Tag: Los Padres National Forest

La Brea Fire Update, 8/12/09

The Forest Service Special Agents on the Fire Investigation Team is asking for the public’s assistance to help establish the cause of the La Brea Fire which started on August 8, 2009. Investigators have spoken to witnesses, but are still seeking additional information that may assist with the ongoing investigation into the fire.
Specifically, the investigators are seeking any additional information relating to a tan or gold colored 2004-2005 Chevy van that was last seen on Sierra Madre Road on the afternoon of August 8, on the Los Padres National Forest, east of the city of Santa Maria. The van is similar to that in the attached photo. [ed- no photo attached]
Anyone who was in that general area at the time or has other information about the origin of the fire is urged to contact investigators at 805-686-5074. Callers may remain anonymous.

Evening update –

Current Situation
Total Personnel 1,815
Size 29,480 acres
Percent Contained 10%
Fuels Involved
Primarily Chaparral with with areas of grass and timber.
Fire Behavior
Fire was active in the North, made uphill runs and was moving down the slope. Cuyama Valley continues to exhibit rapid rates of spread in the light fuels.
Significant Events
Evacuation orders are still in place areas of Moon and Eckert Canyons and evacuation warnings are still in effect for the areas bounded by Cottonwood Road and Wasioja Road between Highway 166 and Sierra Madre Road. Forest Service closure order no. 09-13-5100-10 is in effect for areas in and around the fire.
Outlook
Planned Actions
Actions for this evening include construction of line on the two slope overs of Sierra Madre Road and structure protection along Foothill Road. Crews will hold and mop up on Sierra Madre Road and continue to construct direct line along Horse Canyon.
Growth Potential
Extreme
Terrain Difficulty
Extreme
Remarks
The La Brea Fire is being managed under unified command with CAL FIRE and California Interagency Management Team 3.

9:00 am – alot of the information hasn’t been changed since last night, but here is the current resources and acreage numbers from inciweb.

Current Situation
Total Personnel 1,277
Size 25,724 acres
Percent Contained 10%
Fuels Involved
Primarily Chaparral with with areas of grass and timber.
Fire Behavior
Fire was active in the North, made uphill runs and was moving down the slope. Cuyama Valley continues to exhibit rapid rates of spread in the light fuels.
Significant Events
Evacuation orders are still in place areas of Moon and Eckert Canyons and evacuation warnings are still in effect for the areas bounded by Cottonwood Road and Wasioja Road between Highway 166 and Sierra Madre Road. Forest Service closure order no. 09-13-5100-10 is in effect for areas in and around the fire.
Outlook

7:00 am – No official updates, yet. However, the ff sites are reporting an unbelievable number of call-up orders for resources last night, to start this morning, which seems to indicate it was not a quiet night. I will update as I learn more. In the mean time, enjoy some new photos below.

La Brea Fire Update, 8/11/09

3:00 pm – I reproduce this report from the Interagency Fire Center because of the percentage of growth from yesterday. What a jump!! Also note the # of acres is inaccurate, as inciweb was sayin 20,622 early this morning, and I am sure it continues to grow, as we can all attest from the increasing smoke. One, unconfirmed, report was that there was a blow-up some time this morning.

Fire Information Report for La Brea
Wildland Fire Incident
Report Date: 11-AUG-09
Burnt Area: 14,778 Acres (491% increase from yesterday)
Location: Santa Barbara County, CA (21 miles East of Santa Maria)
Cause: Under Investigation
Incident Team Type: IMT Type 1
Team Leader: J. Pincha-Tulley
Containment Status: 0% contained)
Expected Containment: Unknown
Fuels: Also present in some areas are Fuel Model 1 Sh 0.00 1634

Fire report information is based on the most recent Incident Management Situation Report (IMSR) provided by the National Interagency Fire Center and is subject to change. The USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center is not responsible for the accuracy of this information.
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2:00 pm – Effective at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, August 11, 2009, an Evacuation Order was issued by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office for the following areas due to fire activity of the La Brea Fire: Western Boundary: Sierra Madre Road. Southern Boundary: Cottonwood Road · Eastern Boundary: Highway 166 · Northern Boundary: Spoor Canyon This area includes Moon and Eckert Canyons. Fire officials contacted the 14 occupied ranches in the area last night and they are moving livestock as necessary. The majority of the area is very lightly populated. The new mandatory Order replaces the previous Evacuation Warning for the same area issued earlier today. An Order is defined as instructing community members in a defined area to leave the area immediately due to a threat to life and property from an emergency incident. In addition. the Evacuation Warning area is now moved to include areas bounded by Cottonwood Road and Wasioja Road, between Highway 166 and Sierra Madre Road. Evacuation Warning means people in the warning area need to be prepared to leave should the situation change. Fire managers will alert the Sheriff Office if fire behavior in the future requires a change to the warning status.

Fire officials contacted the 14 occupied ranches in the area last night [re: the evacuation warning] and they are moving livestock as necessary. The majority of the area is very lightly populated.
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A great video of the event yesterday by the local NBC affiliate can be seen here:

La Brea Fire

7:00 am – from this morning’s inciweb update:

Current Situation
Total Personnel 1,062
Size 20,622 acres
Percent Contained 10%
Fuels Involved
Primarily Chaparral with with areas of short grass and timber.
Fire Behavior
Fire has sloped over the line in the Timber Peak area along Sierra Madre Ridge. There is 290 acre slope over in Moon Canyon.
Significant Events
Closure order no. 09-13-5100-10 is in effect for areas in and around the fire.
Outlook
Planned Actions
Crews with improve and construct line on the southeast side of the fire and hold and mop up on the Sierra Madre Road and construct direct line along Horse Canyon. Self sufficient crews will build fire line until the end of their operational period and remain at or near the point while off duty and begin building fireline during their next shift where they left off. This is referred to as “Coyote Tactics”.
Growth Potential
Extreme
Terrain Difficulty
Extreme
Remarks
California Interagency Incident Management Team 3 has assumed command of the fire. (Pincha-Tulley’s team)

La Brea Wildfire (E. of Santa Maria)

Inciweb for this incident;
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1803/

Editorial Comment: Inciweb reported at 7 pm the fire was 10K acres, which equates to 15 sq. miles. Frankly, I have trouble believing that a fire that was doubling in size all morning long did not gain any acreage over a 6 hour period. Granted, these are all “estimates” but these air attack guys and gals get pretty good at estimating these fires.

08/09/2009 @1730
FLASH!….There are reports that flames can now be seen from the Spanish Ranch area of Highway 166. Crews continue to hold the fire at the Sierra Madre Ridge. Incident command is working to provide an updated acreage figure. (inciweb)

1:00 pm – Air Attack estimates the fire at 10,000 acres. Column can be seen in Bakersfield. Drift smoke here.

12:00 noon – “Per ops radio traffic, fire possibly estimated at 5000-6000 acres per AA.” on wildlandfire

11:30 am – drift smoke, but no plume visible this far away. Fire moving north. T

Approximately 9:30 this am inciweb reported:
Current Situation
Total Personnel 362
Size 2,500 acres
Fuels Involved Chaparral
Fire Behavior The fire pushed out in all directions last night and major runs as well as spotting were observed.
Significant Events No action was taken during the evening due to the lack of an anchor point, inaccessable terrain and extreme fire behavior.
Outlook
Planned Actions Establish anchor points.
Growth Potential Extreme
Terrain Difficulty Extreme
Other reports indicate this area hasn’t burned since 1966, and reports are that everyone is gearing up for the long haul.
CA-IMT #3 (Pincha-Tulley) has been assigned.

08/09/2009 @0500
Morning update in progress….
The La Brea Fire, which started yesterday at 2:50 pm, continues to burn in an area of the San Rafael Wilderness that is very steep and difficult to reach on the ground.
The fire moved very rapidly yesterday and long range spotting ahead of the main body of the fire was observed. Bulldozers and crews worked to prepare an area along the Sierra Madre Road to be used as a fire break, should the fire reach there. Eight fixed wing air tankers along with five helicopters were utilized to battle the blaze from the air. Aircraft will again be used on the fire today, just as soon as the sun comes up and it is light enough to launch them from their bases.
Fire behavior is expected to increase today with the high temperature and low relative humidity that is predicted.
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Basic Information
Incident Type Wildfire
Cause Under Investigation
Location 26 Miles east of Santa Maria
Incident Commander Jamie Copple
Current Situation
Total Personnel 362
Size 1,300 acres
Fuels Involved
Chaparral
Outlook
Growth Potential
Extreme
Terrain Difficulty
Extreme

THE FIRE WENT FROM 150 TO 1200 ACRES IN LESS THAN 3 HOURS YESTERDAY.
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While not close to us, it is of note. Problems with access, with rapid ROS. This from Cal-Fire:

CA-LPF-La Brea Wildland Fire – Los Padres National Forest

Update: 18:00hrs – Fire now reported at 1200 acres, Texas Canyon, Palomar Hotshots enroute.
Update: 17:30hrs – Per SBC PIO Twitter: SBCFireDO536″La Brea” Inc. Veg. Fire. Los Padres Nation Forest. East of Santa Maria. 800 Acres.

Dawn on August 3, 2009 Fires

3:30 pm update: Here is a link to the “raws” of temp/RH/fuel temps, etc.

http://raws.wrh.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/roman/meso_base.cgi?stn=FHLC1
11:50 Ponderosa Fire News Release posted under USFS Press Releases to the right.

11:00 am updates on Sam Jones & Ponderosa, my time. Fire time is 8:00 am. Sorry, my sources were late.

Sam Jones Fire:
Name: Sam Jones Fire
County: Monterey County
Location: Fort Hunter Leggitt Training Area 27
Administrative Unit: Army at Fort Hunter Liggett
Status/Notes: 2,500 acres – Unknown containment
Date Started: August 2, 2009 4:30 pm
Last update: August 3, 2009 8:00 am

08/03 @ 0800 (North Ops)
Ponderosa CA-LPF-2563, 350 acres, 0% containment. Central Coast Type -2 ICT (Smith) has been in briefed on the fire and has tentative transition scheduled for 0600 hour today is and team evaluating Unified Command with Fort Hunter Liggett. The fire is burning in grass and chaparral in steep inaccessible terrain in the Ventana Wilderness and may have the potential to burn 3,000 to 5,000 acres. 97 CALFIRE personnel are assigned adding to a total of 429 altogether.

9:00 am report. Sam Jones is looking pretty good. No plumes, just drift. Still plume for Ponderosa, but tremendous resources available and working it. According to one of my sources, Nacimiento Rd. is closed, but the fire hasn’t made it to the road, yet, just close. There are many, many fire resources using the road. It is in an area that did not burn during the Indians Fire. I have some photos of this morning’s drift from both fires, but no plumes.
DSC_0274
Smoke from the Sam Jones this morning, around 7:30 am.
DSC_0278
Drift from he Ponderosa this morning, around 7:45 am.

Only 5:30 am, but the dawn is beginning to show, and with it the smoke to the south east — a glow from the Sam Jones. Sometimes the atmospheric conditions from fires are so beautiful! My posts will be scattered throughout the day, as I have business to take care of, but will post as I obtain information about both the Ponderosa and the Sam Jones Fires.

Strike Teams are coming in from LA Co. FD today, as well as all the others that are already here and/or coming.

Jim Smith’s Type II IMT takes over the Ponderosa at 7 am this morning. What I like about this assignment is that Smith’s team was IMT for both the Indians Fire (June 2008) and the Chalk Fire (9-10/2009) so he knows this area quite well. Welcome, Jim!

Be safe out there!