Summit fire, pushed by strong winds near Banning, California

Summit fire, Banning Calif
Summit fire, 3:49 p.m. PT, May 1, 2013 ABC7 screen grab. (Click to enlarge)

( UPDATED at 9:28 p.m. PT, May 2, 2013)

There was no change in the size of the Summit fire on Thursday, but by 8 p.m. firefighters called it 55 percent contained, up from 40 percent at 2:37 p.m. today.

This will be our last update of the Summit Fire, unless there is a significant increase in the size of the fire.

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(UPDATED at 3:41 p.m. PT, May 2, 2013)

The fire is still described by the Riverside County Fire Department as having burned 2,956 acres, which is the same size as Wednesday night. At 2:37 p.m. the incident commander said it is 40 percent contained and they “are making good progress on the fire line”.

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(UPDATED at 8:00 a.m. PT, May 2, 2013)

The Summit Fire east of Los Angeles near Banning and Beaumont has not grown significantly overnight, according to the Riverside County Fire Department, and remains at 2,956 acres. All evacuation orders have been lifted and the containment has increased to 40 percent.

The weather forecast for Thursday will be very conducive to rapid fire spread with winds expected to be out of the east at 26 to 30 mph with gusts to 48 mph. After 9 a.m. the relative humidity will drop below 10 percent, bottoming out at 5 percent. The Red Flag Warning for the area and the strong winds will affect the fire area until Friday at 6 p.m.

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(UPDATE at 11:30 p.m. PT, May 1, 2013)

The Riverside County Fire Department reports that the Summit fire near Banning and Beaumont east of Los Angeles has now burned 2,956 acres and is 35 percent contained. The rate of spread of the fire has slowed compared to how fast it was moving during the daylight hours. The winds measured at the Cabazon weather station have diminished to 10 mph, gusting to 13 out of the east, but the relative humidity remains very, very low, at 4 percent and should not exceed 10 or 11 percent overnight. The weather forecast for Thursday remains the same as we reported earlier, with east winds of 25 to 34 mph with gusts to 62 mph, along with single digit relative humidities and no chance of rain.

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(UPDATE at 4:27 p.m. PT, May 1, 2013)

The Riverside County Fire Department at 4:10 reported that the Summit Fire near Banning and Beaumont has grown to 1,500 acres.

If firefighters are not able to stop the spread of the Summit fire today (and that is going to be very tough to do) the weather on Thursday and Friday is not going to help. The very strong east-component winds are expected to continue and should be even stronger on Thursday at 25 to 34 mph with gusts to 62 mph, along with single digit relative humidities. Friday will be about the same with winds of 23 mph gusting to 41.

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(UPDATE at 4:16 p.m. PT, May 1, 2013)

Firefighters near a house on the Summit fire a few seconds after a retardant drop by a P2V air tanker. (screen grab from ABC7 video)
Firefighters on the Summit Fire near the U.S. Forest Service fire station at Banning, few seconds after a retardant drop by a P2V air tanker. (screen grab from ABC7 video)

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(Originally published at 3:25 p.m. PT, May 1, 2013. Photo updated at 3:49 p.m. PT.) 

Dozens of hand crews and dozens of engines are on order for a rapidly spreading wildfire in southern California near Banning. The fire is burning intensely and is growing very quickly.  At least one home has burned as a 15 to 20 mph wind, with gusts above 30, push the fire through the California brush. As we reported earlier today, the area is under a Red Flag Warning for hot, dry, windy weather. Below are the 2:14 p.m. PT weather observations for the nearby weather station at Cabazon. Note that the relative humidity was 5 percent.

Cabezon weather obs

At 3:25 p.m. PT the Riverside County Fire Department (RCFD) said the fire, which was reported at 12:38 p.m. today, had burned about 200 acres and had no containment. That acreage figure is going to be much higher later in the day. The RCFD said six air tankers and six helicopters are working the fire or en route. Some communities are under evacuation orders. The RCFD has more information about evacuation.

As this is written, a local TV station, ABC7, is live-streaming large, excellent quality video images of the fire, however this service will probably come and go as the helicopter has to refuel and the news priorities of the station change. It’s the best live-streaming news video I’ve ever seen. Fox in LA also has intermittent live video.

We will update this article as this fire continues to grow.

Below is a map of the fire, as detected by a satellite at 1:47 p.m. PT May 1, 2013.

Map Summit fire Banning
The red squares represent heat on the Summit Fire detected by a satellite at 1:47 p.m. PT, May 1, 2013. The fire is near Banning, CA

California: Summit fire progression map

I just finished teaching a Situation Unit Leader S-346 class. Much of the class is about maps. The next time I teach it in September, I’ll use this fire progression map produced by the Mercury News as an example of what can be done. It includes some interesting facts about the fire that most official firefighter-made maps would not have, but it’s a great product for public consumption.

According to the map, within the first 16 hours the fire spread at least 5 miles and burned 3,376 acres.

Click on it to see a larger version.

Summit fire progression map