The County of San Diego has developed an app that can provide the public with information about ongoing emergency incidents that may affect residents and visitors. Available for Android and Apple smart phones and devices, the “SD Emergency” app has breaking news about incidents, maps of incidents, and the locations of shelters. It also has disaster preparedness information and interactive checklists to help you to create an emergency plan and build an emergency supplies kit.
If you register the app and provide some contact information, it will send to your device push notifications of new emergencies and updates.
Every large city should have an app like this. It was released a week ago, and the best feature is…. it is free.
CAL FIRE revised the number of structures that were affected by the fire. Destroyed were 11 residences, 14 outbuildings and 11 vehicles, while 2 residences were damaged. The fire has burned 2,851 acres and it is 90 percent contained. Resources on the fire include 1,402 personnel, 115 engines, and 47 hand crews.
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Originally published at 9:10 a.m. PT. September 25, 2012
The body of a man was found in a home that was destroyed in the Shockey fire, a 2,851-acre wildfire in eastern San Diego County. After hearing from neighbors that the man may have been in the house when the fire burned through the area, investigators examined what was left of his house and discovered his remains.
Map, Shockey Fire – September 25, 2012. The yellow squares represent heat detected by satellites. Google/MODIS/Wildfire Today (click to enlarge)
Firefighters are still tallying the damage but preliminary estimates are that 20 homes were destroyed along with 10 that were damaged. About 15 outbuildings also burned.
The fire started Sunday afternoon near the Shockey Truck Trail at California Highway 94 on the Campo Indian Reservation. It spread quickly forcing the evacuations of 600 people in the communities of Boulevard and Jacumba. Most of the evacuations have been lifted but some are still in effect.
Here is a link to a map provided by CAL FIRE that shows the fire perimeter.
Tuesday morning 855 personnel, 80 engines, and 40 hand crews were assigned to the fire which is still active on the east side and is 55 percent contained, according to CAL FIRE.
The video below is a summary of the wildfire activity in California for the last week. It includes some information about the Shockey fire.
A California National Guard Blackhawk helicopter that was working on the Scotts Fire east of Ukiah, California (map) had to make a precautionary landing Friday, September 7 when a warning light came on. It set down on private land and was unable to be repaired on the site. It was not accessible to a flat bed truck that could haul it away so the National Guard brought in a Chinook helicopter which extracted the Blackhawk. The video of the operation was shot by John Jensen of Lake County News.
And speaking of the Scotts Fire, in case you missed the excellent video shot by Tim Walton that we posted on September 10, here it is again. It shows four different models of air tankers dropping retardant on the fire, an S-2T, DC-10, BAe-146, and a MAFFS C-130.
The Scotts Fire is 100 percent contained after burning 4,618 acres.
Three firefighters on a crew in California suffered first and second degree burns on the Likely Fire northwest of Likely, California (map) on September 5. They were members of the CAL FIRE Devils Garden Crew 4 constructing fireline when a wind shift caused numerous spot fires. The firefighters attempted to retreat into a previously burned area when their escape route was blocked by a barbed wire fence. They received burns on their faces and were transported by a ground ambulance to a hospital where they were treated and released.
A Joint Accident Investigation Team comprised of BLM and CAL FIRE subject matter experts will be investigating the incident.
According to the criteria published by Ameriburn.org all facial burns should be treated at a burn unit, so we hope the firefighters received appropriate medical treatment and were not simply treated and released at the Modoc Medical Center in Alturas as stated in the 24-hour report.
Williams Fire, Sept 2, 2012. Photo by 10 Tanker Air Carrier
The Williams Fire started in San Gabriel Canyon north of Azusa in southern California Sunday afternoon and through the afternoon and evening grew to 3,600 acres. The origin was between Camp Williams and the shooting range along East Fork Road in San Gabriel Canyon about 3.5 miles east of Highway 39. A map showing the location of the Williams fire is below.
Map of Williams Fire. The red circles represent the location of heat detected by a satellite. Sept. 2, 2012. MODIS (click to enlarge)
San Gabriel Canyon, which will be closed on Monday, Labor Day, typically sees over 10,000 visitors on a holiday weekend.
At least 300 personnel are assigned to the fire, as well as 9 air tankers, 4 helicopters, 30 engines, 2 dozers, and 4 hand crews. It is moving north through very steep terrain toward the Sheep Mountain Wilderness area. As of 2 a.m. Monday morning the fire was listed as 5 percent contained.
All of the photos below were taken by the crew on Air Tanker 911, a DC-10 which earlier on Sunday was repositioned from Casper, Wyoming where it had been based while working the fires in Nebraska, to Sacramento. From Sacramento it was dispatched to this fire, and Sunday night was at San Bernardino. The second DC-10, T-910, was recently released from their Call When Needed contract and sent home.
Williams Fire, Sept 2, 2012. Photo by 10 Tanker Air Carrier Williams Fire, Sept 2, 2012. Photo by 10 Tanker Air Carrier
North Pass fire, as seen from Round Valley Airport. Undated InciWeb photo
An engine burned on the North Pass fire on the Mendocino National Forest on Saturday. The four crewpersons moved into a safety zone and were not injured. A facilitated learning analysis team has been requested.
One residence has been destroyed since Friday along with some outbuildings, bringing the total of burned structures to six. The fire has burned 26,648 acres and is 33 percent contained. Working on the fire are 1,534 personnel, 106 engines, and 65 dozers.
The fire is active on the northeast and east sides. The InciWeb report mentions extreme fire behavior and extreme terrain as some of the barriers they are attempting to overcome.
The North Pass Fire in Mendocino County gained acreage yesterday, and the fire is moving northeast into the Yolla Bolly Middle Eel Wilderness. Extreme fire behavior (crowning, torching, and long-range spotting) has been observed in the afternoons. The fire is 18 percent contained at 20,775 acres. There is no recorded fire history for the north side of the fire; both ERCs and live fuel moistures are at critical levels, with temperatures in the mid-90s. The Willits News reported that the fire is burning aggressively north and east. It crossed the Eel River on the southern border and is expanding in an easterly direction.
Smoke has been especially heavy in the Covelo/Round Valley areas, and air quality alerts have been issued.
The Lake County News reported that the fire is under unified command with Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service, and is burning in the Williams Valley area 10 miles northeast of Covelo. Two outbuildings were destroyed and 75 homes are threatened, along with five commercial properties and about 80 outbuildings.
Engines on the North Pass Fire
Mandatory evacuations are in effect for areas on Indian Dick Road and Mendocino Pass Road near Covelo, the Bauer Ranch subdivision, and nearby USFS campsites. There were nearly 1,100 personnel on the fire on Thursday evening, with 96 engines, 26 crews, two airtankers, six helicopters, 34 bulldozers, and 21 water tenders.
The L.A. Times reports that the Ponderosa Fire near Manton, California, is threatening nearly 1,000 homes; it’s 57 percent contained. The fire, about 30 miles east of Redding, has now burned more than 80 structures.
A Reuters report put the fire at nearly 28,000 acres, with 84 structures burned, including 64 homes. The report said that another 900 homes, 10 commercial properties, and 30 outbuildings are still threatened. Residents of the town of Mineral have been warned to be ready to evacuate.
VESTRA / ESRI map
Evacuation orders have been issued for Manton and the area around the fire perimeter, and evacuation warnings have been issued for Mineral, Ponderosa Sky Ranch, and Lassen Lodge. anewscafe reported that some residents are returning to their homes and more areas north of the fire will be re-opened. Most of the utilities in the fire area have been restored and roads are being rehabbed. As many as 300 structures inside the fire area were saved.
Map of Ponderosa Fire, 1:18 pm PT, August 22, 2012. MODIS/Google (click to enlarge)
The Ponderosa Fire, 22 miles northeast of Red Bluff, California, has grown to over 24,000 acres according to CAL FIRE in their 2:30 p.m. update today. The number of structures burned remains at 50. CAL FIRE has not announced the location of the structures.
The map of the fire shows heat detected by a satellite at 1:18 p.m. PT time today. There are some heat signatures that appear indicate that the fire crossed Highway 36 on the south side of the fire, but this satellite data can have errors of up to a mile. Most of the current heat, as shown by the red squares, was on the south and southeast sides.
According to CAL FIRE at 2:30 p.m. today, evacuations for the following areas were in effect near Manton, Shingletown, Viola, and Mineral:
Canyon View Loop north of Hwy 36.
Forward Mill Rd from Rock Creek Rd to Forward Camp Rd
Rock Creek Rd from Manton Rd to Long Hay Flat Rd
Forward Rd at Yuen-Veritas Ln to the C Line
Southside of Highway 44 from S-Line and A-Line including S-Line, P-Line, Long Hay Flat Rd, Rock Creek Rd & Viola Rd
Evacuation Warning – Hwy 36 at Oasis Springs Ranch Rd to Lassen Lodge on both sides of the Highway including Ponderosa Sky Ranch and Lassen Lodge.
Evacuation Warning – Hwy 36 from Lassen Lodge east to, and including, the community of Mineral.
At 12:30 p.m. Wednesday many of the evacuations for the Shingletown, Lake McCumber area and roads north of Hwy 44 were lifted.
