Jeff Zimmerman of Zimmerman Media took some excellent photos at the Sage Fire southwest of Santa Clarita on the west side of Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles.
The South Zone Coordination Center reports this morning that the fire has burned 800 acres. The evacuation orders for 700 homes have been lifted for the Stevenson Ranch community however the area remains closed for non-residents. The fire started near Sagecrest Circle and The Old Road.
About 1,200 firefighters battled the blaze.
The map of the Sage Fire below was generated at 8 a.m. PDT July 10, 2016 with data current as of 2:25 a.m PDT July 10, 2016.
After an extensive five-day search two missing hikers were found in a very remote area of the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area in the Klamath National Forest 41 air miles southwest of Yreka, California. They were rescued after the smoke from their signal fire attracted firefighters.
When Cody Hopkins, 14, and his father, Joseph Hopkins, 54, did not return home on June 29 as planned, Mr. Hopkins’ wife notified the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department. With the assistance of many other agencies, the Department searched from June 30th until July 4th when the hikers were found a considerable distance from the initial search location. Both father and son were in relatively good shape considering their ordeal and were reunited with family members shortly after their rescue.
As of Wednesday night the fire, now named “Wilderness”, has burned 46 acres in the footprint of a 2008 fire. On Wednesday 18 smokejumpers were dispatched and two hotshot crews are on scene or en route.
The latest satellite overflight showed much-reduced heat on the Erskine Fire, only detecting heat on the southwest side where there was some westward movement of the fire. This does not mean the rest of the fire is out. The satellite is hundreds of miles away and only finds the larger heat sources. There is no doubt some fire activity in other areas, but this latest data does show that much of the fire is not still spreading.
Highway 178 is now open. However some roads off of Highway 178 remain closed, including Entrada, McCray Rd, Dogwood, Kelso Valley Rd and Kelso Creek Rd.
The incident management team has not updated the size of the fire since Monday when they said it had burned 45,388 acres.
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(UPDATED at 7:15 a.m. PDT June 27, 2016)
The latest results from the damage assessment at the Erskine Fire at Lake Isabella, California reveal that at least 250 structures have been destroyed and another 75 were damaged.
The Incident Management Team reports that 45,388 acres have burned, an increase of about 9,000 acres over the figure released on Sunday.
On Sunday an incursion by a privately operated hobby drone in an area where helicopters were assisting with firefighting operations caused fire managers to ground all of the helicopters due to safety concerns. The drone operator was located and detained, and the helicopters were able to resume fire operations after a 30-minute delay.
The fire continued to spread Sunday on the southwest side toward Inspiration Point and has crossed Bright Star Creek.
Air tankers were very busy yesterday working on the south side of the fire.
The activity on the Fish and Reservoir Fires that comprise the San Gabriel Complex near Los Angeles has lessened over the last 24 hours. The Fish Fire is still generating heat near the top of the fire and on the southwest side.
The combined acreage for the two fires is now 4,900 acres according to the U.S. Forest Service — 1,200 acres for the Reservoir Fire and 3,700 acres for the Fish Fire. Approximately 1,040 personnel are currently committed to these fires.
The mandatory evacuations for parts of the city of Duarte and in the national monument still remain in effect.
In spite of predictions otherwise, the two fires have still not merged and are over a mile apart.
Tuesday night firefighters continued structure protection along the south perimeter above Duarte. On Wednesday hand crews will hold and improve the fire perimeter, patrol along Highway 39, and seek opportunities to build indirect dozer lines along the Red Box Road.
With the exception of the wind, which could be an issue, the weather forecast for Wednesday favors firefighters, with moderate temperatures and relative humidity. However the wind will be out of the southwest at 8 to 11 mph with gusts up to 17 mph.
At a 9 a.m. press conference fire officials at the Fish and Reservoir Fires said the expected nighttime downslope winds that intensified after 4 a.m. caused an increase in fire activity, pushing the Fish Fire down the steep slopes above Duarte, California. With the assistance of at least one water-dropping night-flying helicopter firefighters were able to prevent the loss of any structures.
After a Chief with Los Angeles County Fire Department said they put out the fire at the base of the slopes behind the residences early Tuesday morning, he said there is no containment in that area or any other area on the fire. He also said he does not foresee any relaxation of the evacuation order in the near future.
Fire officials expect the two fires to merge. The incident is now known as the San Gabriel Complex.
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(UPDATE at 7:54 a.m. PDT June 21, 2016)
The Fish and Reservoir Fires near Glendora, Azuza, and Duarte in southern California have not grown together. According to satellite heat-sensing data they were still about 1.3 miles apart at 3:23 Monday morning.
The U.S. Forest Service reports that the size estimates of the fires are 3,000 acres for the Fish Fire and 2,400 acres for the Reservoir Fire.
A Type 2 incident management team with Mike Wakoski as Incident Commander is assigned to both fires. They had an inbriefing scheduled for 8 p.m. on Monday.
The U.S. Forest Service reports the Fish Fire has burned 3,000 acres and the Reservoir fire, 1,500 acres. LA County reports that as of 8:30 p.m. the two fires had not merged… yet. They were still 1.5 miles apart. But at that time the Fish Fire was 2,000 acres.
Incredible #wildfire shot – smoke behind Los Angeles skyline (AP Photo / Ringo H.W. Chiu) pic.twitter.com/djKN54uszh
(Originally published at 4:45 p.m. PDT June 20, 2016. Updated at 5:33 p.m. PDT June 20, 2016)
Two wildfires started today near Los Angeles and both got off to a roaring start. The map above shows the location of the fires at 1:21 PDT on Monday, about two to three hours after they started. They have grown substantially since then.
The Reservoir Fire ignited at about 11 a.m. after a vehicle accident on Highway 39 near Morris Reservoir on the steep slopes above Glendora, California. Within about three hours it had burned 1,200 acres and required the evacuation of San Gabriel Canyon recreation area. At 5:30 p.m. it was estimated at 1,500 acres.
The growth of the Border Fire east of Potrero, California has slowed in recent days. CAL FIRE reports that it has burned 7,483 acres.
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(UPDATED at 7:20 a.m. PDT June 22, 2016)
The Border Fire at Potrero, California, 18 miles east of the greater San Diego area, continued to spread to the east on Tuesday, adding another 480 acres. CAL FIRE is reporting that it has burned a total of 6,500 acres, two residences, and 11 outbuildings.
A spot fire 1.2 miles northeast of the main fire had burned 40 acres as of early Wednesday morning.
New evacuations were ordered for the Border Fire in San Diego County at 2 p.m on Tuesday June 21. It includes Lake Morena Village northwest of Campo, California.
CAL FIRE reported that there are 1,484 personnel assigned, plus 158 engines, 32 hand crews, 6 helicopters, 12 water tenders, and 3 dozers.
The mandatory evacuations have been placed in parts of the city of Duarte and in the national monument still remain in effect.
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(UPDATED at 6:10 a.m. PDT June 21, 2016)
CAL FIRE’s latest estimate on the size of the Border Fire at Potrero, California was 7,500 acres late Monday afternoon. Our very rough analysis of Monday night’s mapping data puts it much closer to 6,000 acres … but it may eventually grow into the larger figure.
The fire has gone through or past several small communities with names like Dog Patch, and has come within two miles of Campo, which was the first evacuation shelter. When the fire grew closer to Campo, the shelter was moved to the rest area on Buckman Springs Road at Interstate 8, and was later relocated to El Cajon at the Los Coches Creek Middle School, 9669 Dunbar Lane.
According to CAL FIRE mandatory evacuations are still in effect for the communities of Potrero, Forest Gate, Star Ranch, Cowboy Ranch, Dog Patch, & Canyon City. Highway 94 remains closed.
The number of structures destroyed remains at four outbuildings. There have been three minor injuries to firefighters.