Los Angeles fire worsens, 10,000 homes threatened

[JBean]

It has been so hot and we are just now coming into fire season. i went offroading in the backhills on my bike yesterday and barely made him home it was so unbearably hot.

The conditions are ripe for these fires, but they do call for some cooling down this week.

 

[scandi]

The observatory is under immediate threat as the fire advances... staff is putting out updates:

http://www.mtwilson.edu/fire.php

Thanks Elphaba and you too SuzieQ, I've been watching the Webcam for about 10 min and it looks like that is fire on the far left and it has breeched the top of that hill and on it's way down on the north side of it. It just looks that way to me, not sure if it is the case.

Thanks Bean for the OT. Please stay safe all of our Californians in the area. xox

 

[scandi]

Boy, in 10 min more of watching it looks like that fire is making fast headway, now showing an outline on the right side of that mountain to the far left. When I started watching there was no outline by fire on the right or north side of that mountain, only on the top and to the left of center at that time. Hard to draw a verbal pictorial. But it certainly is advancing fast and that webcam is extremely busy. It won't automatically advance every 2 min now. You have to go out and open it up again. xox

 

[Elphaba]

Last night I was watching the cam and I am shocked at how much the fire has advanced in 24 hours.

 

[Buzz Mills]

the brush in the hills is tinder dry; so many of these native CA plants have oils in them that make them so flammable, they literally explode in flame, and they burn very hot.

 

[scandi]

Last night I was watching the cam and I am shocked at how much the fire has advanced in 24 hours.

Hi, Is that what I'm seeing on the far left, fire crawling closer towards the Observatory? How far away do you think that is? They said it could be at the O in a couple of hours, but I have seen rapid advancement in the last 50 min if that is what I'm seeing. It is reddish? Well, that does make sense seeing how far I've seen it come in that time.

Do you think there are still people at the O? It looks like I see a white SUV up there. xox

I don't see any airplanes or heli's in the air. You'd think they'd be dumping retardant like crazy, eh?

Good to see you as always Elphaba, my Natural Science buddy. LOL

 

[DollyPardonMe]

Yucaipa Fire 0% contained


IT IS SO HOT HERE!

In Riverside it was 107 today. We're just a little west of Yucaipa and it was 106 in Yucaipa! My nephew is with the Orange County Fire Authority and has been sent with a strike team to the LA fires.

 

[scandi]

the brush in the hills is tinder dry; so many of these native CA plants have oils in them that make them so flammable, they literally explode in flame, and they burn very hot.

Ah Buzz, so good to see you ;} We're up late, eh, and gosh, I need to go to bed but watching this fire advance is unfortunately like history in the making.

I notice it is smokier now by those towers closest to us. It is in forest land, right? Not much wind they say. Are you watching live coverage on TV?

 

[scandi]

In Riverside it was 107 today. We're just a little west of Yucaipa and it was 106 in Yucaipa! My nephew is with the Orange County Fire Authority and has been sent with a strike team to the LA fires.

Hi Dolly, I'm saying prayers for everyone working on the fire, especially to your nephew and PassTheMotrin's brother.

I think it is too smoky for heli's to be up in the air there.

So TV communications and radio could go out. Anything else? Can they transfer that load to other towers in the area? Questions, questions, I know. But I have never seen anything this serious before with a forest fire. xox

 

[DollyPardonMe]

Hi Dolly, I'm saying prayers for everyone working on the fire, especially to your nephew and PassTheMotrin's brother.

I think it is too smoky for heli's to be up in the air there.

So TV communications and radio could go out. Anything else? Can they transfer that load to other towers in the area? Questions, questions, I know. But I have never seen anything this serious before with a forest fire. xox

Hi Scandi..Ive been searching for other towers..I don't know if it's because I'm so tired but I just don't know what to look for right now. I just looked at the Oak Glen Fire in San Bernardino but there were no updates or pics. It did say it was only 10% contained. I will keep looking

 

[scandi]

Hi Scandi..Ive been searching for other towers..I don't know if it's because I'm so tired but I just don't know what to look for right now. I just looked at the Oak Glen Fire in San Bernardino but there were no updates or pics. It did say it was only 10% contained. I will keep looking

Hi again Dolly, In Bean's post #4 the article has been updated at 11:19. It says there are 25 firefighters up at the observatory and they will stay there if and when the fire engulfs the station. Everyone else has been sent home. It is the safest place for them to be rather than driving down a mountain road.

The article sounded like they do expect it to go thru that Observatory area. xox

 

[Elphaba]

Hi, Is that what I'm seeing on the far left, fire crawling closer towards the Observatory? How far away do you think that is? They said it could be at the O in a couple of hours, but I have seen rapid advancement in the last 50 min if that is what I'm seeing. It is reddish? Well, that does make sense seeing how far I've seen it come in that time.

Do you think there are still people at the O? It looks like I see a white SUV up there. xox

I don't see any airplanes or heli's in the air. You'd think they'd be dumping retardant like crazy, eh?

Good to see you as always Elphaba, my Natural Science buddy. LOL

It does look like the fire, to the far left.

Yesterday reports said that the fire was less than 2 miles away from the observatory. This quote is from an LA Times article late yesterday evening, and it is very disheartening:

“It’s a serious situation,” said Bob Shindelar, operations branch director of California Incident Management Team 5. “Is the observatory going to make it? We’re doing everything in our power. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it is impacted by fire today or tomorrow.”


I think the only people on the observatory grounds are the fire crews, since there is an immediate threat.

 

[Elphaba]

Good to see you, too, Scandi!

 

[DollyPardonMe]

This was the latest news at 11:00 on ABC Channel 7:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=6990735

 

[Elphaba]

This is an update from an hour ago, in regards of the fire hitting the top of Mt Wilson:

*snip*
“It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when,” said Mark Savage of the Los Angeles County Fire Department told ABC 7 news.


http://newsjunkiepost.com/2009/08/3...s-to-burn-to-the-ground-in-los-angeles-fires/

 

[scandi]

This was the latest news at 11:00 on ABC Channel 7:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=6990735

Thanks for that link Dolly. It says everyone has been taken off the mountain now. It's not a matter of if it will overrun the towers but when. And it also controls fire and police calls.

I bet there are very few people asleep right now in that area, all watching the news. The Observatory bldg looks like a neat old bldg and it would just be a shame to see it ravaged by fire as well as all the loss of comunication. Same feeling as when all the buitiful mosques in Bagdad were set on fire. I cried. xoxox

 

[scandi]

Suddenly things changed. The bldg to the far right, it looks like there has been an explosion, like a big giant fireworks went off.

And the area to the left of the far left tower, the air there has taken on a real red color, and I think flames have breeched that lower bldg.

 

[scandi]

http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~obs/towercam.htm#imagetop


I think the bldg to the right is burning and when flames hit that tower a circle of sparks go off like the 4th of July. And the big tower to the left, I think the fire is very close to burning that bldg below it.

 

[fran]

Bless those that lost their lives.

fran


http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/Station_Fire

Station Fire Rages Out
of Control

Thousands evacuated in Los Angeles
County.
Updated: Monday, 31 Aug 2009, 5:51 AM PDT
Published : Saturday, 29 Aug 2009, 4:17 PM PDT


Los Angeles (myFOXla.com) - Super Scoopers today will join the fleet of aircraft battling the 42,500-acre Station Fire in northern Los Angeles County, which claimed the lives of two firefighters over the weekend.


...................full article at link............................

 

[JBean]

In Riverside it was 107 today. We're just a little west of Yucaipa and it was 106 in Yucaipa! My nephew is with the Orange County Fire Authority and has been sent with a strike team to the LA fires.

Oh I know several people with the OC FA, I am sure all hands are on deck.Bless your nephew.
Keep cool Dolly.

Hey JBean - my brother lives in Sunland - is that area been evacuated???? Just tried calling him - but no answer....

Niner they are saying the Station Fire is reaching all the way to Sunland now. Hopefully you have talked to your brother. It has consumed 45k acres and they are thinking it will hit 100k no problem. This fire is a monster.