UPDATE at 7:57 p.m. PT, July 22, 2011:
At 7:44 p.m. PT the FireWatch helicopter mapped the fire at “3,700 acres plus”.
===================
7:00 p.m. PT, July 22, 2011:
The Eagle fire in southern California near Warner Springs has quickly grown to become one of the largest fires in southern California so far this year. Burning in northern San Diego County on the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation, by 6:00 p.m. PT Friday it has grown to 2,850 acres. The number of hand crews on the fire matches the number of engines — 25 of each. I doubt if there is any other place in the world where you could get 25 hand crews on a fire in the first 7 hours. Of course, some of those may be ordered but not yet on scene. CalFire is calling it 15% contained.
You can listen to radio traffic from the fire at RadioReference.
Here are two maps showing the location of the Eagle fire.
One of the readers of Wildfire Today, “Lone Ranger”, from a vantage point in the desert east of the fire, sent us this information at 6:11 PT today:
==============================================
“…The predominant winds have been pushing the fire northeastward into the desert mountains, wilderness, Sheep Canyon Natural Preserve, all day. I’d guess it’s up to around 2000 acres and burning in the rugged peaks and canyons north of San Ysidro Peak and Ranchita.
It started (no lightning) on an eastern part of the Los Coyotes Reservation out of Warner Springs. It moved eastward into Anza-Borrego Desert State Park early this moring and has been burning in the Palm Canyon drainage west of Borrego Springs all day. As best as I can tell it’s been in the bottom of the Middle Fork and likely the North Fork of Palm Canyon and up and down the ridges and peaks in between. A lot of smoke and backing in the burn area of the 2002 Pines Fire but it does get up and moving occassionally in some draws.
Since it’s in the State Park (desert mountains)few resources will be spent other than monitoring I’d guess. It just isn’t going to go anywhere other than taking out some long unburned canyons and ridges north of the Pines Fire burn and lots of beautiful desert wilderness. Some native palm groves, usually quick to recover but in these drought conditions, who knows. Old junipers and mesquites. The bighorn sheep have plenty of room to get out of the way. If will probably burn to the desert floor in Coyote Canyon in a day or so. I’m curious if State Park management will permit it to burn through and beyond (never before!). I’m hoping unfortunate inmates will draw the line there in our lovely summer temps but it would be interesting to break new ground by letting it burn through and across Coyote Canyon, a very prominent desert natural resource. An ecologist’s and State Park powers’ dilemma. I wonder!
The oaks and pines of the Los Coyotes up on top? I’m sure that’s where the forces have been.
No photos of note. Just lots of smoke visible from this desert side but maybe a light show tonight. Surely my swamp cooler will fill my place with the sweet fragrance of smoke as it descends into the Borrego Valley later this evening.
No water drops visible. A very distant CDF Bronco on occassion and perhaps the sound of a very distant bomber. It’s just the biggest fire of the season so far. That’s all.
There’s always the chance of it squirreling around on top and, who knows? Likely, not.”
I WAS TOLD BY A LOCAL TEACHER, SHE HAD THE TWO MEN, IN HER CLASS.
THESE MEN ARE NOW 23 YRS. OLD. ONE SAID HE HAD A BEEF WITH THE
COMANDO TRAINING CENTER ON THE RESERVATION. SO HE DECIDED, TO JUST TO BURN THE GUARD SHACK.
NOT THINKING, OF WHAT HE WAS DOING,
I DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THE SECOND MAN. WHAT A SHAME, NOW IN JAIL, AND WHO KNOWS, HOW ITS GOING TO BE REPAID, FOR ALL THE MEN, EQUIPMENT.
THIS REPORT WAS GIVIN TO ME IN PERSON , THIS LAST SUNDAY. 8 – 13- 2011.
Hi, my kids are headed up to the Scout Ranch in Mataguay early tomorrow morning – I called the CalFire hotline and they said the scout ranch is closed – it’s about 5 miles due south of Warner Springs, I think. My dad works up there as well. It looks like it’s (probably?) still in safe territory…anyone know where the fire is in relation to the Scout Ranch? Thanks! Carrie.
Carrie –
My son also left for Mataguay Scout Camp yesterday. You may have already found this out, but there are two Scout Camps in the area.
Mataguay is open and out of danger. The other camp, the Lost Valley Scout Reservation is north of Warner Springs and is the camp that has been closed.
From what I’ve been able to determine, the Eagle Fire is about 8 – 10 miles north of Mataguay Scout camp, and burning slowly towards the North West of Warner Springs (away from Camp Mataguay).
As of the latest reports (7/25/11 @ 7:30 pm), there are 2100 firefighters currently on the ground, 6 airtankers and 20 helicopters fighting the blaze, which is about 45% contained. The challenge with this fire is that the terrain is mountainous and difficult for fire personnel to reach. This is why aircraft is critical in fighting this fire. I imagine the camp sounds a lot like Vietnam with the helicopter activity.
Here is a url for more information: http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=534
One thing that you can be sure of is that if, for some reason the fire changes direction the CDF, Mataguay’s Campmaster and your Troop’s leadership will get the boys out in an orderly fashion long before it becomes dangerous.
I hope this helps.
CDF (Cal Fire) is the BEST fire department ever. They will get this fire under control.
vacationing in green beautiful Michigan and wondering if there might be a bit of POSITIVE in this tragedy, will it kill some of the mustard grass?
Hopefully my Borrego Studio & the people depending on oxygen will be ok.
Liesel
Liesel!
There is no tragedy here in the Eagle Fire…. other than the fact that it is 99.99% certain it is human caused. The fire is far from dropping onto the desert floor. Sahara Mustard is here to stay for a while. Unfortunately, no fire will have much affect on it.
Again, there is no fire in the valley… and .000% threat.
Historically, the Desert Southwest experiences Monsoon. That is a legit meteorological term and an annual event for thousands of years. Monsoon generates thunderstorms that generate lightning that generate wildfires. That is the natural scheme of things.
Natural wildfire is, well, natural.
Literally, there is nothing wrong with it. Throw humans into the mix and the naturalness of wildfire changes dramatically. Along with its concomitant effects!
Protect human-made structures! Even though they have been built in areas of obvious wildfire potential. That is where a tremendous amount of resources hence, money, is spent “controlling” a wildfire.
In the Desert Southwest, as with anywhere, natural wildfire is caused by lightning. Typically lightning-caused fires occur during thunderstorms generated by Monsoon (late June-late August)or during a tropical storm event (late August through mid-October). Along with the lightning from thunderstorms comes rain. Fire-quenching water. Regardless if rain falls, atmospheric humidity will be much higher than normal Summer/Fall daily levels. Dry vegetation is like a sponge. Higher levels of atmospheric humidity reduce the spread of fire. Ultimately it has been natural meteorological conditons that have determined where, when, and how far a fire burned that is, until humans moved in. Our Santa Ana wildfires of the Autumn are invariably caused by human factors!
Humans start fires. Period! Whether by accident or intentionally. The savy wildland arsonist follows the weather and terrain and knows when and where a fire start will burn the most.
In a nutshell Liesel, wildfire and its dynamics is very complicated but it can be distilled into the “simplicities” of basic fire fighting techniques and tactics.
As for the natural world around us? Wildfire has been part of it forever. You’d be surprised at the survival rate of critters and plants even after a really hot fire. Our Borrego side of the Eagle Fire has been “casual”, a very slow smoldering downhill movenment. Granted, it has burned into the bottom of Palm Canyon but in ecological terms, “no big deal”.
Tonight there will be a bit of orange here and there on the ridges within 3-4 miles of Christmas Circle. Believe me… there is no threat to the Valley. And, unfortunately, there is no there to Borrego’s Sahara Mustrad population!
Respectfully,
Lone Ranger
As of 7:30 Sunday Morning July 24, it has grown to 10,800 acres and is 35% contained. All four hotshot crews, Palomar, El Cariso, Laguna, and the Golden Eagles, from the Cleveland National Forest are on it, and the National Guard aircraft are being used for crew transportation. There are HUGE amounts of resources on this thing.
From: http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=534
Thanks for having this website!!!
-Holly
Thanks for the info, Holly. The Golden Eagles crew is new to me. That’s a hotshot crew? How long have they been around and where are the based?
The Golden Eagles are a Native American IHC, technically called Sycuan Golden Eagles. I really don’t know much about them, except for they are included in the rotation list for IHCs out of the CNF.
Here is their website: http://www.kumeyaay.info/golden_eagles_hotshots/ and the gist of it is: (Straight from the website)
ELITE WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS:
The Golden Eagles Hotshots received its full Region 5 R5 Type 1 Certified Interagency Hotshot Crew (IHC) status in October 11, 2005.
The Sycuan Tribal Fire Dept. entered into a Public Law 93-638 tribal compact with the Bureau of Indian Affairs BIA-NIFC. This negotiated contract provides Sycuan with logistical and monetary U.S. Government support through federally-funded programs for federally-recognized Indian tribes who meet the stringent qualifications.
Federal funding for Native American tribes provides Sycuan with additional fire resources for national and community fire services, including homeland security, disaster preparedness and emergency response, wildland urban interface WUI, hazardous fuel reduction, fire prevention and suppression, medical emergency services EMS, training center, helicopters and flycrews, facilities, salaries, equipment and fire apparatus.
FYI — There are some 90 BIA Hotshot crews in the United States. Nine of those are Native American crews, including the Sycuan Hotshots crew in San Diego County — see our FEDERAL FIREFIGHTERS CREW DIRECTORY for detailed info about these amazing modern-day heros in the national fire service.
NATIVE AMERICAN HOTSHOTS:
The Sycuan Golden Eagles Hotshots IHC is the only federal BIA-tribal inter-agency hotshot crew in the state of California.
The elite Sycuan hotshot wildland crews consist of a diverse group of many Native American nations including the Kumeyaay, Paiute, Pomo, Pima, Karuk, Lakota, Sioux, Zapoteca, Hatuey, Mescalero-Apache, Tule River, Chumash and Cahuilla Native American Indian tribes of North America.
Thanks Holly.
Hi Ken.
Incorrect on the 2002 Pines Fire acreage.
It finally came to rest at over 61,000 acres. CDF essentially had it between 35,000 and 40,000 acres with County Road S-2 and supplementary/supporting dozer lines as the final barrier (the fire was right up against them with little activity and getting pounded by air support). CDF lost it the next morning! It jumped S-2 (paved highway) and a few hours later it roared over
S-22, burning 14,000 acres in 24 hours and it continued burning for several more days. So it goes. Tough on the residents of Ranchita, though!
That period is the only time in Borrego Springs history that the “authorities” were seriously talking about evacuating my town…. in the path of the advancing newly reborn and insatiable Pines Fire. I got a kick out of that! (You’ve got to know this area to understand.)
By the way, some air support is showing itself on this desert side of the Eagle Fire today. I’m beginning to hear the sweet sound of immaculate red and white CDF turbo-props. The fire is moving. An occasional outlying volunteer fire department rig and CDF pickups are starting to show in town. Some CDF crew rigs will probably start showing later today particularly if things are getting buttoned up on top. There might be some ground pounding and hosing at the base of the mountains in the next day or two. Probably heli-tankers, too, drafting off of the few golf course water hazards/ponds.
On this east side, white smoke, smoldering and backing slowly down the mountain slopes then slowly up a canyon ridge and, once again, slow downhill movement.
Even in the desert there’s an occasional fire show! Especially after dark.
Regards…
Lone Ranger
Locals in the area are saying the fire conditions and fire activity are very similar to the Pines Fire in 2002 that burned 26,000 plus acres. The fire is mostly an air and handcrew operation right now.
1000+ acres between discovery and 6 a.m. on Friday morning. Steady growth throughout the day.
Huge commitment of resources tomorrow:
– 1 Type 1 Incident Command Team
– 15 crew strike teams
– 5 engine strike teams
– 7 water tenders
– Several dozers
– 6 air tankers
– 2 helitankers
– 5 type 2 helicopters
– 1 type 3 helicopter
Ken – do you know if the Laguna Hotshot crew is up there?
Dave-
The Laguna Hot Shots (one of my old crews) are on the Eagle fire.
The fire started at 10:40 pm (22:40) on Thursday evening. The CAL FIRE release has a typo.