Precipitation for the 24-hour period ending at 8 a.m. PT, July 20, 2015 in southern California. (Click to enlarge.)
The remnants of Hurricane Dolores passed over southern California Sunday setting precipitation records across the area, putting a sudden pause on the wildfire season. All-time rainfall records were set in Los Angeles, San Diego and more than a dozen other cities.
A bridge on Interstate 10 between Palm Springs and the Arizona border washed out and nearby highways that could have served as detours were closed.
A truck sits precariously at a bridge washout on Interstate 10 east of Palm Springs. The driver had moderate injuries. Photo from CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department.
Here are some of the highest precipitation amounts at weather stations in and near National Forests for the 24-hour period that ended at 8 a.m. PT, July 20, 2015:
…San Diego broke its all-time July rainfall record Saturday when 1.03 inches fell. That broke not only the July single-day record of 0.83 inches set July 25, 1902, but also the record for an entire July’s rainfall, which was 0.92 inches July 1-31, 1902.
It’s also more rain than San Diego saw in all of January this year; on average, January is the second-wettest month and July the second-driest, with January averaging 66 times more rainfall than July. The only other time July has out-dampened January in San Diego was 1976, when July had 0.02 inch to January’s trace.
San Diego added to its total Sunday with another 0.66 inch of rain as of 11 p.m. The month-to-date total of 1.70 inches, which fell in less than 36 hours, is more rainfall than San Diego had seen in the previous 101 Julys combined; a total of 1.68 inches fell during July from 1914 through 2014 in San Diego.
Los Angeles has also broken its July rainfall records. Downtown Los Angeles picked up 0.36 inch Saturday, which broke the July full-month record of 0.24 inch from July 1-31, 1886. Los Angeles International Airport saw 0.32 inch of rain, tying the record for all of July set in 1992.
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.
Dozer puts in fire line on the Adventure Fire north of Placerville, California, July 16, 2015. CAL FIRE photo.
The Adventure Fire burned about 100 acres 8 miles northwest of Placerville, California Thursday afternoon. The only reason we’re writing about this 100-acre fire is that we ran across this excellent photo of a dozer that we wanted to share.
But, since we’re here — we might as well mention also that we have an unconfirmed report saying the first engine that arrived at the fire observed a slow rate of spread and canceled the aircraft. Sometime after that, the slow rate of spread changed to a rapid rate of spread.
CAL FIRE said it was reported at 12:05 p.m. In mid-afternoon quite a few additional resources were ordered, including several crews and an “immediate need” strike team of engines. Later, many resources, both on the ground and in the air, were able to corral it. By about 5 p.m. most of the spread had been stopped.
Below are the weather observations taken from the Pilot Hill RAWS weather station 3 miles west of the fire:
Weather at Pilot Hill RAWS station, July 16, 2015.
By 1 p.m. it was 90 degrees with 26 percent relative humidity and a 7 mph wind gusting to 13. Over the next three hours it got hotter and drier.
One of the cardinal rules of initial attack on a wildland fire is, do not turn around any responding firefighting resources until you are absolutely, totally, unreservedly, unconditionally, altogether, certain that they are not needed.
“At approximately 7:35 a.m. on July 12, a Stanislaus NF Type 3 engine was involved in a two vehicle collision which resulted in both vehicles rolling several times. The engine, on a cover assignment to the Sierra NF for lightning activity, was travelling east on Hwy 168, enroute to Prather Work Center for a briefing.
Responders from other Forest Service engines in the strike team, as well as CALFIRE, CHP and local EMS, were able to extricate the crew members and transport them to local hospitals. Three crew members sustained minor injuries, two of which were treated and released, while one crew member was held for observation overnight. The two more seriously injured crew members remain hospitalized in stable condition.
Hospital liaisons and patient advocates are in place supporting the firefighters and their families. A Peer Support Team as well as a Learning Review Team is in place. Upon completion, the final Facilitated Learning Review will be released thru the Wildland Lessons Learned center.
/s/ Kevin B. Elliott
Kevin B. Elliott
FLA Team Leader”
241 Fire. CAL FIRE photo by J. Bischof 7-13-2015, via Chief John Hawkins.
A wildfire in Orange County in southern California burned two abandoned structures and 180 acres Monday. The 241 Fire was reported at 10:41 a.m. near Irvine Lake and by mid-afternoon the forward progress had been stopped after an aggressive attack by firefighters on the ground, helicopters, and approximately six air tankers. Helicopters were able to turn around quickly after refilling at the nearby lake.
Click on the Twitter images below to see larger versions.
An MD-87 begins a drop on the 241 Fire. CAL FIRE photo by J. Bischof 7-13-2015, via Chief John Hawkins.An MD-87 finishes a drop on the 241 Fire. CAL FIRE photo by J. Bischof 7-13-2015, via Chief John Hawkins.
