorporated community in northern LA County, about 35 miles north of Santa Clarita."

CA-LAC - Gorman Incident- SB I 5/Gorman - LA Co

Posted: 19 May 2007 09:36 PM CDT

Units just now arriving onscene. SB I 5 4 miles south of gorman. 2
acres, 15-20 MPH wind from North and steep slope. No ROS given.

Full LaCoFd response as well as Some Kern County and Forest Service.

LA Co Blue 11 for Command and comm plan in effect.

1409

2:14 pm (PST)
Immediate need structure protection and 2nd alarm requested.

1412 HRS

Kern Units just now arriving onscene. SB I 5 4 miles south of gorman.
20 acres, 15-20 MPH wind from North and steep slope. No ROS given.

Full LaCoFd response as well as Some Kern County and Forest
Service.
LA Co Blue 11 for Command and comm plan in effect.

1409

Per Forest service BC (Not their fire as of yet) 50-100 acres heading
towards 138 but not there yet.
UPDATE:
CA-LAC - Gorman
Per IC fire now at 450+ acres, structure protection in place, State Park being evacuated, ANF is sending a ST of Type 3s also. Norht wind at 20-25 MPH pushing the fire.

Re: CA-LAC - Gorman
IC just put in a request for Fixed Wing though South Ops . Didnt say how many he wanted though?

Re: CA-LAC - Gorman
No additional size up via radio..(IC to call it in), but they have 2 fixed wing on fire now...earlier requested two additional...those got diverted...but have no just put in a request to order up 4 additional air tankers...

Re: CA-LAC - Gorman
Local media calling it 2500 acres now. I never heard that on radio, but IC did say he was gonna call in an update...so thats where it probably came from.

Re: CA-LAC - Gorman
Ventura County Fire just dispatched a Type 3 Strike Team to Gorman.

Tempers heat up at Ga. camp for firefighters

Posted: 19 May 2007 04:25 PM CDT

Bush administration federal official gives firefighters the bird!...

Tempers heat up at Ga. camp for firefighters: "

Tempers heat up at Ga. camp for firefighters

The Georgia State Patrol was called in after a federal official said he felt threatened.

By Megan Matteucci
Florida Times-Union
Copyright 2007 The Florida Times-Union

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Georgia State Patrol troopers were called to a firefighter camp Tuesday night in Atkinson County after a federal official said he felt threatened by some of the firefighters working to extinguish wildfires in South Georgia and North Florida.

Georgia officials are investigating the dispute and trying to figure out who started it, said Devon Dartnell, a spokesman for the firefighters' Joint Information Center.

About 200 firefighters have spent the past week battling wildfires in South Georgia during the day and sleeping on the ground outside Willacoochee Elementary School at night.

On Tuesday -- the last day of their shift -- more than the fires heated up.

Firefighters were attending a briefing at the camp Tuesday night when they began questioning a federal official who was serving as an assistant to the incident commander. At some point during the briefing, the official felt things had gotten out of hand and went to get help, Dartnell said.

"There was some sort of verbal argument, and the supervisor got intimidated and went to the incident commander, who called security," Dartnell said. "He felt threatened."

Several Georgia State Patrol troopers arrived and ordered everyone to stay at the camp.

No arrests were made, and no injuries were reported, Dartnell said.

Troopers collected statements while commanders ordered firefighters to stay at the camp.

Patrol officials have since turned over their investigation to the Georgia Mutual Aid Group, which invited the firefighters to help fight the wildfires, Dartnell said.

Savannah firefighter Mike Dodd, who is part of the wildfire team, said neither he nor his co-workers were involved.

Dodd said tempers have been rising all week as firefighters ask questions about sleeping conditions and the lack of communication. They escalated Tuesday when a federal official flashed an obscene gesture at one of the firefighters from North Georgia when the firefighter began to ask questions about a second assignment.

The firefighters spent Tuesday morning extinguishing a small brush fire that broke out on a farm in Berrien County.

About 4 p.m., they were asked to go back to Roundabout Swamp in Atkinson County to continue putting out hot spots, Dodd said. The team has spent the past six days at the 6,000-acre swamp, which Dartnell says is fully contained.

Savannah's firefighters were scheduled to return home Wednesday. They were to be replaced by another team of four men, Savannah fire Chief Charles Middleton said.

NTSB: Cal Fire Plane engine did not fail

Posted: 19 May 2007 03:25 PM CDT

Visalia Times-Delta - www.visaliatimesdelta.com -:

The engines of a spotter plane that crashed in September and killed a firefighter and pilot on board appeared to have been running when the aircraft went down in the foothills northeast of Porterville, a report from the National Transportation Safety Board said.

"Air Attack 410," a twin-engine plane, was in the air over the Bear Creek Drainage about 25 miles from Porterville, looking for new outbreaks after a series of small fires in the area, when it went down in the wooded area.

CALFIRE Battalion Chief Rob Stone and George "Sandy" Willett, a contract pilot, were killed in the crash.

A Tulare man, Patrick Courtney, has been accused of setting the fires that prompted the plane's search, and he has been charged with second-degree murder for the deaths of Stone and Willett, as well as other crimes.

He is scheduled to go to trial on June 5.

The NTSB, which is investigating the crash, has posted portions of its findings into the cause of the crash on its Web site.

In its latest posting, dated Monday, a report states that between October and April, the plane's engines were torn down and examined at the Honeywell Aerospace facility in Phoenix, Ariz.

The findings of experts there indicate that when the engines crashed into the trees or the ground as the plane went down, they were running. "No pre-existing condition was found on either engine that would have interfered with normal operation."

That would indicate that the engines didn't stall or have power to them cut mid-air.

But the report states only the factual findings, not the conclusions of NTSB officials or their theory on why the plane went down.

Wayne Pollack, the NTSB investigator looking into the crash, said Wednesday that a formal conclusion on what may have caused the plane to go has not been made, and he did not say when that may happen.

Molestation trial begins for ex-Calif. firefighter

Posted: 19 May 2007 04:30 PM CDT

Picture- Booking Photo Berkeley Firefighter-Paramedic Luis Ponce

Molestation trial begins for ex-Calif. firefighter: "

Molestation trial begins for ex-Calif. firefighter

By Kristin Bender
Inside Bay Area (California)
Copyright 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
All Rights Reserved

BERKELEY, Calif. — The criminal trial for a former Berkeley firefighter charged with 16 counts of felony aggravated child molestation began this week in Nevada County Superior Court in Nevada City.

Luis Ponce was a paramedic supervisor with the Berkeley Fire Department for 17 years before his arrest in January 2006 after a female colleague discovered a computer disc containing child pornography on a station computer Ponce had been using.

Later, police discovered at least 100 computer discs containing child pornography and 60 pairs of girl's panties in his fire station locker.

He resigned in February 2006 after charges were filed against him both in Nevada County and Alameda County. The charges he faces in Nevada County are for molesting two young girls at his home in Grass Valley in Nevada County.

In Alameda County, Ponce faces 57 misdemeanor counts based on 30,000 images of pornography involving very young children that were found in his Berkeley Fire Department locker. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

He and his wife, a nurse, ran a foster care facility, and investigators say they believe many of the victims were under his care. His wife is not a suspect in the case. Ponce, 50, remains jailed in Wayne Brown Correctional Facility in Nevada County in lieu of $2 million bail.

The mother of Ponce's victim sobbed into her hands Wednesday as she reluctantly watched about a minute of the seven-minute video of Ponce abusing her 1-year-old girl, according to the Union newspaper in Grass Valley. Ponce taped the video himself about six years ago, and now the tapes are being used as evidence.

Authorities chose to prosecute Ponce first in Nevada County because the charges he faces there are more serious.

Nevada County District Attorney Cliff Newell said Ponce could face up to 135 years if he's convicted of all the charges against him there.

Ponce is charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child involving oral copulation, one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child, four counts of a forcible lewd act on a child and three counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object when the victim is unconscious of the nature of the act. The trial could conclude as early as today.

Alameda County Prosecutor John Creighton said the outcome of Ponce's trial will determine if a trial will be held in Alameda County."