Bob Eisele sent us this map of the North Fire — the “Carmegeddon” fire that trapped scores of vehicles on Interstate 15 in southern California July 17, burning 22 of them. His data points out that much of the vegetation had not burned in a very long time — for southern California, anyway.
Mr. Eisele said:
We all “know” the Cajon Pass burns “all the time”. But it doesn’t all burn all the time. The North fire area last burned in 1945. It takes old fuel, not drought, to make big fires in SoCal. See map attached.
A wildland firefighter in Spain told us about this video featuring the BRIF (reinforcement brigade forest fire). It covers their training and shows the firefighters working on fires.
The unit is celebrating their 21st anniversary after being created by former members of hotshot crews in 1994. Since then it has grown into 10 bases staffed by 600 firefighters.
More than three-quarters of an inch of rain has helped firefighters make significant progress on the Pines Fire near Wrightwood, California. As of Saturday evening the Incident Management Team was still calling it 200 acres.
The evacuation of organization camps and campgrounds involving 300 people remains in effect. No Injuries have been reported and no structures are eminently threatened. Highway 2 is open but campgrounds remain closed.
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(UPDATE at 11:36 a.m. PT, July 18, 2015)
Just before noon this morning the U.S. Forest Service released this little map of the Pines Fire near Wrightwood, California.
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(Originally published at 10:15 a.m. PT, July 18, 2015; updated at 10:56 a.m. July 18, 2015)
Map showing heat detected by a satellite on the Pines and North Fires at 11:15 p.m. PT, June 17, 2015. Very little heat was detected on the North Fire, possibly because light fuels, or vegetation, were present which was consumed quickly by the fire then cooled before the satellite passed overhead at 11:15 p.m. In contrast, the North Fire, about 2,000 feet higher in elevation, was burning in heavier fuels, including timber, which can continue to burn for hours, days, or weeks after the fire initially passes through. (click to enlarge)
While the North Fire that burned 22 vehicles trapped on Interstate 15 in southern California received most of the attention on Friday, another fire 10 miles to the west created some havoc as well. At 1 a.m. Saturday morning about 300 people, mostly children, in 11 organizational camps near Wrightwood had their sleep interrupted and were told to evacuate when the Pines Fire erupted nearby. About 130 of the evacuees were deaf or hearing impaired children.
The fire was reported at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Friday, July 17. As of the last update from the Angeles National Forest Saturday morning it has burned 200 acres near the Angeles Crest Highway (Highway 2) north of Wrightwood in the Big Pines area. No injuries have been reported and no structures are threatened.
A view of the Pines Fire from the command post. LA Co. Sheriff Dept. photo.
Overnight five aircraft worked the fire: one Angeles NF helicopter, one USFS air attack fixed wing, and three Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopters.
Some of the camps evacuated were Apple Tree, Lion, Verdugo, Peavin, and a Girl Scout Camp. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Station in Palmdale has established an evacuation center at Serrano High School in Phelin, 9292 Sheep Creek Road.
A semi truck and a car carrier burn on the North Fire, July 17, 2015. InciWeb photo.
There is not much change to report on the North Fire that burned across Interstate 15 in southern California Friday afternoon destroying 22 vehicles on the highway that became trapped by the fire.
The Incident Management Team is still calling it 3,500 acres, a figure that has not changed since four hours after the fire was reported Friday afternoon. Satellites have not detected any large heat sources in the last 36 hours and mandatory evacuations have been lifted for residents only.
The weather station nearby at Morman Rocks has measured 0.27 inch of rain since Saturday at noon.
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(UPDATED at 11:21 a.m. PT, July 18, 2015)
North Fire July 17, 2015, InciWeb photo.
The North Fire that burned across Interstate 15 in southern California Friday afternoon is still out of control, but the fire behavior has been mitigated by a storm system that has moved into the area.
At 10 a.m. PT light rain was falling in the greater Los Angeles area. The storm brought five new fires ignited by lightning in the San Bernardino, San Gabriel, Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains. You can check the status of these new fires at an InciWeb page, which helpfully has a definition of “lightning” in case you don’t know what it is.
Scores of vehicles were trapped on the freeway Friday as drivers abandoned their cars and fled on foot. There were no reported deaths or injuries, but 22 vehicles, including two semi trucks, were destroyed and 10 were damaged.
As the fire spread further north into the community of Baldy Mesa, 3 homes, 8 outbuildings, and another 44 vehicles burned. Mandatory evacuations are in place for the Baldy Mesa area.
Interstate 15 was closed in both directions for hours on Friday until the fire died down and the abandoned vehicles were either retrieved by their drivers or towed away.
(Originally published at 6:14 p.m. PT, July 17, 2015; Updated at 7:08 p.m. PT, July 17, 2015)
The North Fire, first reported at 2:33 p.m. on July 17, quickly spread across a heavily travelled Interstate highway in southern California burning vehicles that became trapped when drivers stopped, took their keys, and abandoned their cars. The resulting grid lock on Interstate 15 in Cajon Pass affected scores of vehicles. Twenty were were completely incinerated and another ten were damaged, since firefighters were unable to access the area with their trucks through the tangle of immovable cars.
At least two large trucks burned, a semi with a completely involved trailer and a car carrier that may lost its entire load of vehicles to the blaze.
Southern #California: People fleeing for their Lives as #Wildfire Whips across El Cajon Pass #GeoEngineering #Drought pic.twitter.com/FyMmYC47Lf
At 5 p.m. it was 99 degrees in San Bernardino not far from the fire and the relative humidity was 15 percent. The wind was 15 mph. The weather is predicted to change on Saturday, with the humidity increasing to 70 percent, a temperature of 85, wind out of the south at 17 mph gusting to 26, and a 30 percent chance of rain.
One of the nearby U.S. Forest Service engines on initial attack ordered five air tankers soon after they got a good look at the fire. There was a report that later a total of 10 air tankers and four helicopters had been ordered.
KTLA, which is live-streaming video, reported at 6 p.m. PT that 3,500 acres, 15 homes and 20 vehicles have burned; 50 more structures are threatened. KTLA also reported at 7:02 p.m. that in spite of the chaos with the trapped vehicles and drivers evacuating down the freeway, there were no injuries.
A Type 2 incident management team has been ordered.
According to Uriah Hernandez, a spokesperson for the San Bernardino National Forest, early in the fire there was a report of a drone in the area of the fire, but as of 7:25 p.m., that report has not been confirmed. Firefighting aircraft were grounded or had to stay out of the area for a short time.
A DC-10 air tanker drops retardant on the North Fire near Cajon Pass on Interstate 15 in Southern California, July 17, 2015. Screen grab from ABC7.
The video below was recorded before the semi truck and the car carrier caught fire.
Cold Brook Fire April 13, 2015, shortly after the prescribed fire crossed Highway 385 and escaped. This is looking northwest. Photo by Benjamin Carstens (click to enlarge)
Senator John Thune of South Dakota had a video edited that stars him as he makes statements and asks questions during a committee hearing about forestry issues. The hearing occurred July 16 before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. The panelist in the video is Robert Bonnie, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment.
Mr. Thune was pushing Senate Bill 1100 that he is sponsoring (without any co-sponsors) titled Prescribed Burn Approval Act of 2015. You can see the entire hearing HERE (it starts at 17:00). Mr. Thune’s edited version is below.
In the video, he said, referring to two recent escaped prescribed fires on federal land in South Dakota, [The agencies]….”had no business in a couple of these circumstances starting fires given the weather conditions that were existing at the time, and people at the local level would know that. So all we’re asking for is consultation at the front end before this happens and work with folks and get their sign-off and then on the back end when something like this happens a response that is timely, expedited and effective.”
The Senator got fired up after two recent large escaped prescribed fires in South Dakota. In 2013 the Pasture 3B prescribed fire escaped in the Dakota Prairie National Grasslands in northern South Dakota. It was planned at 210 acres, but strong winds on April 3, 2013 caused by the predicted passage of a cold front pushed the fire across a mowed fire line into tall grass and ultimately burned 10,679 acres, (3,519 acres federal and 7,160 acres private). The wildfire, named Pautre Fire, was stopped at 11 p.m. that night.
More recently, on April 13, 2015 the Cold Brook prescribed fire, which was planned as a 1,000-acre project in Wind Cave National Park in southwest South Dakota, spotted across U.S. Highway 385 and burned 5,420 acres of park land outside of the intended burn unit. The escape was entirely within the boundaries of Wind Cave National Park. A few days later Mr. Thune sent a strongly worded letter to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewel criticizing the National Park Service for the escaped prescribed fire.
The legislation the Senator is pushing is not lengthy, but has some interesting requirements, such as, a prescribed fire can’t be executed on federal land if the grassland fire danger index indicates a high, very high, or extreme danger of grassland fire, or if the Chief of the Forest Service has declared very high or extreme fire danger. However, the project could still be carried out “if the head of the Federal agency obtains prior approval from the applicable State government and local fire officials”.
And there’s this: “A head of a Federal agency that authorizes a prescribed burn shall be liable for any damage to private property caused by the prescribed burn, notwithstanding chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code (commonly known as the “Federal Tort Claims Act”) or any State law.” The proposed bill also says damages must be paid within 120 days of receipt of a substantiated claim.
These provisions raise a few questions. The grassland fire danger index is exclusively designed to predict the potential for non-agricultural grasslands to carry fire. This could be a useful indicator for prescribed fires in grasses, but not necessarily for projects in other fuel types and elevations.
And I am not aware of the Chief of the Forest Service making a proclamation establishing a daily fire danger rating.
I am no attorney, but it appears that the legislation, if it becomes law, would make the head of agencies personally liable for damages resulting from escaped prescribed fires. If so, and if they would not be automatically reimbursed, it could be difficult to entice anyone to accept those positions.
Bob Eisele sent us this map of the North Fire — the “Carmegeddon” fire that trapped scores of vehicles on Interstate 15 in southern California July 17, burning 22 of them. His data points out that much of the vegetation had not burned in a very long time — for southern California, anyway.
