Thursday, October 4, 2007

California Fire News

Van Bateman - Federal Correctional Institution Tucson

Posted: 04 Oct 2007 01:40 AM CDT

Why would a guy with no criminal record, mental health history or financial motive try to burn down the Coconino National Forest?

FLAGSTAFF — A former Coconino National Forest fire boss convicted of illegally setting wildfires is set to report to federal prison in Tucson Wednesday.
Van Bateman will be held in a medium-security prison, the Federal Correctional Institution Tucson, where he'll have a cell mate, a bunk bed and communal showers, prison officials said.
The 57-year-old will serve 24 months for setting two fires in 2004.
Bateman's case began in November 2005 after investigators said they had evidence placing him at the scene of at least one arson fire.
By pleading guilty, Bateman avoided a maximum 25-year sentence.
Bateman once headed one of the nation's top wildfire incident management teams, helping suppress the Rodeo-Chediski fire, Arizona's largest wildfire ever.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, he and his team also assisted in recovery operations at the World Trade Center in New York City.

San Diego landslide - 111 homes affected

Posted: 04 Oct 2007 12:45 AM CDT

San Diego landslide destroys homes

In all, about 111 homes have been affected in some way by the slide - suffering structural damage or having power and water interrupted, evacuations ordered or access limited.

A utility pole dangles over a sinkhole on a residential street in Mt. Soledad, a pricey neighborhood near La Jolla. San Diego Gas & Electric Co. workers shut off electricity in the area. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Time)

SAN DIEGO - 0900 - A massive landslide today morning destroyed two homes, damaged several others and ripped up more than 100 yards of a residential street on Soledad Mountain, a pricey neighborhood on the edge of La Jolla.

There were no reports of injuries. Homeowners had been warned Tuesday night to evacuate because the city geologist and a city consultant thought a landslide could be imminent.

Location: The road is buckled in the 5700 block of Soledad Mountain Road between Desert View Drive and Palomino Circle. Soledad Mountain Road cracked and massive amounts of earth began sliding eastward toward Desert View Drive. One home along Soledad Mountain Road slid off its foundation so that it was no longer visible from the street.

Sizeup: this was foreseen Two weeks ago, city officials sent a letter to homeowners advising them of the danger. On Tuesday, the city began warning residents prior to the event as workers went door to door with a letter warning residents in several houses that "you should not sleep in your homes effective immediately." On today, workers were at the site doing tests when the hill began its rapid slide.

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. workers turned off power as three poles fell. No gas leaks were reported. About 2,500 customers were without power after utility poles fell, officials said. Within hours power was restored to all but a few dozen.

Employees from the county's animal control department were deployed to rescue animals from homes; within hours, 10 dogs and 8 birds had been evacuated.

Current situation: The road is buckled in the 5700 block of Soledad Mountain Road between Desert View Drive and Palomino Circle. 9 homes red-tagged as uninhabitable, 19 had been yellow-tagged, with residents permitted inside only long enough to gather key possessions.

111 homes have been affected in some way by the slide - suffering structural damage or having power and water interrupted, evacuations ordered or access limited, Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire Department, said that firefighters evacuated 49 people from 55 homes. Luque estimated that residents would probably be able to return to all but two dozen of the homes by midnight. The same streets - Soledad Mountain Road and Desert View Drive - have been hit several times with landslides. In 1961, when homes were being built, a landslide destroyed seven of them under construction along Desert View Drive, which is parallel to and down the hill from Soledad Mountain Drive. Other slides occurred in the area in 1989 and 1994.

Geologists say the land beneath the homes and in the backyards is unstable because of forces remaining from when an earthquake caused by the Rose Canyon fault eons ago in effect created what is now called Soledad Mountain.

"This is a geologically active area," said city engineering geologist Rob Hawk.

Related links:

Newsday.com,

FIRE WEATHER WATCH in effect Friday morning for southeast California

Posted: 03 Oct 2007 11:47 PM CDT

[EDIS] fire weather watch in effect from friday morning through friday evening for southeast california and the lower colorado river valley due to strong winds and low relative humidity values

- CALIFORNIA FIRE WEATHER ZONE 230 - JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK - CALIFORNIA FIRE WEATHER ZONE 231 - LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY CA - CALIFORNIA FIRE WEATHER ZONE 232 - IMPERIAL COUNTY AND EASTERN RIVERSIDE COUNTY-

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A FIRE WEATHER WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING. AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL MOVE TOWARD THE SOUTHWEST UNITED STATES FRIDAY. THIS WILL CAUSE WINDS TO INCREASE TO 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 35 MPH ACROSS SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY. IN ADDITION... A VERY DRY AIRMASS WILL OVERSPREAD THE AREA... RESULTING IN AFTERNOON RH VALUES FALLING TO NEAR 10 PERCENT. THE STRONG WINDS AND LOW RH VALUES WILL COMBINE TO CREATE HAZARDOUS FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS.

Instruction:
PLEASE ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS AND FIRE CREWS IN THE FIELD OF THIS FIRE WEATHER WATCH.

Area: ARIZONA FIRE WEATHER ZONE 131YUMA/MARTINEZ LAKE AND VICINITY/LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY AZ-CALIFORNIA FIRE WEATHER ZONE 230JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK-CALIFORNIA FIRE WEATHER ZONE 231LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY CA-CALIFORNIA FIRE WEATHER ZONE 232IMPERIAL COUNTY AND EASTERN RIVERSIDE COUNTY-

Affected Counties or parts of: Riverside, Imperial,

Sent: 2007-10-03T14:25:17-07:00

From: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ

California Firefighters Recall Crash

Posted: 03 Oct 2007 07:46 PM CDT

STACIA GLENN
San Bernardino County Sun

COLTON - They survived a harrowing plunge off a mountain highway but still exuded the courage and strength associated with firefighters.

The wheelchairs Miguel Lopez, 26, and Mark Smith, 25, were confined to at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center on Tuesday faded into the background when they spoke.

The IVs still attached to their arms were hardly noticeable.

Lopez and Smith are the only U.S. Forest Service firefighters still hospitalized after the eight-member crew's rig blasted through a guardrail on Highway 18 on Monday morning and dropped 400 feet down the steep, heavily wooded terrain.

"The emotions of going upside down over and over again, it keeps going through my mind today," Lopez said. "It's amazing that we walked out of there alive."

The firefighters were wheeled into the room by their girlfriends and mostly maintained light-hearted grins while recounting the terrifying episode.

The California Highway Patrol is still investigating the cause of the accident, though they've ruled out speeding and mechanical failure.

Lopez and Smith said they do not know what happened.

They were headed to cut down hazardous trees in the 14,039-acre Butler II Fire area when they felt an impact, heard someone yell "Oh my God!" and then went into a free-fall.

Both were seat belted into the crew compartment, which the medical center's chief of surgery said probably saved their lives.

Doctors initially thought Lopez had dislocated or broken his pelvis.

After several tests, they declared he had torn the labrum in his right shoulder.

Smith dislocated his left shoulder and possibly suffered a fracture.

"It's an experience I kind of want to forget," Smith said.

The rig skidded about 100 feet, demolished the guardrail and dropped to a ledge 20 feet below the road, where the hood was ripped off.

It then slid more than 100 feet down the hillside before the crew compartment broke off from the chassis, finally coming to rest against a pine tree.

The rig then to split into two and continued to fall.

Being professionals, the firefighters immediately did a head count and asked about injuries.

Then they busted out the windows that were still intact and crawled out.

After calling 9-1-1, a crew member passed his cell phone around so others could call their loved ones and assure them they were safe.

Lopez said his brush with death has been a reminder to tell his loved ones how much he cares on a regular basis.

"You never know. You might go to work but you might not come home that night," he said.

Zaca Fire Information - Roads reopened

Posted: 03 Oct 2007 12:28 PM CDT

LOS PADRES ITEMS OF INTEREST

Zaca Fire Information - A large area of Los Padres National Forest surrounding the Zaca Fire has been reopened. However, the burned area and some adjacent lands will remain closed through the rainy season. Map of Closure Area (pdf 897kb).

Zaca Fire Progression Map (pdf 234kb) - Chronology of Events (pdf 64kb)

Wallspring Prescribed Fire - Sucessful 175 acres as planned

Posted: 03 Oct 2007 11:28 AM CDT

Giant sequoias are fire adapted and thrive in naturally cycling fire. Fire opens the cones, and releases the tiny seeds to the nutrient rich ash and mineral soil below-ideal conditions for this tree's germination. Fire thins competing vegetation and trees and opens the canopy for this sun-loving species.

Wallspring Prescribed Fire map

According to the Incident spokesperson Deb Schweizer the Wallspring Prescribed Fire operation was very successful yesterday with a good hot and clean burn and very few crown incidents clearing the brush below the giant sequoias nicely, no slop overs...Good Job