Gusty Northwest Winds for AV Zone 288

Heightened fire weather concerns for dry air and gusty northwest winds today in the Antelope Valley and sundowner winds over Santa Barbara CA. Gust to 45 MPH today with a very dry air mass are concerns should ignition occur. Spotting potential and increased flame lengths are possible during this short term wind event. 

Wildfire, San Imigdio Mountains

Cal Fire Air Tanker 80 sweeps in for a precise drop in the San Imigdio Mountains in Kern County today. Firefighters from Kern County, United States Forest Service, BLM and Cal Fire are working the flanks of a 200 acre wildfire south of Highway 166 in the Wind Wolves preserve, which borders the Los Padres National Forest.

We are also getting a report of a wildfire in Anza  Borrego area, primarily in brush, unknown if structures are threatened. Cal Fire and Forest Service are also battling this fire in joint effort.

Warm and Dry Fire Weather, So Cal Mountains and Deserts, Zone 288

Fire Weather: A STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER OKLAHOMA WILL SLIDE INTO ARIZONA BY FRIDAY...THEN A VERY WEAK TROUGH WILL PUSH THE RIDGE BACK TO THE EAST ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY. WARMING AND DRYING TRENDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY OR FRIDAY AS A RESULT...FOCUSED AWAY FROM THE COAST. MINIMUM HUMIDITIES INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS WILL OCCUR AT TIMES OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS WITH DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURES APPROACHING 100 DEGREES BY THURSDAY...ALONG WITH VERY POOR OVERNIGHT RECOVERIES IN THE MOUNTAINS. TYPICALLY BREEZY ONSHORE WINDS WILL CONTINUE EACH AFTERNOON EVERYWHERE...ESPECIALLY INTERIOR AREAS AND BEACHES. AS A RESULT...MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS WILL SEE A FEW HOURS OF CRITICAL CONDITIONS EACH DAY...BUT DURATIONS SHOULD NOT EXCEED RED FLAG THRESHOLDS.

We are seeing increased fire behavior and increased intitail attack fires in zone 288. Average to above average flame lengths recorded in very dry flashy fuels in the high desert. Fire works go on sale soon in Lancaster and Palmdale which should compound the fire problem for grass A and B fires. We are way below normal for annual rainfall. What rain came, occurred late in the season causing light flashy fuels to propagate and are now curred. We will follow up on fuel mositure content in zone 288 soon.

The fire in Hungry Valley State Park is looking good this morning, a few copters have been working the firelines. This will be the last post regarding this incident unless it escapes control lines or significant event.

A new start from a vehicle fire on Interstate 5 scorched about 3/4 of an acre today near Templin Highway. Angeles National Forest crews assisted by LA County Fire Department quickly controlled the blaze by 10:00 am.
Moderate workload anticipated for intital attack crews in Southern California, July 4 may see increase in fire activity due to human caused/firework related fires.

Wildfire, Hungry Valley State Park

A fast moving wildfire in Hungry Valley State Park is threatening both the Angeles and Los Padres National Forests tonight as thick brush ignited earlier in the day in Smith Campground. Units from Los Angeles County Fire Department, Angeles National and Los Padres National Forests, Kern and Ventura County are all working on the incident. Several hundred acres have been consumed. Photos Jeff Zimmerman

Wildfire, Los Padres National Forest

A fast moving wildfire is burning near Ozena campground tonight, potential for thousands of acres of brush and timber to be consumed. Long flame lengths recorded today. Initial attack transitioning to fire management team soon. Lockwood Valley road closed near Ozena. Ventura County and Kern County are assisting Forest Service Units. As of this writing approx acerage 350 plus.

School Teacher of The Year Get's Pink Slip!

Sixth-grade teacher Michelle Apperson passed down a simple message to her students. "My favorite teachers growing up were the ones who challenged me to go out of my comfort level a little bit, strive for the stars, and work hard," the veteran California educator wrote on her school's bio page. But her own hard work wasn't enough to keep her employed. Despite just being named Sacramento's "Teacher of the Year," Apperson was laid off as part of a massive budget cut. "It hurts on a personal level because I really love what I do," Apperson, who taught all subjects, told KXTV-News 10. "But professionally and politically or economically, I get why it happens." Her pink slip comes just days after President Barack Obama prodded Washington lawmakers to help cash-strapped states with education funding. The Sacramento City Unified School District has suffered approximately $143 million in budget cuts in recent years. School spokesperson Gabe Ross told News 10 that who gets laid off is mandated by state law and is based on seniority, not performance. "It's an awful situation," Ross said. "It's another sign of how education's funding really needs an overhaul." According to her bio, Apperson's goal was to teach her students "how to solve problems with peers, other adults, and the world around them." Now they know firsthand how difficult that can sometimes be. ...

Wildfire Interstate 5

A fire along Interstate 5 consumed over 500 acres in the first burning period near the Angeles Forest boundry at the 2,000 foot elevation level yesterday. Strong gusty canyon winds are predicted for today down the Interstate 5 corridor and Antelope Valley.

Red Flag Warning!

.AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND MOJAVE DESERT MONDAY AND TUESDAY RESULTING IN CRITICAL AND POSSIBLE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ACROSS THE DISTRICT. COOLER TEMPERATURES WILL BE SEEN ON TUESDAY WITH LIGHTER WINDS FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY. CAZ226-NVZ460-041400- /O.UPG.KVEF.FW.A.0010.120604T1900Z-120605T0400Z/ /O.NEW.KVEF.FW.W.0015.120604T1900Z-120605T1300Z/ OWENS VALLEY/SOUTHERN INYO FOREST- ESMERALDA AND NYE COUNTY DESERTS/CNC DISPATCH- 310 PM PDT SUN JUN 3 2012 ...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON MONDAY TO 6 AM PDT TUESDAY FOR STRONG WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONES 226 AND 460... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAS VEGAS HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING FOR STRONG WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON MONDAY TO 6 AM PDT TUESDAY. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. * AFFECTED AREA...IN CALIFORNIA...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 226 OWENS VALLEY/SOUTHERN INYO FOREST. IN NEVADA...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 460 ESMERALDA AND NYE COUNTY DESERTS/CNC DISPATCH. * TIMING...BEGINNING EARLY MONDAY AND CONTINUING THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING. IN ADDITION...DOWNSLOPE WINDS ARE LIKELY FROM LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. * WIND...SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS FROM 35 TO 45 MPH POSSIBLE. DOWNSLOPE WIND GUSTS TO OVER 60 MPH ARE EXPECTED ON THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE SIERRA AS WELL AS THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. * HUMIDITY...GENERALLY BETWEEN 7 AND 14 PERCENT IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. * IMPACTS...CONDITIONS THAT ARE FAVORABLE FOR EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR ARE POSSIBLE DUE TO STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND DRY FUELS. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING OR ARE IMMINENT. A COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE EXTREME FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

Los Padres National Forest, Tinta IC, 48 Acres

A small wildfire today blackened 48 acres near Ozena, west of Highway 33. Units from the Los Padres National Forest, Ventura County and the Angeles National Forest contained the blaze in about 2 hours.

Fire and Aviation News

RENO, Nev. (AP) — An air tanker dropping retardant on a remote wildfire along the Utah-Nevada line crashed Sunday afternoon, killing both crew members, authorities said. The pilots were fighting the 5,000-acre White Rock Fire, which began burning Friday night after a lightning strike in eastern Nevada. The fire spread across the Utah line Saturday night, but most of the blaze remained in Nevada, about 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The cause of the 1:45 p.m. MDT crash in the Hamblin Valley area of western Utah was unknown, Bureau of Land Management officials said. A helicopter crew saw the crash and told ground crews that "it didn't look good," Iron County, Utah, sheriff's Detective Sgt. Jody Edwards told The Salt Lake Tribune. BLM ground crews and helicopter crew members worked for a time to hold the fire back from the wreckage. Sheriff's deputies drove and hiked for more than an hour to reach the site and confirm that the pilots had died, Edwards said. The fire later overwhelmed the crash site, Edwards said. The pilots were flying a P-2V air tanker that is owned by Neptune Aviation Services of Missoula, Mont. The victims' names weren't immediately released. A medical examiner was helping authorities recover the bodies as of Sunday night. The fire has been burning in steep, rugged terrain featuring pinion-juniper woodlands, sagebrush and grasses. Crews were pulled off the fire lines after the crash. "To have them working on the fire lines after this is more than we would like to ask firefighters," said Don Smurthwaite, spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. "It's obviously a horrifying and tragic event." Firefighters didn't expect to have the fire fully contained until Saturday, BLM spokesman Chris Hanefeld said. Also Sunday afternoon, the crew of another firefighting P-2V air tanker reported it was unable to lower all of its landing gear and land at Minden-Tahoe Airport in western Nevada. That crew had been helping with efforts to fight a wildfire near the airport, which is about 50 miles south of Reno. Crew members flew the plane for another 90 minutes to burn off fuel before making an emergency landing on a cleared runway, Douglas County sheriff's spokesman Jim Halsey said. The aircraft sustained significant damage after it slid off the runway, but both crew members escaped injury, he said. Sunday's incidents come several months after a group of Western senators questioned whether the Forest Service was moving quickly enough to build up and replace the fleet of aging planes that drop fire retardant on wildfires. The agency hires a mix of large and small airplanes and helicopters each year to fight wildfires. They are generally privately owned and work under contract. Retardant dropped from planes is typically used to bolster a line cut by firefighters on the edge of a fire, and water dropped from helicopters is usually used to cool hotspots within a fire. The current fleet is made up of Lockheed P-2Vs, anti-submarine patrol planes dating to the 1950s that have been modified with jets to supplement the piston engines. More than half are due to retire in 10 years. The number of large aircraft has steadily dwindled since 2004, when the Forest Service grounded 33 air tankers after a number of high-profile crashes. In March, Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked the Government Accountability Office to evaluate whether the Forest Service has done a good job of analyzing the types and numbers of aircraft needed, the cheapest way to get them, new technologies and where the planes will be based.