Southern California Fire

[GLL]

Over 200 square miles of the Angeles National Forest in the mountains above in Pasadena, California have burned !

These borate bombers flew right over my house as they made some of the nearby runs this past week ! The fire still burns eastward into the big timber of the San Gabriel Wilderness. Smoke was a dense fog here in the valley for several days this week.

The hiking trails I have used for the past 45 years are seriously damaged and many recreational facilities are gone !

6,000 fire fighters have braved the inferno and two have lost their lives ! These men and women are fighting in some of the steepest and most rugged terrain in North America.
This mountain range has numerous peaks in the 7,000-10,000 feet elevation and is simply impossible to navigate even on foot.

It is a sad commentary that the fire was arson !

My heart goes out to the families of those who gave their lives to fight this one !

Jerry

 

[MKT]

Those are some amazing tanker action shots Jerry. I had the opportunity to grab a couple of the converted jet liner during the Firestorm of '07, but they don't compared to the clarity of your's. Hopefully the fireline stays far away from your abode and that the humidity stays elevated a while longer. The humidity has been helping the firecrews gain ground on containment.

 

[jkc]

Spectacular pix! Those pilots creep me out with their ground hugging drop runs. What is the sort of vegetation that's fueling the fire, coastal chaparral, i.e., turbinella oak, manzanita, sumac, etc.? In your pix I see a few vertical stems that, around here, might be agave stalks --- is that what they are? I took a look at some of the involved terrain on Google Earth the other day, and it looked like much of our Sky Island country --- impossibly steep and convoluted and so roadless and not dozer friendly. I previously was oblivious to the proximity of so much "wild" land to high-density population centers. Bad combination.

 

[GLL]

The photos are not mine. I took several but the planes were farther away.
The terrain is extremely steep in the pine forested high country. 300 foot near vertical cliffs common ! Lower elevations have dense coastal chaparral which burns like gasoline. As the fire moves eastward and away from the cities it has entered beautiful pine forests.

The Mount Wilson 100" telescope & solar Observatory facility has been saved by backfires and borate bombing.

Jerry

 

[Steave]

What infuriates me is they are now saying this was arson. They culprit(s) should hang.

 

[westcoast362]

I've had some worrisome days, and sleepless nights. It looks like the firefighters have kept it away from Monrovia. For days the big choppers have been roaring over my house to refill a few hundred yards north. It's the biggest fire in L.A. County history. The mountains will be a mess for years.
Thanks to all of the firefighters who have come from all over to help.

 

[ElToro]

my bro used to live in Monrovia and his in laws still live at the base of the mountains in Arcadia, i am familar with the are Gerry speaks of.

i have mixed feelings about these fires. of course the arsonists should be hung, but by the same token the people that build/live in homes in these canyons where we know that every september/october the Santa Ana winds blow these huge fires should be mandated to carry vast amounts more of insurance.

 

[rgitz]

I live in Las Vegas NV. We're about 260 miles NW of Los Angeles. The smoke from this fire has inundated the Las Vegas valley for the past two weeks. Last weekend visiability was down to about 10 - 12 miles miles oer the city. Normally you can see 70 miles. This weekend the air is a lot clearer though yesterday I was about 30 miles north and the foothills were pretty smoky.
Last night I was channel surfing and caught about 5 minutes of an article on 60 Minutes talking about these new "Mega Fires" that they said is the result of Global Warming. I ain't pushing 60 Minutes or Global Warming, however I do spend a lot of times outdoor and have lived in the Southwest for about 20 years and am aware that the nature of these kind of fires have seemed to changed in the 60 some years I've been on the planet. I was living in San Diego the year the city was literally encircled by fire what 7-8 years ago. I remember when Mt. Lemmon in Tucson AZ torched up and burned down.
Whatever the reason I personally have noticed how much drier the undergrowth, ground cover seems to have gotten. Mt. Charleston outside of Vegas is a literal tinkerbox, right up to the 11,000 foot altitudes.