This updated map of the Station fire shows heat detected by satellites at 12:26 p.m. on Monday, August 31. Most of the new fire growth, compared to the map we posted earlier Monday morning, is on the east side, and appears to show spot fires quite a distance out ahead of the main fire.
The red areas show heat that was detected within the previous 12 hours. The yellow area is the fire perimeter as provided by the fire officials. GEOMAC
The size of the fire, as we reported earlier Monday afternoon, is estimated at 105,000 acres.
This fire has produced a lot of incredible photos. Here is one that the LA Times distributed via Twitter. We don’t know who the photographer was. We were informed by a commenter that the photographer’s name is Wally Skalij.
The Station fire near Los Angeles doubled in size Sunday night to an estimated 85,760 acres. It is a fatal fire, after two firefighters, Arnaldo Quinones, 35, of Palmdale and Tedmund Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County were killed when they drove off the side of a road south of Acton around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. The firefighters worked for Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The map of the Station fire shows heat detected by satellites Monday morning at 3:02 a.m. The red areas show heat that was detected in the last 12 hours. The yellow line is the fire perimeter provided by the Incident Management Team.
Only about 5% of the fire is contained, a small section of the fire perimeter near Altadena.
More structures were destroyed south of Acton overnight and Monday morning, adding to the 18 homes that burned in Big Tujunga Canyon earlier. The exact numbers will not be known until firefighters can get back into the burned areas to conduct damage assessments.
More residents were forced to evacuate overnight as the fire spread on three sides, making large advances on the west, north, and east sides. It is still about 2-3 miles from Acton on the north, and has come to within 7-8 miles of Littlerock and Pearblossom on Highway 138 on the northeast side.
At least 6,600 homes were under evacuation orders Sunday night. Residents are being told to call 211 to get the latest evacuation information.
The photo above shows the west flank of the Station fire near La Cresenta Valley, at 8:57 PT Monday morning. The fire is beginning to break through an inversion. From the local Fox TV station.
While most large fires in southern California are driven by Santa Ana winds, this fire, while occasionally influenced by moderate winds, is primarily driven by steep slopes, heavy vegetation or fuel loading, and extreme weather, including high temperatures and very low humidity.
Wildfire Today explored this concept in an August 26 article. During the last 130 years, through 2007, six of the eight “megafires” larger than 123,000 acres (50,000 ha) were pushed by Santa Ana winds during the first one to four days. The other two megafires were influenced by extreme weather, much like we have seen in southern California since Tuesday, August 25.
There is not going to be much relief from the extreme weather during the next two days. In the valley areas near the fire, temperatures will be in the mid to high 90s with relative humidity in the low teens, which is a little better than the last several days. Winds will be moderate, maxing out at 9-10 mph out of the southwest.
A P3 Orion drops on the Station fire Aug. 30 near Acton, California. Photo: Dan Steinberg
This photo is one of the best fire photos I have ever seen. When I first saw it, I thought it was a great photo with plenty going on–the two fire vehicles, massive nearby flames, the house, and the firefighters–and then noticed the air tanker making a drop between the house and the intense flames. Holy Crap! What a photo!
This one is pretty impressive too, of the Station fire near Los Angeles:
The Angeles National Forest is reporting that the Station fire has now burned 42,500 acres. It is 5% contained and is being fought by 2,575 personnel. There have been at least two firefighter fatalities and four injuries.
The fire was extremely active Sunday afternoon. During most of the day smoke conditions made it very difficult and at times impossible for air tankers and helicopters to operate over the fire. Air tankers were able to “paint” some of the area around Mt. Wilson with fire retardant at times when they could navigate through or around the smoke. The fire is now burning close to the peak which houses hundreds of communication sites for the Los Angeles area.
Local residents are being advised to call 211 to get the latest evacuation information.
The weather on Sunday contributed to the rapid fire spread, with the temperature at the nearby Little Tujunga Forest Service station reaching 101 degrees, while the relative humidity bottomed out at 10% at 2 p.m. Similar weather, including an extension of the red flag warning, is expected for Monday.
Mt. Wilson at 8:20 p.m. PT, August 30, 2009. Webcam of UCLA Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
At a press conference on Sunday officials announced that 18 structures have been destroyed by the fire, adding that the number will probably grow as firefighters work their way back into the burned areas and assess the damage.
In a news conference late today officials announced that two firefighters with the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD) died today in a vehicle accident while working on the Station fire near Mt. Gleason in southern California. The accident happened earlier this afternoon, and the families of the fallen firefighters have been notified, they said at the news conference.
Details about the accident were not provided, but television footage showed a truck that had rolled over.
lacfd *Station IC* Report of fire department vehicle over the side 400+ feet with unknown outcome. Copters unable to get in to search. Keep them in our prayers.
Our sincere condolences to the families and co-workers of the firefighters.
We will update this as more information becomes available.
This photo of the Station fire was taken by the automatic web cam on Mt. Wilson near Los Angeles at 2:18 p.m., August 30. The Angeles National Forest said via Twitter 40 minutes before the photo was taken that Mt. Wilson was “not currently threatened”.
