Steven Aguirre, Clifford Eugene Henry Jr., and Jonathan Carl Jarrell. Glendora PD booking photos.
On Monday a judge ordered three men convicted of starting the Colby Fire to pay $9 million in restitution to public agencies, insurance companies and residents. An illegal campfire used by the men escaped in January, 2014 and burned 1,900 acres, destroying five homes and 17 other structures, while forcing evacuations in Azusa and Glendora in southern California.
Messrs. Henry and Aguirre were sentenced to several months in prison. Mr. Jarrell awaits sentencing.
A CL-415 assists firefighters on the Colby Fire in January. Photo by Jeff Zimmerman.
Two men have been sentenced to several months in prison for starting the Colby Fire that threatened homes in Glendora in January, east of Los Angeles.
National Guard to train 240 soldiers to fight fires
The California National Guard is sending 240 of their members to Camp Roberts for four days of training to fight wildfires.
Should dead trees be logged after a fire?
As the U.S. Forest Service’s plans are being finalized about what to do with the thousands of acres of timber that were killed on National Forest land in the 2013 Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, a debate is going on about whether to remove the trees or not.
Jeff Zimmerman was kind enough to send us these photos he took of CL-415 water-scooping air tankers dropping on the Colby Fire east of Los Angeles on January 16. The Canadian air tankers are leased every year during the fall by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Their 2013 contract was scheduled to end in December, but was extended due to the extremely dry conditions in southern California.
John Stimson was kind enough to allow us to show you some of the photos he took on Thursday at the Colby Fire near Glendora, California. You can see more of his photos HERE.
Smoke from the Colby Fire, as photographed by a NASA satellite
(Originally published at 8:20 a.m. PST, January 16, 2014)
(UPDATED at 12:42 p.m. January 20, 2014)
The incident management team reports that the Colby fire is 46 acres larger than it was yesterday, at 1,952 acres now, and they are calling it 84 percent contained.
The team reported today that resources assigned to the fire include 1,112 personnel, 45 hand crews, 100 engines, 3 helicopters, 5 dozers, 8 fixed wing aircraft, and 3 heli-tankers.
(UPDATED at 11:18, January 19, 2014)
Firefighters are gaining a stronger hold on the Colby Fire east of Los Angeles. The incident management team is now calling the 1,906-acre fire 78 percent contained.
Evacuations were lifted for the Community of Mountain Cove at 6:00 PM. January 18, 2014. No evacuation are currently in place. Highway 39 remains closed and is only open to residents.
The Colby Fire is being fought by 1,112 personnel, 26 hand crews, 100 engines, 3 helicopters, 5 dozers, 8 fixed wing aircraft, and 3 heli-tankers.
Six residences have been destroyed and five have been damaged.
Firefighters put in a hose lay on the Colby Fire. InciWeb Photo.Cleveland National Forest engine crews after a shift on the Colby Fire. InciWeb photo.
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(UPDATE at 10 a.m. PST, January 18, 2014)
The Incident Management Team has revised the mapped size of the Colby Fire to 1,863 acres, and they are calling it 30 percent contained. Today’s high temperature is expected to reach 87 degrees with relative humidity in the single digits. They anticipate a “medium” potential for additional fire spread. The area continues to be under a Red Flag Warning until 6 p.m. for elevated wildfire danger. Today’s fire operations will be primarily focused on reinforcing containment lines along the fire’s northern perimeter and cooling hot spots.
Firefighting resources assigned include 1,112 personnel, 33 hand crews, 140 engines, 9 helicopters, 1 dozer, 4 and fixed-wing aircraft.
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(UPDATE at 1:15 p.m. PST, January 17, 2014)
The photo above is a still image from an amazing video of the Super Scooper CL-415 air tankers scooping water at Santa Fe Dam yesterday. One of the videos is below, others are at Fire Aviation.
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(UPDATE at 12:25 p.m. PST, January 17, 2014)
Below we have a map showing the official perimeter of the Colby Fire. The perimeter data was produced by the Incident Management Team as was current as of 5:04 PST January 16. Reportedly, the fire has not spread much since then. Click on the map to see a larger version. Continue reading “Colby Fire, near Glendora, California”
