Tag: Station Fire

The Station fire near Los Angeles doubled in size Sunday night to an estimated 85,760 acres.  It is a fatal fire, after two firefighters, Arnaldo Quinones, 35, of Palmdale and Tedmund Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County were killed when they drove off the side of a road south of Acton around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. The firefighters worked for Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Only about 5% of the fire is contained, a small section of the fire perimeter near Altadena.

More structures were destroyed south of Acton overnight and Monday morning, adding to the 18 homes that burned in Big Tujunga Canyon earlier. The exact numbers will not be known until firefighters can get back into the burned areas to conduct damage assessments.

More residents were forced to evacuate overnight as the fire spread on three sides, making large advances on the west, north, and east sides. It is still about 2-3 miles from Acton on the north, and has come to within 7-8 miles of Littlerock and Pearblossom on Highway 138 on the northeast side.

At least 6,600 homes were under evacuation orders Sunday night. Residents are being told to call 211 to get the latest evacuation information.

While most large fires in southern California are driven by Santa Ana winds, this fire, while occasionally influenced by moderate winds, is primarily driven by steep slopes, heavy vegetation or fuel loading, and extreme weather, including high temperatures and very low humidity.

Wildfire Today explored this concept in an August 26 article. During the last 130 years, through 2007, six of the eight “megafires”  larger than 123,000 acres (50,000 ha) were pushed by Santa Ana winds during the first one to four days. The other two megafires were influenced by extreme weather, much like we have seen in southern California since Tuesday, August 25.

There is not going to be much relief from the extreme weather during the next two days. In the valley areas near the fire, temperatures will be in the mid to high 90s with relative humidity in the low teens, which is a little better than the last several days. Winds will be moderate, maxing out at 9-10 mph out of the southwest.

UPDATE at 9:25 p.m. PT, Aug. 29

Fire personnel provided this map Saturday night. It is difficult to see much detail, but it might help those that live nearby.

(end of update)

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This is a NEW updated map of the Station fire near Los Angeles is below. It shows heat detected by satellites at 2:17 p.m. PT today, August 29. The red areas depict heat detected within the last 12 hours. It shows a great deal of fire growth, especially on the west and north sides as it burns deeper into the Angeles National Forest and threatens homes in the front country.

The fire has burned into across Big Tujunga Road and west over Mt. Lukens. It threatens homes in La Canada -Flintridge, Altadena, and Glendale.

Southeast winds at 6-12 mph contributed to the spread toward the northwest on Saturday. The potential exists for Sunday’s fire behavior to be similar to that seen on Saturday.

Firefighters report that the fire has burned 20,102 acres and it is 5% contained.

Information from the LA Times:

The Station fire was spreading rapidly to the east and west this afternoon, prompting evacuations in La Cañada Flintridge, Glendale, Altadena and Big Tujunga Canyon as temperatures reached triple digits.

Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher Melanie Flores told The Times that two people were being treated for burns at the Big Tujunga ranger station, though more details were not immediately available.

The Station fire has now burned more than 20,000 acres, according to fire officials.

The latest evacuation zone is in the remote upper reaches of Big Tujunga Canyon near the ranger station, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The city of Glendale also ordered evacuations north of Santa Carlotta Street between Pennsylvania and Lowell avenues. The city of Pasadena advised residents of the Florecita neighborhood in the far northwest of the city to evacuate their homes voluntarily.

Temperatures topping 100 degrees, single-digit humidity and the steep, rugged topography of the Angeles National Forest continue to make the fire a formidable foe despite low winds, fire officials said today.

The red flag warning that was issued for Wednesday through Friday for the mountain areas north of Los Angeles has led to four major wildfires that are currently burning in the area.

1. The Station fire on the Angeles Crest Highway, above La Canada Flintridge in the Angeles National Forest, started Wednesday afternoon. We had a photo from that fire earlier. It is threatening the Angeles Crest U.S. Forest Service fire station on the highway. It has burned at least 500 acres and is very active. About 500 homes were evacuated Thursday night. It is 5% contained.
2. The Morris fire near Azusa started on Tuesday and has burned about 2,000 acres and is 60% contained.
3. The RPV (or PV) Portuguese fire in the Rancho Palos Verdes area started Thursday night and has burned at least 75 acres and at least two to three structures, including one of a retired firefighter. Many other structures are threatened and evacuations are under way.
4. The Cottonwood fire east of Hemet started Thursday afternoon has burned 400-600 acres. An incident management team has been ordered.

These fires are driven by single-digit humidities and record high temperatures. There is so little wind that the smoke is hanging in the basins, mixing with the normal smog, and creating awful air quality.