UPDATE at 7:09 p.m. PT, April 20, 2013:
The City of Monrovia says the fire has burned 170 acres and is 10 percent contained. Evacuation orders are still in place for all of the affected areas. For more information, visit the city’s web site.
A map of the fire area can be found HERE.
As we write this a bear has been sighted on the east side of the fire. A few hours ago there was another sighting of a bear.
This will be our last update unless there is a significant change in the size of the fire.
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UPDATE at 5:20 p.m. PT, April 20, 2013:
The ABC TV station in Los Angeles is streaming live video of the fire. But there is no guarantee that it will last more than a few minutes.
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UPDATE at 4:54 p.m. PT, April 20, 2013:
The radio traffic has decreased significantly, which usually means the fire is moving more slowly or firefighters are starting to get a handle on it.
The City of Monrovia has announced that the fire has burned 150 acres and mandatory evacuations are still in place. Resources on the fire include 65 fire engines and 6 hand crews. There have been no reports of any structures being damaged.
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UPDATE at 4:12 p.m. PT, April 20, 2013:
There is a report that a bear was sighted in the fire area near Highland and Franklin Place. The Monrovia Police and Animal Control were responding.
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UPDATE at 3:13 p.m. PT, April 20, 2013:
The wildfire at Monrovia, California continues to spread to the northeast. Several areas have been evacuated, with the latest being Heather Heights Ct. Several helicopters are working the fire with at least one fixed wing air tanker. The Incident Commander just asked for three Type 1 Strike Teams, which translates to 15 large engines usually used for structure protection on a fire like this.
MonroviaPatch.com reports the fire has burned 50 acres.
The official Monrovia Facebook page is maintaining a list of communities currently under evacuation orders.
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UPDATE at 2:08 p.m. PT, April 20, 2012:
The Incident Commander just created a new division on the east side of the fire and ordered two additional Type 1 hand crews. It continues to spread on the east side. Firefighters have made better progress on the west flank.
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UPDATE at 1:30 p.m. PT, April 20, 2013:
There is one report that the fire has burned about 10 acres, but that is not confirmed. Firefighters on the scene said a hose line and a fireline have been constructed up the left or west flank, and have progressed about halfway up the right or east flank. The fire crossed over a ridge on the east side.
The fire was reported at 11:06 a.m.
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Originally published at 12:55 p.m. PT, April 20, 2013
A new fire in Monrovia east of Los Angeles was threatening structures shortly after noon on Saturday. The Madison Fire was burning on brush-covered slopes near Crescent Drive and Madison Avenue. Engines are performing structure protection near Highland. At 12:40 p.m. PT firefighters on scene said helicopter drops were checking the spread on a ridge.
You can listen to radio traffic from the scene here.
The Monrovia Patch wrote:
The fire was started accidentally by a gardener working in a back yard on Avocado Place, Monrovia Police Lt. Nels Ortlund said. Police ordered evacuations of about a dozen homes as a precaution.
