Downed Power Lines: 70 MPH Winds Strike Los Angeles

Winds played havoc in Los Angeles on the evening of October 25, 2009 as 70 mph winds snapped power poles and loosened power lines from their moorings sparking small fires across a wide portion of the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood Hills. Hundreds of calls were received for downed power lines and downed tree calls across the City and County jurisdictions.

The strongest wind gust were recorded above Castaic near Warm Springs at 70 MPH with sustained gust at nearly 50 MPH. Van Nuys recorded gusts of 55 mph, while Santa Monica reported gusts of 41 mph late Tuesday.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a windblown dust and ash advisory for sensitive people in the Coachella Valley in Riverside County. Wildfire-ravaged areas in the San Gabriel Valley were also expected to reach unhealthy levels for sensitive people, the agency said.

In Los Angeles, 23,100 customers were without power as of 9 p.m., according to the city's Department of Water and Power. The DWP serves a total of 1.4 million electricity customers.

Among the hardest-hit Los Angeles neighborhoods were Hyde Park, where 3,441 customers were without power, and Northridge, where 2,947 had no electricity, the utility said.

The DWP said crews were working to restore power in affected areas.

In areas served by Southern California Edison, about 16,000 customers were without power as trees and wind-blown debris snapped power lines, the utility said. The power outages ranged from beach communities in the South Bay and Orange County to foothill neighborhoods in the San Gabriel Valley.

In Huntington Beach, about 4,300 customers had no electricity, and 3,500 more were without lights in Arcadia, said SCE spokesman Gil Alexander. He said crews were trying to restore power.

"They expect to be working much through the night," Alexander said.

At LAX, strong winds this evening forced one arriving flight to be diverted to another airport, said Allen Kenitzer, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

He said the winds, which were gusting up to 35 knots, forced two other flights to use "missed approach" procedures, meaning each had to make two attempts to land. Both flights landed without incident.

Vehicle Plunges 300 Feet Over Steep Cliff, Fatality

Los Angeles County Fire Department Paramedics and units from the Angeles National Forest responded to a vehicle over a steep cliff at mile marker 1.71 on Spunky Canyon Rd, near the north side of Bouquet Reservoir early this morning. Paramedics who had to hike down a sheer cliff found the car upside down and pancaked on its roof. Crews began searching the steep canyon for the driver and was reportedly found about 20 feet from the wreckage at the bottom of the drainage. Angeles National Forest sent 2 fire engines, 1 chief officer and a fire prevention/investigator to assist LA County Fire Department Engine and Patrol 78, Squad 84 and Battalion 11 with the incident. Personnel had to use chain saws to cut away brush to gain access to the vehicle. Upon searching the area, the driver was found deceased at the base of the steep cliff. Fire Department personnel assisted by Forest Personnel used a Z- rig hoisting rope system to extricate the body from the steep brushed line canyon.

It was preliminarily reported that the driver was missing for some time before the accident was reported and it is possible that the accident occurred late last night and was discovered this morning. The accident is being investigated by Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Homicide Department.





Photo Credit: Jeff Zimmerman, Zimmerman Media LLC

Car Fire Explodes into Ball of Flame, LAFD 46

LAFD firefighters from Engine 46 attempt to knock down a car fire at 51st street and Figueroa in South Los Angeles, Photo by Tod Sudmeir EPN.

Remembering the Cedar Wildfire, 2003

On This Date In California Weather History...

2003: Santa Ana winds started on this day and ended on 10.27.
Gusts of 56 mph were measured at Descanso, 46 mph in Anza, 45 mph in Ontario, 43 mph at Fremont Canyon, 41 mph in Beaumont, and 40 mph in Campo.
Unprecedented wildfires, including the Cedar, Paradise and Otay Fires consumed hundreds of thousands of acres, killed over 20 people and caused over one billion dollars in damage.

The Cedar Fire itself consumed more than 280,000 acres, making it the largest wildfire in California history, and killed 16.
This is the also the second costliest fire in U.S. History (the costliest fire was the Oakland Fire of 1991).

Wildfire: Santa Cruz Mountains

Hundreds evacuated as wildfire destroys home, threatens 100 others in Santa Cruz Mountains
By Joe Rodriguez

San Jose Mercury News

Posted: 10/25/2009 09:40:28 AM PDT
Updated: 10/25/2009 02:38:48 PM PDT

A wind-whipped fire that broke out early this morning has burned 800 acres west of Mt. Madonna in Santa Cruz County, forcing the evacuation of up to 100 households in the area.

The fire has already destroyed one home and two outbuildings, said Jim Crawford, a Cal Fire battalion chief at the emergency command center set up at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds on Hecker Pass Road.

The area burning is the Maymen's Flat area, where last year's devastating Summit fire began. An armada of Cal Fire aircraft is dropping fire retardant and water on the blaze.

More than 800 firefighters are battling the fire, now spreading west and away from Mt. Madonna. Another 1,000 firefighters are expected to arrive to battle the blaze by Monday morning.

Crawford said the winds got up to 40 mph after the fire broke out. "It was hard enough to stand up, let alone fight a fire,'' he said. "It was pretty incredible.''

And the conditions today were not expected to be favorable. The fire is only 5 percent contained, and the humidity is down to single digits, Crawford said. Winds are expected to be 5 to 15 mph, with gusts up 35 mph.

Colleen Baxter, a Cal Fire spokeswoman, said the high winds during the morning grounded a tanker plane, but Cal Fire resumed dropping water before noon. About a dozen other aircraft and 100 fire engines have been brought in, according to Cal Fire.

County sheriff's deputies have issued a mandatory evacuation for people

living or working near Ormsby Cutoff and Highland Way.
Baxter said firefighters have not yet determined the cause of the blaze.

Firefighters are trying to use the burned-out area of the May 2008 Summit fire as a buffer, Crawford said.

Road closures include Loma Prieta, Mt. Madonna, Spanish Ranch, Ormsby North, Highland Way and Soquel San Jose Road at Summit Road.

An evacuation center has been set up at Gilroy's Mount Madonna High School, 8750 Hirasaki Court, Crawford said.

Diane Zulliger, who has lived in the mountains for 33 years with her husband, two cats and a dog, said they were alerted to the fire by a neighbor at 4 a.m. They had just returned home from a nine-day cruise two hours earlier.

"It's not something you want to come home to," she said.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_13639221

EPN Alert: Damaging Winds Predicted Tuesday and Wednesday

EPN Alert for Damaging Winds:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Damaging Winds Coming To So Cal

...STRONG AND POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE
MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TUESDAY INTO
WEDNESDAY...

A DEVELOPING PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MARCH INTO THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST TO START THE WEEK AND FORECAST TO QUICKLY

PLUNGE SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN ON TUESDAY. THE TRACK OF
THIS STORM SYSTEM IS NOT ONE TO PRODUCE RAIN FOR SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA BUT IS THE KIND OF STORM THAT BRINGS A LOT OF WIND TO
THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERT REGION.

NORTHERLY WINDS GUSTING TO AS MUCH AS 70 MPH ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS
THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERT BEGINNING ON TUESDAY AND CONTINUING INTO
WEDNESDAY. IF THIS STORM CONTINUES TO DEVELOP AS FORECAST...THE
STRONGEST WINDS WILL LIKELY OCCUR TUESDAY NIGHT AND EARLY

WEDNESDAY MORNING. HIGH WIND WATCHES AND WARNINGS WILL LIKELY BE
ISSUED IN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

WIDESPREAD WINDS OF THIS STRENGTH HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE
DAMAGE TO UNSECURED PROPERTY AND ADVERSELY AFFECT HIGH PROFILE

VEHICLES THROUGH MOUNTAIN PASSES. EXPECT REDUCED VISIBILITY IN
SOME AREAS...ESPECIALLY THE ANTELOPE VALLEY...DUE TO BLOWING DUST
AND SAND. BE PREPARED FOR SUDDEN GUSTY CROSS WINDS WHICH CAN CAUSE
VEHICLE LOSS OF CONTROL.

IN ADDITION...THE PASSAGE OF THE DRY COLD FRONT ON TUESDAY WILL
RESULT IN MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES. HIGHS ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY
MAY BE AS MUCH AS 20 DEGREES COOLER THAN THOSE RECORDED ON MONDAY.


Source: http://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=lox&wwa=special%20weather%20statement

Fire Weather Watch: Monday and Tuesday NE Winds

Fire Weather Watch: Monday and Tuesday, NE winds of 45 MPH predicted in favored canyons and passes.

A Flash Back to 2007

I can't beleive it has been 2 full years since I was on the front lines working these fires. We had terrible structural loss over a 3 day period of Santa Ana wind driven fires. This is the topic of the 2007 Fire Season Video, now available by Zimmerman Media LLC.

Title: Slide Fire (Green Valley Lake Fire)

Date: Thursday October 22, 2007

Location: East of Lake Arrowhead/San Bernardino NF/San Bernardino Co.
Notes: On this morning in 2007 powerful Santa Ana Winds drove this fire towards the mountain communities of Green Valley Lake, Arrowbear, and Running Springs which were forced to evacuate.
The fire ultimately consumed 12,789 acres in those areas as well as 201 homes and 3 outbuildings.

Title: Grass Valley Fire

Date: Thursday October 22, 2007

Location: North of Lake Arrowhead/San Bernardino NF/San Bernardino Co.
Notes: In the early morning hours of this day in 2007 powerful Santa Ana Winds drove this fire through 1,247 acres of the San Bernardino Mountains where it ultimately consumed 174 homes and 2 outbuildings.

Title: Rice Canyon Fire

Date: Thursday October 22, 2007

Location: Fallbrook/San Diego Co.
Notes: In the early morning hours of this day in 2007 powerful Santa Ana Winds drove this fire into the Fallbrook area where it consumed 9,000 acres and 206 homes along with 2 businesses and 40 outbuildings and injured 5 firefighters.

Title: Buckweed Fire

Date: Wednesday October 21, 2009

Location: Santa Clarita Valley/Los Angeles County
Notes: An older child playing with matches started this Santa Ana Wind-driven fire which spread over 38,356 acres and destroyed 63 structures including many homes. Four people were injured.

Title: Harris Fire

Date: Wednesday October 21, 2009

Location: San Diego County
Notes: On this morning in 2007 hurricane-force Santa Ana Winds drove this fire from near the Mexican border over 90,440 acres to threaten Chula Vista and destroy 206 homes and kill one civilian and four members of a CalFire engine company and possibly four Mexican migrant workers.

Title: Poomacha Fire

Date: Friday October 23, 2009

Location: Palomar Mountain/San Diego County
Notes: In the wee hours of this morning in 2007 this fire began in a structure on the La Jolla Indian Reservation.
Drive by fierce Santa Ana Winds it moved off the rez and onto Palomar Mountain and beyond. It ultimately charred 50,176 acres, 143 homes and 77 outbuildings.
This fire also injured 21 firefighters.

Title: Piru Fire

Date: Friday October 23, 2009

Location: Piru/Fillmore/Los Padres NF/Ventura Co.
Notes: This afternoon in 2007 a fire began near Lake Piru and driven by fierce Santa Ana Winds pushed through the Topatopa Mountains to Hwy. 126 and bumped up against the town of Fillmore. In all, 63,991 acres were consumed along with 8 strucutures.


Ranch Wild Fire ANF:Interstate 5 and Templin Highway, wind driven Wildfire

Witch Wild Fire:San Diego

Arson Suspect Indicted

Arson suspect indicted in Old fire that killed six people
By David Kelly Los Angeles Times

October 20, 2009 | 3:38 pm

A San Bernardino County grand jury has indicted a man on five counts of murder in connection with a 2003 wildfire that destroyed 1,000 homes and resulted in the deaths of six people who lived in the path of the blaze and died from heart attacks, authorities said.
Rickie Fowler, 28, was also charged with aggravated arson with special circumstances in connection with the so-called Old fire that started in Waterman Canyon and burned more than 90,000 acres, San Bernardino County Dist. Atty. Michael Ramos said. The charges could bring the death penalty, Ramos said.

Fowler has been in prison in Lancaster since 2003 on burglary charges, authorities said.

A second suspect in the fire, Martin Valdez, 24, was killed in an unrelated shooting in 2006 in Muscoy, Calif., authorities said.

Witnesses told authorities that they saw a man flipping what they believed were lighted matches from the window of a van, setting off the Old fire. They helped authorities draw a composite sketch. The sketch received widespread publicity, and investigators spent the next three months checking out thousands of tips.

Investigators eventually tied Fowler and Valdez to the fire during the six-year investigation, authorities said.

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/arson-suspect-indicted-in-old-fire-that-killed-six-people-.html

Suspect Arrested for Questioning, Station Wildfire

Suspect wanted for questioning in Station fire arrested for smaller blaze
By Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times

October 19, 2009 | 2:27 pm

A suspect wanted for questioning in the Station fire has been arrested and charged with setting a small fire near Angeles Crest Highway, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said today.

Babatunsin Olukunle, a 25-year-old Nigerian national, was arrested Thursday in Lancaster, said Sheriff's Lt. Liam Gallagher.

"We are going to talk to him about the Station fire, but we're not going to list him as a suspect [in that fire] just yet," Gallagher said.

Olukunle was caught tending a small fire near Marker 36 of the Angeles Crest Highway in the early afternoon of Aug. 20, six days before the start of the Station fire, the largest brush fire in L.A. County history. The fire burned for almost two months and scorched more than 250 square miles.

The Station fire probe became a homicide investigation after two firefighters died when their truck fell 800 feet into a ravine as they tried to find an escape route from the flames for fellow firefighters.

L.A. County and the state have offered a $150,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the arsonist. The Station fire destroyed dozens of structures. Investigators believe a substance found near the fire’s point of origin helped spread the deadly blaze and it has emerged as a key piece of evidence in the arson probe, a source told The Times.

The source would not identify the substance but said it was found in the brush off Angeles Crest Highway, walking distance from the turnoff that is at the center of the arson probe.

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/suspect-wanted-for-questioning-in-station-fire-arrested-for-other-blaze.html

Californias Firefighters Memorial Service October 17, 2009

I am going to be in Sacramento at the Memorial Service tomorrow East Lawn, State Capitol, 11:00 am, see you all there. Honor Guards, Class A Uniform attire. More info at cpf.org click on calendar of events. Eighty families honored this year.

Greater Alarm Structure Fire, 5170 Santa Monica Blvd LAFD

Fourteen companies responded to a greater alarm structure fire on the third floor of 5170 Santa Monica BLVD. Upon arrival LAFD reported light smoke showing. As truck crews opened up the roof it was determined there was active fire in the attic and on the third floor.

Photo Jeff Zimmerman, Zimmerman Media LLC

Sheep Wildfire Aftermath

Crews continue to construct line and mop up the Sheep Canyon wildfire on the San Bernardino National Forest. Several vehicles and rural buildings have been destroyed along Lone Pine Road and Swartout Canyon near forest road 2n56, however the town of Wrightwood has been spared so far. The cool weather helped slow the rate of spread today to a crawl. Warmer and drier weather is predicted for later this week.

Wildfire Scorches 7,000 Acres, Lytle Creek CA

The Sheep Fire started near Sheep's Canyon Road near Lytle Creek at about 2:11 pm on Saturday October 3, 2009. It burned northeast to Swarthout Canyon Road, then northwest up Lone Pine Canyon. It is currently burning near the top of Lone Pine Canyon near Wrightwood, CA. It has not crossed Hwy 138 at this time. The fire is about 1/4 mile from Hwy 2 and homes in the area. Firefighters are cautiously optimistic at this time about keeping the fire from burning into Wrightwood. There are numerous helitankers and fixed wing air tankers dropping water and retardant on the fire, as well as crews working on the ground and engines doing structure protection.

New mandatory evacuations are in place for all Wrightwood residents. Mandatory evacuations remain in place for the following areas in Lytle Creek: Applewhite Campground, Applewhite Picnic Area, and areas east of Lytle Creek Road up to and including Mountain Lakes RV Park. Mandatory evacuations are also in place also for Swarthout Canyon, Lone Pine Canyon, and areas along Hwy 138 between I-15 and Hess Rd. Evacuation Centers are located at Eisenhower High School in Rialto and at Victorville Fairgrounds. Small animals can be taken to the Devore Animal Shelter. Large and small animals may be taken to the Victorville Fairgrounds. Glen Helen Rodeo grounds was taking large animals but is now full.

It has been reported that three homes were destroyed in Swartout Canyon near Lone Pine Canyon Road.

2nd Alarm Structure Fire, Palmdale CA, LACOFD 37

It took Los Angeles County Firefighters about 20 minutes to control a second alarm apartment house fire today in Palmdale in the 200 Block of East Ave R. Upon arrival Los Angeles County firefighters found heavy fire showing through the doors and glass sliders of an occupied 2 story apartment complex, with heavy smoke extending into adjoining occupancies. Firefighters quickly moved attack lines into position as the fire flashed over the entire apartment unit sending large volumes of flames outside the apartment which were fanned by strong winds. Firefighters used several attack lines to halt the advancing flames.Several occupants were displaced since the fire severely damaged the apartment complex.