Southern California Fire Check in

[DanGarion]

Just want to check in with our Southern California buddies and see if everyone is ok?

Bug
Chief
Etc?

Fires are nowhere close to us since we are on flat land and away from hills/brush, but the air sucks and it's pretty dark towards the North due to the Brea and Corona/Yorba Linda fires.

Now sure if anyone is in the Sylmar and Montecito areas. Everyone stay safe. :(

[Danny]

I live fairly close to the Sylmar fire (Sunland, but it's headed west and I am east of it. I had an all day child abuse seminar at CSUN this morning. I originally figured it to be canceled as all classes were cancelled, but some classmates I was going to hang out with there called and said it was going on, so I headed out about 30 minutes late. After I went from the 210 to the 118, they called again and told me it had been canceled, so I got off, turned back and went home.

Hopefully everyone here and their friends and families haven't been affected.

[Chief Rum]

There's a fire along the 91 near Corona-Yorba Linda apparently, and I heard of a fire in Brea (but that might be the same one), but that's the only one that is close enough to even impact upon areas I am in fairly often, and none of them are clsoe to my place.

So me and mine are fairly safe from a fire point of view. I worry for those being affected, though. It's just an ugly looking day, with ash clouds coloring the sky and sun a miserable color, and the air is barely breathable. First day that, by its look, actually reminds me of the San Diego fires three-four years ago, even though we have had major fires since then. I still remember (with a small chill) the blood red sun trying to shine through a blanket of ash over SoCal on one of those days.

[DanGarion]

My parents are out at my aunts South of the 91 on the 15 and my mom said she is seeing what appears to be a new smoke cloud East of the 15... but I can't find any information regarding it yet.

[Chief Rum]

My parents are out at my aunts South of the 91 on the 15 and my mom said she is seeing what appears to be a new smoke cloud East of the 15... but I can't find any information regarding it yet.

There's a lot of dry brush area in those valleys south of the 91 between the 15 and the 215. That wouldn't surprise me at all. Hope it's nothing.

[DanGarion]

There's a lot of dry brush area in those valleys south of the 91 between the 15 and the 215. That wouldn't surprise me at all. Hope it's nothing.

Oh yeah I know. Still looking for info, the CHP site usually has the best up to minute information, but the only thing I see is a possible fire at Van Buren and Limonite which is out of the way from where they are (that closer to my office in Ontario).

[Chief Rum]

Oh yeah I know. Still looking for info, the CHP site usually has the best up to minute information, but the only thing I see is a possible fire at Van Buren and Limonite which is out of the way from where they are (that closer to my office in Ontario).

Yeah, I know Van Buren and Limonite, since my office is in Rancho. That doesn't sound like it, based on what your aunt was saying. She would have said that was a fire to the north.

Unfortunately, ocregister.com is saying the Corona-Yorba Linda fire is really spreading. Some homes on fire. Did some damage in the Corona area (near Green River), and now is spreading over to the YL side, and has reached the Gypsum Canyon area. My second job is at the TGIF off of Weir Canyon, which is really close to that, and I drive through the Green River area all the time.

[DanGarion]

Yeah, I know Van Buren and Limonite, since my office is in Rancho. That doesn't sound like it, based on what your aunt was saying. She would have said that was a fire to the north.

Unfortunately, ocregister.com is saying the Corona-Yorba Linda fire is really spreading. Some homes on fire. Did some damage in the Corona area (near Green River), and now is spreading over to the YL side, and has reached the Gypsum Canyon area. My second job is at the TGIF off of Weir Canyon, which is really close to that, and I drive through the Green River area all the time.

Well my mom doesn't know her directions very well :).

It's now South of the 91 / West of the 241...

[Chief Rum]

Well my mom doesn't know her directions very well :).

It's now South of the 91 / West of the 241...

Wow, it jumped the 91? That's a bad are for it to get in. That's beginning to cut pretty close to some big time Anaheim Hills homes areas.

I can't find my camera right now, otherwise I think I would snap a picture of the big ugly cloud hanging over my place right now.

[DanGarion]

I made this quickly on Google Maps. Just the OC area though.

<iframe width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=112860340988640880852.00045bc1374bda25bdfa9&amp;t=h&amp;s=AARTsJqMVYNtNxXOmN77Gp-ryRY_IhVrwA&amp;ll=33.897777,-117.742538&amp;spn=0.273571,0.439453&amp;z=11&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=112860340988640880852.00045bc1374bda25bdfa9&amp;t=h&amp;ll=33.897777,-117.742538&amp;spn=0.273571,0.439453&amp;z=11&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

[DanGarion]

I just went outside and took some pictures from here. It's just pictures of the sky, will be about 5 minutes.

[DaddyTorgo]

wow - idk how you people can live in this sort of area - it's nuts. course i've always said that to my aunt+uncle too...

[DanGarion]

This is looking North from right around the 22/55 interchange.

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/attachment.php?attachmentid=233&d=1226786437

[Chief Rum]

wow - idk how you people can live in this sort of area - it's nuts. course i've always said that to my aunt+uncle too...

Well, the LA area is just huge. It's hard to even explain to anyone outside of the area how big it is, because there are few cities/areas in the U.S. this spread out. So Dangarion and I and most others live in relatively flat areas where there is little to no chance of fire. But this is basically a desert, with tons of dry brush, and massive development has pushed houses into the hills and valleys and all around us. Those homes near the hills and brush areas are the really risky ones (they probably pay an arm and a leg for fire insurance).

[DanGarion]

wow - idk how you people can live in this sort of area - it's nuts. course i've always said that to my aunt+uncle too...

Hah, well I'm not in an area that is like that. Those are the hills that are on fire, lot of it is open land, but there are rich people homes on some of the hills too.

[Chief Rum]

This is looking North from right around the 22/55 interchange.

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/attachment.php?attachmentid=233&d=1226786437

Thanks, dangarion. Obviously, it pretty much matches what I am seeing, although my perspective is more from the west.

And, folks outta SoCal, this is from whaty I can see a clear and cloudles sday weather-wise. Clear blue outside of the fire clouds. So those clouds in dangarion's pictures--that's all fire smoke and ash clouds.

[Chief Rum]

Hmm, I hadn't intended to have that image show up in my post in quoting you, but it actually works, so there you go.

[DanGarion]

Thanks, dangarion. Obviously, it pretty much matches what I am seeing, although my perspective is more from the west.

And, folks outta SoCal, this is from whaty I can see a clear and cloudles sday weather-wise. Clear blue outside of the fire clouds. So those clouds in dangarion's pictures--that's all fire smoke and ash clouds.


Yeah if I look towards the South (towards the beach) it's clear blue, just a perfect looking day (except it's a bit hot and sort of windy).

[DaddyTorgo]

Well, the LA area is just huge. It's hard to even explain to anyone outside of the area how big it is, because there are few cities/areas in the U.S. this spread out. So Dangarion and I and most others live in relatively flat areas where there is little to no chance of fire. But this is basically a desert, with tons of dry brush, and massive development has pushed houses into the hills and valleys and all around us. Those homes near the hills and brush areas are the really risky ones (they probably pay an arm and a leg for fire insurance).

oh i know. my aunt+uncle are up in la habra heights. it just always baffles me at this time of year that there's so many fires - i understand the WHY, it's the fact that it continually happens and that there's basically nothing anybody can do about it that's just...jaw-dropping to me.

[Danny]

Driving on the 210 and 118 earlier it looked similar, but more black than that. It's terrible that it's so many areas at once too.

[Chief Rum]

There is, of course, nothing funny about this right now, but I think when I look back on this, I will laugh thinking about the article on msn.com on these fires that is two pages long. The link between the two pages (which usually has some enticement statement to get people to click on it) has "Rob Lowe flees."

Don't know why, but that's such an odd seeming, unexpected statement, that it got a laugh out of me. I am guessing Mr. Lowe's house is in danger in the Sylmar area.

[DaddyTorgo]

dude - row lowe sacked up - they had him on tv last night - he like busted through somebody's gate and saved a little kid!

[Chief Rum]

oh i know. my aunt+uncle are up in la habra heights. it just always baffles me at this time of year that there's so many fires - i understand the WHY, it's the fact that it continually happens and that there's basically nothing anybody can do about it that's just...jaw-dropping to me.

I used to live right there in La Habra, just at the foot of the foothills (around Whittier Blvd. for those who know the area). I was always surprised that the stretch from the 57 west to Whittier (which is mostly the Heights) never seemed to catch a fire in these times, even though there is beaucoup vegetation everywhere. I figure your aunt and uncle are as safe as ever. That area is particularly over-vegetated actually, it must be "wetter"--not as much dry brush--so fires don't catch on there like they do in other areas.

[Chief Rum]

dude - row lowe sacked up - they had him on tv last night - he like busted through somebody's gate and saved a little kid!

Really? I missed that. Way to go, Rob.

It's still an odd sounding jump line, though.

[DanGarion]

oh i know. my aunt+uncle are up in la habra heights. it just always baffles me at this time of year that there's so many fires - i understand the WHY, it's the fact that it continually happens and that there's basically nothing anybody can do about it that's just...jaw-dropping to me.
Well there are a number of factors.

Usually it's humans that create these, either by accident, negiligence (cigerette butts), or arson.

It's unfortunate.

[DaddyTorgo]

I used to live right there in La Habra, just at the foot of the foothills (around Whittier Blvd. for those who know the area). I was always surprised that the stretch from the 57 west to Whittier (which is mostly the Heights) never seemed to catch a fire in these times, even though there is beaucoup vegetation everywhere. I figure your aunt and uncle are as safe as ever. That area is particularly over-vegetated actually, it must be "wetter"--not as much dry brush--so fires don't catch on there like they do in other areas.

yeah, it does seem to be a bit "wetter" although I'd always noticed dry vegetation around them. i'm not necessarily worried about them, just saying that i am aware of the particulars of the area in general

[Chief Rum]

yeah, it does seem to be a bit "wetter" although I'd always noticed dry vegetation around them. i'm not necessarily worried about them, just saying that i am aware of the particulars of the area in general

Oh yeah, you'll get dry brush everywhere in SoCal, can't avoid it. I'm sure they have plenty around them. But I think you need a whole lotta tons of it to get a fire really going, and they seem to have less of it. Also, those heights are sharper than some of the others, I think, maybe a little higher. They are partly responsible for the sharp temperature differences between the OC and the lower LA basin, and the inland valley areas that get so much hotter. I think the wind that aids other areas, actually sorta breaks on the La Habra Heights and then just goes over it, instead of gusting down into the valleys there to push a fire.

[Buccaneer]

I will echo the comment about the LA/OC/Inland area being very huge. It is unlike any other area in the country, in terms of being spreadout (square miles). I believe it is 5x larger than the Chicago metro area and 3x larger than the NYC/LI/NJ metro area.

[DanGarion]

I will echo the comment about the LA/OC/Inland area being very huge. It is unlike any other area in the country, in terms of being spreadout (square miles). I believe it is 5x larger than the Chicago metro area and 3x larger than the NYC/LI/NJ metro area.
It's one of the reasons why the public transportation here sucks... :)

[Lorena]

I haven't been following since the morning, but last I heard around 5,000 people were asked to evacuate the Sylmar area. So sad to see so many houses on fire.

Did they find out what caused the fires?

[DanGarion]

I haven't been following since the morning, but last I heard around 5,000 people were asked to evacuate the Sylmar area. So sad to see so many houses on fire.

Did they find out what caused the fires?

Not sure, but I think there is a criminal investigation. Probably someone who was going to be foreclosed on decided to torch their place or something. :D

[heybrad]

I live in Corona. I was actually running a leadership training class at the Hidden Valley Nature Center in Norco today. We were supposed to have a skills section of the course that included fire building but we cancelled it due to the high winds. Sure enough, early on in the morning we started to see the fire from the Weir Canyon area.

The winds are actually blowing the smoke away from us, but the fires have pretty well covered my drive to work (91 to the 241). We've had a lot of calls from friends since they're hearing Corona fire, but we're pretty well away from it.

[DanGarion]

I live in Corona. I was actually running a leadership training class at the Hidden Valley Nature Center in Norco today. We were supposed to have a skills section of the course that included fire building but we cancelled it due to the high winds. Sure enough, early on in the morning we started to see the fire from the Weir Canyon area.

The winds are actually blowing the smoke away from us, but the fires have pretty well covered my drive to work (91 to the 241). We've had a lot of calls from friends since they're hearing Corona fire, but we're pretty well away from it.
Hey brad!

Glad to hear you guys are safe. The wide is blowing our way instead of your way!

[bhlloy]

ugh... my old coworkers apartment is in real danger from the Brea-Olinda area fire. Hopefully the worst of that is passed and it doesn't come any closer to the homes over there.

Was at Manhattan Beach today and the air quality was terrible even out there. That really surprised me....



The winds are actually blowing the smoke away from us, but the fires have pretty well covered my drive to work (91 to the 241). We've had a lot of calls from friends since they're hearing Corona fire, but we're pretty well away from it.

out of interest, where do you work? I worked in Foothill Ranch for over 2 years, so know that drive real well. I'm glad I don't have worry about having to do that next week :(

[Karlifornia]

I will echo the comment about the LA/OC/Inland area being very huge. It is unlike any other area in the country, in terms of being spreadout (square miles). I believe it is 5x larger than the Chicago metro area and 3x larger than the NYC/LI/NJ metro area.

Yup, yup. It is unbelievably large. I forget in between visits down there how much land the metro area spans.

[heybrad]

out of interest, where do you work? I worked in Foothill Ranch for over 2 years, so know that drive real well. I'm glad I don't have worry about having to do that next week :(
I work in Costa Mesa. I take the 91 to the 241 to the 261. I'm right off of the 405 and Harbor.

[DanGarion]

I work in Costa Mesa. I take the 91 to the 241 to the 261. I'm right off of the 405 and Harbor.
So what that's like $56 bucks in tolls a day? :D

[heybrad]

So what that's like $56 bucks in tolls a day? :D
I'm very lucky in that my work pays for my Fastrack.

[SFL Cat]

Just curious...seems like these wildfires are becoming a common problem! Is this because they happen more frequently these days, or has this always been the case and we just hear about it more now because we have the 24/7 news channels?

[Buccaneer]

Just curious...seems like these wildfires are becoming a common problem! Is this because they happen more frequently these days, or has this always been the case and we just hear about it more now because we have the 24/7 news channels?


That is an insightful question. I truly believe that everything is magnified more today because of 24/7 news and internet but there is something else as well. SoCal have always had these fires, esp. during Santa Anas, but with the tremendous buildups into the hills and canyons, now more life and property are in the path. For example, when I was in HS and college, the San Bernadino mountains would regularly light up (they were called the Rim of the World fires). But there were not much developments around there, a few retreats and small Crestline. Now with the developments going up, over and through the areas the regularly burn, we get more destruction. I imagine it's the same around the San Gabriels, etc.

Down in my former area, Ramona used to be a tiny podunk town in the hills (the starting place for last year's huge San Diego fire). Fires used come out of the scruboak hills and down into the ranchlands without doing much damage, except for a few outbuildings. Now the exact same fire, as we saw last year, would take out 200 homes.

[MrBug708]

Meh. I can smell the fire and see that the air quality itsn't that good, but I can't really see the fires from where I'm at. If the fires ever reached where I'm at, we'd probably be talking about 10,000's of thousands of people dead so let's hope I'm never going to have to evacuate. :)

But I do need to check on a friend here soon that lives in Sylmar, right below the 210/5 interchange

[JediKooter]

Just some advice to all that might be close to the fires from someone who had to go through the fires last year in Rancho Bernardo...make sure all your vehicles are filled up with gas, pack a suitcase with at least a 5 day supply of clothes, enough food for pets, pictures, important papers, at the very least grab your computer hard drives, any medications.

I say this because, when they tell you it's time to evacuate, it's too late to try and get all that stuff together, you have to leave right then and there.

My wife didn't listen to me last year, had no gas in the car, had no clothes, forgot her asthma medicine, left all of our pictures and computers and got the reverse 911 call at about 4:30 in the morning. Needless to say and easier said than done, try to reduce as much stress as possible by being prepared. We didn't know for 2 days if we had our house still or not and having all those items would have made it a whole heck of a lot less stressful.

I hope everyone is alright and stays safe.

[SackAttack]

My parents are in Santa Clarita. Mom said they could see flames yesterday, but I don't know what the situation on the ground is out there right now.

As to the question about the fires, I think part of it is that the really big fires, in the past, happened in areas without a lot of population. The ones that did get close enough were generally pretty tame. The exception in my memory before the last 5-7 years was the Painted Cave Fire in Santa Barbara.

But in the last 5-7 years, it seems like it's become an annual rite of passage for California. Heck, there was a firefighter quoted in a story about one of the current fires saying "this kind of thing used to be once in a career. Now it happens every year."

For what that's worth.

[MrBug708]

It does smell like a campfire outside

[digamma]

I was planning to run the Pasadena marathon this morning, but it was canceled due to air quality. I live about 15 miles west of Pasadena, but work there. The air is much smokier here than in Pasadena, but all in all, I don't think the race organizers could have made any other decision. It's pretty brutal out there.

[MrBug708]

There was amarathon in Los Angeles for Breast cancer that was still ran this morning; wierd

[digamma]

Are you sure that wasn't just a 5-K?

[MrBug708]

Im going by what someone else told me

[Noop]

Those effected are in my thoughts.

On another note: Am I the only one who thought this thread was about Southern California Fried Chicken?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Last year, I visited San Diego in June for my first visit to Southern California. I no longer wonder why they have so many fires. I asked the guy at the hotel front desk why everything was so brown and if they were having a drought. He said that outside of December and January, the rest of the year had little rain. There was dry brush EVERYWHERE.

[MrBug708]

Christopher Lloyd's caretaker shot an amazing video of him escaping from the property.

[DanGarion]

Christopher Lloyd's caretaker shot an amazing video of him escaping from the property.

Was it in a Delorean?

[Lorena]

Christopher Lloyd's caretaker shot an amazing video of him escaping from the property.

is there a link somewhere? i heard his house was burned down to the ground.