Lockheed-Santa Cruz Fire & La Brea Fire, 8/15/09

Cause of La Brea fire revealed. It was a cooking fire at an illegal marijuana grow site. See here for the full article: USFS Press Release

Last update of the evening, unless something untoward happens. First, here is a video of the La Brea Fire, set to music, about 8 mins. long: click here

And now, I leave you with one of Stan Russell’s signature sunset photos taken this evening from Scott Creek and Highway One:

6:00 pm – Lockheed: CalFire reports:
Acres Burned: 6,843 acres
Containment 6,843 acres – 40% containment
Structures Destroyed: 2 outbuildings damaged

La Brea: inciweb reports:

Current Situation
Total Personnel 1,980
Size 75,486 acres
Percent Contained 25%

And lest we forget, 30 years ago today, in an area quite near to the currently burning La Brea fire, 4 firefighters lost their lives on the Spanish Ranch Fire on August 15, 1979. They were: Captain Ed Marty, and firefighters Scott Cox, Ron Lorant and Steve Manley. While lessons learned over the years have increased the safety of the firefighters on the line, let us never forget how truly dangerous firefighting is.

9:30 am – Lockheed Fire Incident Command reports: 6,800 acres, 30% containment.

8:00 am – inciweb is reporting the La Brea fire exceeds 75K acres, still 10% containment. CalFire still lists Lockheed at 5K+ with 15% containment.
Lockheed GeoMac from this morning’s 3 am pass:

Here’s the GeoMac for La Brea:

7:30 am – Another day, and still fires, even more of them. (The Yuba Fire started yesterday afternoon.) The two on the Central Coast are the only two I can blog about. Lockheed was reported at 5K+ acres and 15% contained as of 10pm last night, per CalFire. The Governor scheduled to tour the area today. La Brea, again as of last night was estimated at over 69K acres with 10% containment. Evacuation Orders in effect for both fires. Winds and heat will be factors for both fires today. As updates arrive, I will post here.

USFS photo of the flames at La Brea Fire:

Helicopter in action: