California Fire News

Southern California Fires at a Glance... Posted: 25 Oct 2007 08:30 AM CDT California Firestorm 2007 San Diego County Witch Fire – 196,240 acres – 20% contained Poomacha Fire – 35,000 acres – 10% contained Rice Fire – 9,000 acres – 20% contained Harris Fire – 75,000 acres – 10% contained Horno/Ammo Fire – 10,000 acres – 40-50% contained Wilcox Fire – 100 acres – 100% contained Cajon Fire – 250 acres – 100% contained McCoy Fire – 300 acres – 100% contained Coronado Hills Fire – 300 acres – 100% contained Los Angeles County Ranch Fire – 54,716 acres – 70% contained Canyon Fire – 4,500 acres – 85% contained Magic Fire – 2,824 acres – 100% contained Buckweed Fire – 38,356 acres – 100% contained Meadowridge Fire – 40 acres - 100% contained San Bernardino County Slide Fire – 10,152 acres – 0% contained Grass Valley Fire - 1,100 acres – 30% contained Martin Fire – 123 acres – 100% contained Walker Fire – 160 acres 100% contained Orange County Santiago Fire – 22,00 acres – 30% contained Santa Barbara County Sedgewick Fire – 710 acres – 100% contained Riverside County Rosa Fire – 411 acres – 100% contained Roca Fire – 270 acres – 100% contained Ventura County Nightsky Fire – 35 acres – 100% contained

CAL FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY Posted: 25 Oct 2007 01:46 AM CDT CAL FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 Amazing Photo of fire that is burning in Running Springs, CA THE BEAST California Firestorm 2007 Photo of Wildlandfire that is burning in Running Springs, CA, taken from the photographers home in Redlands California. Credit: lateott_156's photostream Southern California firestorm 2007, CALIFORNIA FIRE, CALIFORNIA FIRESTORM 2007

FBI team gathers evidence as part of arson probe into California wildfires Posted: 25 Oct 2007 01:30 AM CDT FBI team gathers evidence as part of arson probe into California wildfires 6 hours ago WASHINGTON - Special FBI teams gathered evidence Wednesday as part of a possible arson investigation into the wildfires devastating Southern California, the agency said. FBI evidence response teams recovered materials they hoped would identify the source of the fires that have burned for four days. The FBI said a house was not searched, correcting earlier reports from a law enforcement official. Richard Kolko, an FBI spokesman in Washington, said the evidence response teams "have been working with other federal, state and local authorities" to identify the source of the fires. The fires have destroyed 1,500 homes and caused at least a half-million people to flee, in what has become the largest evacuation in state history. San Diego County accounted for at least 1,200 damaged homes, and officials believe that number will rise. Twenty-one firefighters and at least 24 other people have been injured. One person was killed by the flames, and the San Diego medical examiner's officer listed five other deaths as connected to the blazes. Thousands of people remained in emergency shelters, where many had an agonizing wait to find out whether their homes had survived. President George W. Bush signed a major disaster declaration for California in the wake of the wildfires that have charred about 1,700 square kilometres.

California Fires Mapped On Google - California Firestorm 2007 Posted: 25 Oct 2007 12:26 AM CDT California Fires Mapped On Google Twelve great Google map sources covering the California Firestorm Google Maps team list of Google Maps: These maps created specifically for the wildfires in Southern California Use these great maps Cal Fire News certainly will! I have been working on Google maps for this news blog for months now and this new resource will save time and effort that will be much better used getting the facts in disaster situations and clarity during information overload and let the map makers do their thing.. This amazing technology which always seems to be improving will change everything in emergency incident reporting! Its like hiring a in house map team! and hundreds of eyes in the field and will save CAL FIRE NEWS a lot of time and effort and result in even more timely emergency incident reporting. The devastating Fires have burned more than 373,000 acres of land; 350,000 homes have been evacuated. Lots of people have pulled together to make maps with information about the fires, including the burn zones, evacuation alerts, evacuation centers, safe areas, and closed roads. Here's a list of some of the most widely-used fire maps that Google Maps team is aware of. (1) San Diego County Fires - KPBS is updating this map every 5 to 15 minutes with the latest information on the spread of the fire. It appears to be one of the most up-to-date and includes lots of information about evacuation alerts and evacuation centers. It also shows burn zones drawn on the map. (2) Los Angeles Times 10-23-07 Fires - Includes status updates on each of the fires, including the number of acres burned, percentage contained, the amount of property damage, injuries and evacuations. The LA Times is updating this quite frequently. (3) Wildfires in Southern California - Fire status updates, closed roads, evacuation alerts, and photos by the Los Angeles Daily News. (4) San Diego Under Siege: Witch Creek and Harris Fires info and maps - This map is focused on the Witch Creek and Harris fires. It appears to have been created by someone who lives in the area who is updating the map as more news appears on TV. (5) Fire Updates and Road Closures - This map is specifically about the fires in Santa Clarita, including road closures, burn zones, property damage, and injures. (6) Witch Creek Fire - This one is specifically about the Witch Creek fire. It doesn't seem to be getting updated as frequently now; apparently the creator had to leave. (7) The Orange County Register - Updates from the Register on each of the fires, including evacuated areas, start time, origin, property damage, etc. (8) Wildfire Photos - Photos from the San Diego Union-Tribune. (9) Wildfire Videos - Videos from the San Diego Union-Tribune. (10) 2007 Wildfires - Burn zones and evacuation centers from the San Diego Union-Tribune. (11) Los Angeles Times 10-22-07 Fires - Fire news from yesterday by the Los Angeles Times. (12) Malibu Wildfire Info From blog.sudosu.net - Specific information about the fires in Malibu. Updates are based on news from the TV and web. Link: Official Google map Blog: Southern California fire maps From Official Google Blog: Posted by Jess Lee, Product Manager, , Source: Google Blog - Southern California fire maps

Inciweb: San Diego County Operational Area - 315,590 acres of active fire Posted: 24 Oct 2007 11:25 PM CDT San Diego County Operational Area Editor: According to United States Forest Service Inciweb site the USFS (Federal Government) is responsible for and commanding or in various unified commands fighting 315,590 acres of active fire in the San Diego Operational Area alone right now in the State of California... Incident Contained Acres Updated Harris Wildland Fire 10% 75,000 7 min. ago Witch Wildland Fire 20% 196,240 19 min. ago Rice Wildland Fire 20% 9,000 57 min. ago Poomacha Wildland Fire 10% 35,000 1:11 hrs. ago Ammo Wildland Fire 0% 350 1:22 hrs. ago

Inciweb: Cajon Wildland Fire - 250 acres - 100% - Final Posted: 24 Oct 2007 10:17 PM CDT Cajon Wildland Fire Incident Information Announcements News Photographs Maps INCIDENT UPDATED This incident is 100% contained. Summary This fire is in mop-up. There are no evacuations due to this fire. Basic Information Incident Type Wildland Fire Cause Under Investigation Date of Origin 10/22/2007 at 1138 hrs. Location I-15/Kenwood in Devore Incident Commander Not available Current Situation Total Personnel 53 Size 250 acres Percent Contained 100% Estimated Containment Date 10/24/2007 at hrs. Fuels Involved Chaparral with grass Significant Events Not available Outlook Planned Actions Fire is in mop-up status. Crews will patrol tonight watching for hot spots. Growth Potential Low Terrain Difficulty Extreme Remarks Resources on Scene-- 1 Crew, 4 engines, 1 dozer, 3 dozers. Weather Current Wind Conditions 19 mph NE Current Temperature Not available Current Humidity Not available

Inciweb: Rosa Wildland Fire - 411 acres - 100% - Final Posted: 24 Oct 2007 10:07 PM CDT Rosa Wildland Fire Incident Information Announcements News Photographs Maps INCIDENT UPDATE This incident is 100% contained. Summary This fire has burned 411 acres and is 70 percent contained. 175 residences near Temecula are threatened. Evacuations have been lifted and residents are allowed to return to their homes. All roads are open. 223 firefighters are assigned to this incident under CAL FIRE command. The cause of this fire is arson. Rosa Fire Information Line (951) 940-6985. Basic Information Incident Type Wildland Fire Cause Under Investigation Date of Origin 10/22/2007 at 2306 hrs. Location East of Temecula, north of Fallbrook Incident Commander Bart Chambers Current Situation Total Personnel 223 Size 411 acres Percent Contained 100% Estimated Containment Date 10/24/2007 at hrs. Fuels Involved Chaparral (6 Feet)Heavy Brush, slash from agricultural operations Fire Behavior None. Continued mop up. Significant Events Damage assessmnent on the Pellegrino Branch, 5 acres of avocado damaged/destroyed. On the Vaquero Branch, 1 backhoe destroyed, 25 acres of avocado damaged/destroyed. On the Borranca Branch, no damage to structures, vehicles or agricultural products. Outlook Planned Actions Continue patrol of perimeter. Watch for hot spots. Extinguish any flareups within 300' of line. Check grovesand agriculture areas for hot spots. Growth Potential Low Terrain Difficulty High Remarks Not available Weather Current Wind Conditions 7 mph SE Current Temperature 97 degrees Current Humidity 7 %

Inciweb: Ranch Fire Wildland Fire - 54,716 acres - 70% Posted: 24 Oct 2007 10:04 PM CDT Ranch Fire Wildland Fire Incident Information Announcements News Photographs Maps INCIDENT UPDATED 37 MIN. AGO ANNOUNCEMENT Emergency Closure of Los Padres National Forest - October 23, 2007 6755 Hollister Ave. #150 - Goleta, CA 93117 - CONTACT: Joe Pasinato (805) 961-5745 - www.fs.fed.us/r5/lospadres - GOLETA, Calif.- In conjunction with the Cleveland, San Bernardino, and Angeles... more High intensity burn in Hasley Canyon - October 24, 2007 Credit: Alexis West view pictures || view maps Summary As a result of extreme fire activity the Angeles and Los Padres National Forests have implemented forest wide closures. Please call the Los Padres National Forest, 805-961-5770 or the Angeles National Forest, 626-821-6700 for additional information. This afternoon crews were rappelled into the area around Little Sespe Creek in order to clear and prepare an area for a helispot. This helispot will be used tomorrow to insert hotshot crews into this area of the fire. Crews continued today to put out hotspots on the southern and eastern sides of the fire. Some interior smokes were visible. Containment lines near communities and isolated structures have been effective. Tonight crews will continue to mop up hot spots around the fire perimeter, and will build additional line as necessary. Structure protection will continue. Structures at risk continues to be located in the Val Verde and Hasley Canyon areas, located at the south eastern edge of the fire perimeter. Crews have been successful in protecting these areas and no structures were burned. The fire has not crossed highway 126 nor has it progressed any closer to the communities of Piru and Fillmore. All evacuations from the Ranch Fire within Los Angeles and Ventura Counties have been lifted. Residents are now allowed back into their neighborhoods but are urged to remain cautious and should keep informed about current conditions. The Incident Command Post is located at Castaic Park. The fire is under the command of California Interagency Incident Management Team 3, Jeanne Pincha-Tulley commanding. The Ranch Fire started October 20th at 9:42 pm near Townsand Peak, southwest of Templin Highway and Interstate 5, in the Angeles National Forest. The Ranch Fire has now involved 54,716 acres and is 70% contained. Firefighting resources currently on scene include 905 personnel with 60 fire Engines, 16 bulldozers, 20 water tenders, 24 Hand crews, 3 helitankers, and 6 helicopters. This season's extreme fire behavior was made worse by widespread plant mortality which occurred in mid- and low-elevation finer fuels during the hard freeze that occurred last January. These low temperatures are common on the Angeles at higher elevations during the winter; however, this episode was significant at lower elevations due to its severity and duration. This vegetation mortality, when coupled with the historically low rainfall levels, has provided fuel and weather conditions in which these types of fires can be expected. Residents of these areas need to be aware of the great danger posed by fire and take active measures to protect themselves, their families, and their property. Information on measures that you can take in the face of these conditions can be found at http://www.firewise.org/ on the world-wide web. Basic Information Incident Type Wildland Fire Date of Origin 10/20/2007 at 2142 hrs. Location 6 miles north of Castaic CA Incident Commander Jeanne Pincha - Tulley Current Situation Total Personnel 905 Size 54,716 acres Percent Contained 70% Estimated Containment Date 10/31/2007 at hrs. Fuels Involved The fire is burning in heavy chaparral and oak woodland. Fire Behavior Fire activity was minimal today, although some flames were visible from Interstate 5. Light winds and extremely dry fuels resulted in some fire running up slopes. The northern flank of the fire is burning into the previously burned area of the Day Fire. Significant Events Considerable progress was made today on the western flank of the fire by hand crews. Evacuations were lifted in all areas affected by the fire and all roads were opened. Outlook Planned Actions Tomorrow hotshot crews will be inserted into the fire near Little Sespe Creek. Firefighters will continue to build and improve containment line on the all fronts of the fire. Structure protection will continue in the communities of Hasley, Piru, Sespe and Fillmore, as well as along Highway 126. Growth Potential Low Terrain Difficulty Extreme Remarks The prospects for containment of the fire in the near term are very promising. Resources are being released for use on other fires in the region. Weather Current Wind Conditions Not available Current Temperature Not available Current Humidity Not available

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