Lightning Storms

A small fire resulted from lightning today on Hauser Peak. Wetting rains suppressed the 5 acre wildfire in Acton. More thunderstorms predicted for tomorrow.

Potential for Dry Lightning in Antelope Valley

Potential for lightning today in the Antelop valley. Initially the storm will bring dry lightning to area. Hot temperatures will prevail today. Extreme heat index.

Wildfires, Kern County, Post IC

A fast moving wildfire in Kern County is threatening approximately 100 homes in the Frazier Park and Lebec areas. The fire is burning in brush and timber. Crowning and spotting were noted today as the fire moved in a westerly direction. The Post fire is reportedly 2,500 acres. Some evacuations took place today, schools should be in session starting tomorrow. Access is difficult to control the head of the fire. Hotshot crews have been called into to work the steep ridges above the town of Frazier Park.

A second grass fire is burning approximately 5 miles north of the Post fire, the Town Fire is approximately 250 acres. The Town fire was burning in light flashy fuels and grass. No estimated time for containment has been given for these fires.

Mutual aid has been brought in for structure protection into Frazier Park.

Photo Jeff Zimmerman

Fire Weather

A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE CONTINUES TO BUILD WITH TRIPLE DIGIT TEMPERATURES FORECAST FOR INLAND AREAS TODAY AND WEDNESDAY. THE AMBIENT AIR TEMPERATURE MAY REACH 110 DEGREES IN THE HOTTEST VALLEYS. THURSDAY THE RIDGE WEAKENS AND A SHARP COOLING TREND IS EXPECTED BY FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. WATCHING THE MTN RANGE NEAR VALYERMO NORTH EAST ANGELES FOREST CLOSELY FOR SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHTNING. SOME MOISTURE IS OVER THE MTN RANGE EARLY THIS MORNING.

Wildfire, San Luis Obispo County

Pozo Fire CA-SLU-006481 2,500 acres and 10% contained. Fire is under unified command with SRA & FRA.Smiths Central Coast IMT team will assume command of the incident at 0600 Sunday.

Hot dry weather continues to dominate the weather pattern for So Cal through Thursday.

National Weather Service - NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard

HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT AND WEAK ONSHORE GRADIENTS WILL DOMINATE THROUGH AT LEAST THURSDAY WITH HIGH TEMPS WELL ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR ACROSS MOST INTERIOR AREAS. EXPECT THE ANTELOPE VALLEY TO REACH 105 TO 107 DEGREES TUE AND WED...WITH ONLY A SLIGHT DECREASE ON THU."

Red Flag Warnings for Northern CA on Saturday

...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS SATURDAY...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL APPROACH FROM THE WEST ON SATURDAY CAUSING GUSTY WINDS ACROSS THE REGION. GUSTY WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH A VERY DRY AIRMASS AND CREATE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS. Please see www.NOAA.GOV

Angeles National Forest Wildfire, Holding at 100 Acres

A fast moving wildfire in the Angeles National Forest is held in check tonight at approximately 100 acres on Largo Vista Rd near Big Pines Highway. United States Forest Service, Los Angeles County Fire Department and Cal Fire units are at the scene in the mop up phase. Structures were threatened earlier in the day along Big Pines Highway. One firefighter suffered injuries after falling in steep terrain and was airlifted to Antelope Valley Medical Center by Los Angeles County Paramedics.

Chief John Callahan, San Luis Obispo City Fire Department

I am sad to report that San Luis Obispo City Fire Chief, John Callahan has passed away. John has served with the City of San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles City Fire Departments and was planning to retire in November. Chief Callahan was 61 years of age. Services to be announced.

Fire Warning for Nor Cal, Lightning for Palmdale

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RENO HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM TUESDAY TO 1 AM PDT WEDNESDAY. AFFECTED AREA: MONO...EASTERN ALPINE COUNTIES AND THE WESTERN NEVADA SIERRA FRONT. THE WORST CONDITIONS WILL BE SEEN NORTH OF MONO LAKE.* WIND: SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 40 MPH POSSIBLE LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. SIERRA RIDGE GUSTS IN ALPINE COUNTY WILL REACH 70 MPH TUESDAY EVENING.* HUMIDITY: AFTERNOON HUMIDITY WILL DROP BELOW 15 PERCENT WITH POOR OVERNIGHT RECOVERY. HUMIDITY WILL NOT RISE ABOVE 20 PERCENT FOR MANY MID SLOPE LOCATIONS UNTIL EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING.* IMPACTS: THE COMBINATION OF GUSTY WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITY WILL CREATE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Palmdale region 20% chance of thunderstorms and lightning predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday/potential for storms to have dry lightning in the afternoon with strong outflows.

Zimmerman

Motor Home Fire, 14 Freeway and Ave S, Palmdale CA

A motor home exploded into flames today on the South Bound 14 Freeway just South of Ave S in Palmdale CA. Flames quickly swept into the tinder dry vegetation as the motor home vented out all sides. Firefighters were quick to halt the vegetation fire to 1 acre of grass and brush. The motor home was completely destroyed. The 14 Freeway was shut down for approximately 45 minutes until the blaze was brought under control.

Photos Jeff Zimmerman

Fire Weather Warning

Extreme temperatures for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday well into triple digits for Antelope Valley. Los Angeles County Valleys will also experience high temperatures into the 100 degree mark as high pressure begins to build.

Rekindle, Crown Fire, Amber Wood and Date Palmd Dr, Palmdale

LA County Fire Department Engines 136 and 24 worked a few hot spots in old growth juniper at the end of Date Palm and Amberwood this afternoon in the city of Palmdale. Stubborn hot spots from the Crown Fire required the assistance of LA County Copter 15 who made three water drops to halt the fire.

Photo Jeff Zimmerman

Vehicle Fire 14 Freeway at Angeles Forest Hwy

An early morning auto fire slowed traffic on the South Bound 14 Freeway near Angeles Forest this morning. LA County Fire Department Engines 80 and 37 responded to a well involved passenger van and had knock down in 15 minutes. No extension into the brush. Photo Jeff Zimmerman

Inspector General Launches Probe of Wildfire

Federal inspector general launches probe of Station fire
By Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times
August 4, 2010

A federal inspector general has launched an investigation and the Obama administration has invited Congress to order a broad inquiry into last summer's disastrous Station fire after learning that dispatch recordings had been withheld from a U.S. Forest Service review team.

The telephone recordings, from the critical early hours of the blaze, also were withheld from The Times, which requested them under the Freedom of Information Act.

The inspector general's probe will focus on why the several days of recordings were not provided to The Times or turned over to the Forest Service inquiry, which concluded that the agency's initial attack on the fire was proper."I find this very serious," Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said Tuesday. "I'm very concerned and troubled that this was not found earlier…. We want to get this information to learn what occurred on the Station fire."

Tidwell said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, whose department runs the Forest Service, invited Congress to request the fuller investigation of the agency's handling of the fire in the Angeles National Forest, a probe that would be conducted by the Government Accountability Office.

The content of the withheld recordings is not known. Tidwell said officials were still transcribing them and the results would be released in coming days.

He said the recordings were found after he ordered a reexamination of all records on the fire and the agency's response to The Times' requests for copies of audio dispatch communications, a number of which have been released.

The news organization also had raised questions about an erroneous entry in a key transcript, which Forest Service officials blamed on a private contractor.

A Forest Service spokesman said the Agriculture Department's inspector general could recommend criminal charges based on what the investigation finds.

No Forest Service employee has been fired or placed on leave since the recordings were unearthed, Tidwell said.

He said he wanted the reexamination completed before a panel of local members of Congress convened by Rep. Adam Schiff (D- Burbank) holds a public meeting on the Station fire next Tuesday in Pasadena. Schiff scheduled the session after The Times reported that the Forest Service had misjudged the threat posed by the fire, scaled back the initial attack and failed to fill crucial orders for air tankers on the second morning.

The Station blaze, which broke out Aug. 26, blackened 250 square miles of the forest, destroyed scores of homes and other structures, and killed two Los Angeles County firefighters. It was the largest fire in county history.

In a statement Tuesday, Schiff said he was "concerned with the late discovery of these recorded conversations." He also said that the phone calls, unlike radio transmissions, "appear to have been recorded without the knowledge or consent of some or all of the parties."

Tidwell said he was not aware of the recordings when he told a Senate subcommittee in May that the Forest Service had deployed the earliest available air tankers on the second morning, when the blaze covered just a few acres.

According to federal records and state officials, other tankers were available sooner, but the Forest Service failed to complete an order for them made by its own commander on the ground.

Dispatch records show that a Forest Service officer again asked for tankers about 7 a.m. Aug. 27, six hours after the initial request. Three Forest Service tankers were subsequently deployed, but did not reach the fire until after it began racing through the forest.

Most of the questions about how the fire became so destructive have focused on the absence of a fierce air attack in the hours after dawn on Day 2, as well as a decision the previous evening to reduce the number of ground crews. The flames had been nearly contained, in part because of a sustained pounding by helicopters and planes. After the aircraft returned to base at nightfall, the fire began to gather strength.

Officials said in September that they had believed enough aircraft were deployed early on Day 2. In the review conducted by the Forest Service, the agency concluded that aerial dumps during the hours after first light would have been ineffective because the blaze was burning in a canyon too steep for ground crews to safely finish extinguishing the flames.

After that finding was disputed by firefighters at the scene as well as by the Forest Service's own records, officials told The Times and the Senate panel that the tankers were not sent sooner because of a shortage of rested pilots and relief aircraft.

Records and interviews later showed that state tankers were available.

In one transcript of a previously released radio transmission, the word "tankers" had been replaced with "unintelligible," even though "tankers" was clearly audible on the recording. The word "push," which could refer to a tanker order, was erroneously inserted. The Forest Service blamed the errors on a private contractor. The contractor did not respond to Times questions, and officials said the firm has since declined to work with the Forest Service.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-station-fire-20100804,0,7487167.story
Please refer all questions to the LA Times

Fire Weather Watch

...FIRE WEATHER WATCH ISSUED FOR THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MOUNTAINS FOR THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING FOR BREEZY WINDS AND VERY LOW HUMIDITIES....AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL PARK ITSELF OVER CALIFORNIA THROUGH THE REST OF THIS WEEK...BRINGING A VERY DRY AIR MASS TO THE MOUNTAINS. THIS DRY AIR WILL POTENTIALLY BRING WIDE SPREAD SINGLE DIGIT HUMIDITIES TO THE MOUNTAINS WITH VERY POOR OVERNIGHT RECOVERIES. MEANWHILE...ONSHORE FLOW WILL STRENGTHEN THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. THE COMBINATION OF THE VERY LOW HUMIDITIES...BREEZY ONSHORE WINDS...AND SUFFICIENTLY DRY FUELS MAY CREATE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS OVER THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MOUNTAINS THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING.

Brush Fire Laurel Canyon and Mulholland Dr. LAFD

LAFD Greater Alarm Brush Fire, making good progress on fire, Laurel Canyon and Mulholland, Mutual Aid from LA County Enroute. Crews and aircraft making progress on both flanks. OCD Channel 9

IFPA Conference Saturday August 7, 2010

International Fire Photographers Conference in Burbank, power point, video and the what not to do list on a fires... See you all on Saturday at the Burbank Training Center, to get tickets go to http://www.firegroundaction.com/ come listen to the best in the business, it will be a great event.

I will be presenting on still and video photography during wildland incidents.

Fire Weather Gusty Winds for Antelope Valley

...GUSTY ONSHORE WINDS AND SINGLE DIGIT HUMIDITIES ACROSS PORTIONS
OF THE MOUNTAINS AND ANTELOPE VALLEY THROUGH MID WEEK...High pressure will be in charge with onshore winds to 40 MPH today...Near Red Flag conditions.

Palmdale: Winds caused several spot fires and carried fire to adjacent properties as a stubborn shed fire burned in the wind. LA County Engine 24 found a large volume of fire from a shed and junk pile near Ave N and 14 Freeway. Firefighters contained the fire in 30 minutes. No injuries were reported.

Photos Jeff Zimmerman

Fires Slowing to a Crawl

PALMDALE, Calif. — Firefighters have nearly contained a wildfire smoldering in the high desert north of Los Angeles. The Crown Fire has slowed and the smoke plume has lifted. The fire has charred nearly 22 square miles of brush in the Antelope Valley. It is 82 percent contained with very few visible signs of smoke left. Typ 1 Engines should be demobilizing soon.

Good weather in neighboring Kern County helped firefighters build containment lines around two wildfires that destroyed homes in remote mountain communities earlier in the week. Fire Officials said a West Fire near Tehachapi destroyed 23 homes and charred 2½ square miles of heavy brush and was expected to be fully contained Sunday.

To the north, The Bull Fire, destroyed eight residences as it spread across about 26 square miles of the Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada was 85 percent contained.

Mayor Jim Ledford thanked fire officials for helping to stop the Crown Fire as it slammed into the City of Palmdale at a live music concert at Marie Kerr Park. Firefighters received a standing ovation before the Guess Who took to the amphitheatre stage.

Fire Weather: Gusty Canyon Winds for Antelope Valley

FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND ANTELOPE VALLEY...GUSTY ONSHORE WINDS WILL
DEVELOP EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY. THE STRONGEST
WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE FOCUSED ACROSS THE INTERSTATE 14 CORRIDOR AND
ANTELOPE VALLEY...WHERE WIND GUSTS ARE GENERALLY EXPECTED TO RANGE
BETWEEN 25 AND 40 MPH. LOCAL GUSTS BETWEEN 40 AND 50 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED
IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE ANTELOPE VALLEY...ESPECIALLY IN THE VICINITY OF
LAKE PALMDALE. HUMIDITY LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO BOTTOM OUT BETWEEN 6 AND
15 PERCENT ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND
ANTELOPE VALLEY DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS...THEN BEGIN TO RISE ABOVE
15 PERCENT AFTER 6 PM. HUMIDITY RECOVERIES WILL CONTINUE TO BE POOR DURING
THE OVERNIGHT HOURS IN THE ANTELOPE VALLEY AND ADJACENT FOOTHILLS. THE
COMBINATION OF GUSTY ONSHORE WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES WILL CONTINUE TO
BRING HEIGHTENED FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND ANTELOPE
VALLEY EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY...ESPECIALLY ACROSS
THE INTERSTATE 14 CORRIDOR AND ANTELOPE VALLEY.