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Thread: 2016 Fire Season

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    MisterVeritis's Avatar Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by waltky View Post
    See also:

    Alabama campers charged with arson in connection with Colorado wildfire that now covers 600+ acres
    — Two campers from Alabama have been arrested in connection with a Colorado wildfire that has grown to more than 600 acres, destroying five homes and four buildings.
    Crooked Hillary defense. They cannot be indicted.

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    Flames an' fire an' vapors o' smoke...

    'Like a freight train': California wildfire guts 18 homes
    July 24, 2016 — Flames raced down a steep hillside "like a freight train," leaving smoldering remains of homes and forcing thousands to flee the wildfire churning through tinder-dry canyons in Southern California, authorities said Sunday.
    The fire that has destroyed at least 18 homes in northern Los Angeles County gained ferocious new power two days after it broke out, sending so much smoke in the air that planes making drops on it had to be grounded for part of the afternoon. "For this time of year, it's the most extreme fire behavior I've seen in my 32-year career," County fire Chief Daryl Osby said. About 300 miles up the coast, crews were battling another fire spanning more than 16 square miles and forcing evacuations outside the scenic Big Sur region. The Southern California blaze has blackened more than 34 square miles of brush on ridgelines near the city of Santa Clarita, and authorities found a burned body in a car. No new measurements were available, but officials said the fire might now be double that size.

    Planes were unable to make drops over the fire for a long stretch of the afternoon before resuming for a few hours before dusk. Helicopters released retardant around the perimeter of the fire all day and would continue into the night. "The fire's just doing what it wants right now," U.S. Forest Service spokesman Nathan Judy said. "We have to stick back, let it do what it wants to and attack it where we can." Juliet Kinikin said Sunday there was panic as the sky became dark with smoke and flames moved closer to her home a day earlier in the Sand Canyon area of Los Angeles County. "And then we just focused on what really mattered in the house," she told The Associated Press. Kinikin grabbed important documents and fled with her husband, two children, two dogs and three birds. They were back at home Sunday, "breathing a big sigh of relief," she said. Residents of thousands of homes were evacuated as shifting winds were pushing flames northeast through Angeles National Forest, authorities said.

    Lois Wash, 87, said she and her daughter and her dog evacuated, but her husband refused. "My husband's stubborn as a mule, and he wouldn't leave," Wash told KABC-TV. "I don't know if he got out of there or not. There's no way of knowing. I think the last time I looked it was about 100 yards from us. I don't know if our house is still standing or not. All we can do is pray." The fire has ripped through brush withered by days of 100-degree temperatures and years of drought. "It started consuming houses that were non-defendable," Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief John Tripp said, describing the flames as charging through terrain "like a freight train." More than 1,600 firefighters were battling the flames that sent up a huge plume of smoke visible across the region. The body of a man was discovered Saturday in a burned sedan outside a home in the fire zone. Los Angeles County sheriff's officials are investigating the death.

    The fire destroyed film sets at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita, which has Old West-style buildings used for movie locations. It also forced a nonprofit sanctuary for rescued exotic creatures to evacuate 340 of its more than 400 animals, including Bengal tigers and a mountain lion. North on the Central Coast, a blaze consuming brush in rugged mountains near Big Sur was threatening about 1,650 homes. It burned in inaccessible terrain 5 miles south of Garrapata State Park and forced the communities of Palo Colorado and Carmel Highlands to evacuate, California's forestry department said. Brock Bradford lives in a historic house in Palo Colorado and could see the flames coming down the road as he evacuated. "I hope I don't have to rebuild my house," he told the Monterey Herald. "I'm 66."

    http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/...-guts-18-homes
    See also:

    Burned body found as wildfire burns near Los Angeles
    July 24, 2016 — A burned body was found Saturday at the scene of a brushfire north of Los Angeles that has scorched 31 square miles and prompted the evacuation of 1,500 homes, authorities said.
    The body was discovered outside a home on Iron Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, and detectives are trying to determine whether the person was killed by the blaze or another cause, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Rob Hahnlein said. The home also may have burned, he said. The area was one of several neighborhoods ordered evacuated as the fire raged through bone-dry canyons and ranchlands. The fire burned through the area Saturday evening. Firefighters reported that some buildings had been engulfed, but it was not immediately clear whether they were homes, outbuildings or garages, said Nathan Judy, a spokesman for the U.S. Fire Service. The area was still unsafe because of smoldering debris and trees that might fall because their roots had burned, Judy said. The fire was only 10 percent contained Saturday night as it burned on the edge of Santa Clarita and into the Angeles National Forest and showed no sign of calming.


    A large plume of smoke from a wildfire rises near Highway 1, burning five miles south of Carmel, Calif.

    More than 900 firefighters and water-dropping helicopters planned to battle the flames overnight, but they could face several fronts. "It's not a one-direction type of fire," Judy said. "It's going in different directions depending on which way the wind is blowing. It's doing what it wants." A Bengal tiger and other exotic animals were evacuated from the Wildlife Waystation, a nonprofit sanctuary for rescued exotic creatures within the national forest. More than 220 horses, dozens of goats and other animals were taken from the fire area, animal control officials said. About 300 miles up the coast, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection firefighters battled a 10-square-mile blaze in rugged mountains north of the majestic Big Sur region.


    The flames completely charred a Fresno County Sheriff's patrol truck. The deputy had pulled over to help with evacuations but his truck got stuck right in the path of the fire.

    The blaze 5 miles south of Garrapata State Park posed a threat to about 1,000 homes and the community of Palo Colorado was ordered evacuated, Cal Fire said. By evening, people living in the Carmel Highlands north of the fire were told to be ready to leave at a moment's notice if an evacuation was called. Jerri Masten-Hansen and her husband said she and her husband watched the fire creep in. "We felt threatened this morning and decided we needed to go," Masten-Hansen told KSBW-TV (http://bit.ly/2a67k7i). Her sister also left her home down the road. "I grabbed all the pictures of the kids, and then I took the paintings of my parents that had been done by a local artist," Ellen Masten said.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/los-angel...18.html?ref=gs

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    Wildfire shuts Big Sur park...

    Famed Big Sur parks shut as California wildfire rages
    Wednesday 27th July, 2016 - California's signature parks along the Big Sur coastline that draw thousands of daily visitors have been shut down as one of the state's two major wildfires threatened the scenic region at the height of the summer tourist season.
    Acting governor Tom Torlakson, substituting for governor Jerry Brown, who is at the Democratic National Convention with other top state officials, declared a state of emergency for the fire early on Wednesday. The move frees up funding and relaxes regulations to help with the firefight and the recovery. To the south, firefighters made progress containing a huge blaze in mountains outside Los Angeles, allowing authorities to let most of 20,000 people evacuated over the weekend to return home. In Wyoming, a large backcountry wildfire in the Shoshone National Forest put about 290 homes and guest ranches at risk.

    The Big Sur fire threatened a long stretch of pristine, forested mountains hugging the coast and sent smoke billowing over the famed Pacific Coast Highway, which remained open with few if any flames visible to motorists, but a risk that the blaze could reach beloved campgrounds, lodges and redwoods near the shore. "It is folly to predict where this fire will go," said California state parks spokesman Dennis Weber. The Los Angeles-area fire has destroyed 18 homes since it started and over the weekend authorities discovered a burned body in a car, identified on Tuesday as a man who refused to be evacuated.


    A hillside erupts in flame as a wildfire burns in Placerita Canyon in Santa Clarita

    A woman living in the house Robert Bresnick, 67, was visiting left with firefighters but he went back inside. His body was found about 20 minutes later on Saturday in the car after flames tore through the neighbourhood, said Los Angeles County coroner's assistant Ed Winter. The Big Sur closures were put into place for parks that draw 7,500 visitors daily from around the world for their dramatic vistas of ocean and mountains. Campgrounds were closed because of the dangers smoke could pose to visitors but could reopen soon if the blaze is held back by firefighters, Mr Weber said. Jim Newby, a Phoenix-area tourist, drove along the Pacific Coast Highway with his family and was disappointed at the smoke. "We wanted to see more of the ocean," he said. "We didn't see a whole lot of it unfortunately, and it's a beautiful, beautiful stretch."

    The park shutdowns came as a fire that started on Friday just north of Big Sur grew on Tuesday to 30 square miles but was just 10% contained. Twenty homes have burned in the zone, residents of 300 more were ordered to evacuate and more than 2,000 firefighters were trying to douse the blaze. The Wyoming fire in a remote region burned nearly 11 square miles and forced the evacuations of 900 people but no homes had burned by Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. In neighbouring Bridger-Teton National Forest, a fire grew to 26 square miles and was partially contained. Two smaller fires were burning in the Bighorn National Forest. In Southern California, the fire in rugged wilderness between the northern edge of Los Angeles and the suburban city of Santa Clarita grew to 58 and a half square miles.

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    Deadly wildfires in California...

    Firefighters battle California wildfires, bulldozer operator dies
    Wed Jul 27, 2016 - Crews battling a deadly wildfire in rugged, drought-stricken terrain north of Los Angeles made steady progress in containing the blaze on Wednesday, after a bulldozer operator helping to fight a smaller wildfire in central California died overnight when his machine overturned.
    Some 3,000 firefighters battling the so-called Sand Fire in the Angeles National Forest extended containment lines around 40 percent of the 38,350-acre (15,520 hectare) blaze by Wednesday morning, according to fire information officer Sam Wu. Lower overnight temperatures aided their efforts, he said. The blaze has destroyed 18 homes as it tears through drought-stricken chaparral and brush, spewing out smoke that prompted the South Coast Air Quality Management District to warn residents in parts of Los Angeles County to avoid outdoor activities. About a dozen exotic animals displaced by the blaze were set to return to an animal sanctuary in the Los Angeles suburb of Sylmar on Wednesday, officials said.


    Inmate firefighters file off to construct a fire break while battling the Soberanes Fire in Carmel Highlands, California

    About 300 miles (480 km) to the north, a smaller blaze dubbed the Soberanes Fire continued to threaten some 2,000 properties after destroying 20 homes on Sunday in an area between Big Sur and the scenic coastal town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, officials said. Firefighters were informed about the death of the bulldozer operator, which occurred overnight, before they headed out early on Wednesday, said fire Captain Richard Cordova, a spokesman for the team handling the blaze. "It makes it real what this job is really about and how dangerous it is," Cordova said by phone. Officials said the bulldozer overturned and that the operator was a private contractor. A second bulldozer also overturned while battling the flames, but that operator was uninjured, officials said.


    Firefighters from Cal Fire's Fresno-Kings unit set backfire to stop the Soberanes Fire's spread along Palo Colorado Road near Big Sur, California

    The Soberanes Fire has scorched more than 23,500 acres (9,510 hectares) at the edge of the Los Padres National Forest since breaking out on Friday and some 3,080 firefighters had the blaze about 10 percent contained on Wednesday, officials said. In Los Angeles County, the lone fatality in the Sand Fire was identified as Robert Bresnick, 67, whose body was found Saturday inside a burned-out car in a driveway, county officials said. The man refused to leave the area until it was too late. Acting California Governor Tom Torlakson, filling in for Jerry Brown who is at the Democratic National Convention, declared on Tuesday a state of emergency for the counties where the fires are located. The causes of both fires were under investigation.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ca...-idUSKCN10614H

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    Clearly we need to stop building in natural wildfire zones, and let nature take it's course.

    I mean really....

    "Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."
    ----------

    Nattering naybob

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    Bring in the choppers...

    Deadly California wildfire expected to widen severely
    Sat Jul 30, 2016 - A deadly blaze near California's Big Sur coast could widen to more than five times its current size and has destroyed some 60 homes, threatened hundreds of others and spurred mass evacuations, authorities said on Saturday.
    The so-called Soberanes Fire, which started on July 22 and is burning just south of the oceanside town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, has roared through nearly 32,000 acres (13,000 hectares) of drought-parched chaparral, grass and timber in the Los Padres National Forest. The blaze is estimated to have a final size of 170,000 acres (265 square miles), according to California Interagency Incident Management Team 1, which is comprised of federal, state and local authorities. The cost of fighting the fire is now at about $6 million a day, it said on its Twitter feed. The estimated final size of the blaze is roughly equivalent to the size of Singapore.


    Fire crews watch as flames climb Williams Canyon during the Soberanes Fire near Carmel Valley, California

    More than 5,000 personnel were fighting the blaze that has so far destroyed 57 homes and 11 outbuildings, with at least five other structures damaged, officials said on Friday evening. Some 2,000 other structures were threatened, officials added. More than 500 fire trucks along with 14 helicopters and six air tankers have been deployed to fight the blaze. Containment stood at 15 percent on Friday, up from 10 percent in the previous few days. Mountainous terrain combined with extremely hot, dry weather has hampered efforts by firefighters to hack buffer lines through dense vegetation around the perimeter of the blaze, officials said.


    A Cal Fire helicopter flies over Williams Canyon during the Soberanes Fire near Carmel Valley, California

    The fire threat has prompted authorities to close a string of popular California campgrounds and recreation areas along the northern end of the Big Sur coastline, including Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and Point Lobos Natural Reserve. Highway 1, the scenic route that winds along seaside cliffs overlooking the Pacific, remained open, though motorists were advised to allow for traffic delays caused by firefighting equipment entering and exiting the roadway. The blaze took a deadly turn on Tuesday when a bulldozer operator hired by property owners to help battle the flames was killed as his tractor rolled over. It was the second California wildfire death in a week.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ca...-idUSKCN10816V

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    Angry

    Unattended campfire started Soberanes Fire near Big Sur park...

    California blaze near Big Sur traced to unattended campfire
    Tue Aug 2, 2016 - A blaze that has scorched some 43,000 acres (17,400 hectares) and destroyed dozens of homes near California's famed Big Sur coast was sparked by an illegal, unattended camp fire in a state park, authorities said on Tuesday.
    The so-called Soberanes Fire, which erupted on July 22, began as a small blaze, 2 feet (60 cm) in diameter, ignited by unknown individuals in a section of Garrapata State Park that was closed to camping and campfires, according to U.S. Forest Service spokesman Don Jaques. No arrests have been made, he added. The more than 5,450 fire personnel battling the blaze have been able to draw containment lines - a measure of how much of its perimeter has been cleared by fire crews of unburned vegetation - around only 18 percent of the wildfire so far.


    A firefighter stands on steep terrain while fire crews create fire breaks at Garrapata State Park during the Soberanes Fire north of Big Sur, California

    Steep, mountainous terrain as well as hot, dry conditions have hampered efforts to quell the fire tearing through drought-parched chaparral, grass and timber. One person, a bulldozer operator hired by property owners to help battle the flames, died last week when his vehicle rolled over. It was the second California wildfire-related death in a week. In addition, 57 homes and 11 other structures have been destroyed while some 2,000 remained under threat on Tuesday, fire officials said. About 350 residents have been ordered to evacuate the area, though some evacuation orders have since been lifted.

    The fire threat, coming in the middle of the region's summer travel season, has prompted the closure of several popular California campgrounds and recreation areas along the northern end of the Big Sur coastline, including Point Lobos State Natural Reserve and Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Another fire broke out on Saturday in grass and brush about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Fresno, in central California. It has since charred about 2,020 acres (817 hectares) and is threatening 400 structures, prompting evacuations in the area, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Five structures, including three homes, have been destroyed, fire officials said. On Tuesday morning, the so-called Goose Fire was listed as 30 percent contained.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ca...-idUSKCN10D2M6

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    Pilot Fire, east of L.A. grows half again...

    Out-of-control California wildfire grows, forces schools to close
    Tue Aug 9, 2016 - A wildfire burning out of control in mountains and foothills east of Los Angeles mushroomed more than 50 percent overnight, forcing authorities to order three school districts to cancel classes due to heavy smoke and dangerous conditions.
    More than 900 firefighters were battling the so-called Pilot Fire, which has charred some 7,500 acres of bone-dry tinder and brush in the San Bernardino Mountains since it broke out around noon on Sunday. "We feel it is in the best interest of safety that we keep our students and staff at home," the Silver Valley Unified School District, which oversees nine schools in Mojave Desert, said in a statement on its website. Also closing campuses on Tuesday were the Apple Valley and Hesperia school districts in those high desert communities some 90 miles east of Los Angeles.

    More than 5,000 homes were under evacuation orders from the Pilot Fire, a highway and several roads were closed and smoke advisories were issued for the Mojave Desert area, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). No homes had been destroyed but Cal Fire said the blaze was only 6 percent contained as of Tuesday morning. Some 400 miles to the north, the famed Highway 1 along the California coast was reopened to residents, one day after authorities were forced to close it in both directions due to the threat from the Soberanes Fire.

    [c enter]
    Firefighters prepare hose lines to attempt to hold a road during the Pilot Fire near Silverwood Lake in San Bernardino county near Hesperia, California[/center]

    That blaze, which erupted on July 22, has already blackened 67,000 acres in the Big Sur area, destroying 57 homes and 11 outbuildings. A bulldozer operator died on July 26 when his tractor rolled over as he helped property owners battle the flames, the sixth wildfire fatality in California this year. Authorities have traced origins of the blaze to an illegal campfire left unattended in a state park about a mile from Highway 1. No arrests have been made so far.

    As of Monday, more than 4,800 firefighters battling the flames had cut containment lines around 50 percent of its perimeter. Firefighters are making gradual progress against the blaze as wildfire season in the western United States reaches its traditional peak, intensified by prolonged drought and extreme summer heat across California. The conflagration is one of 35 major wildfires that have charred half a million acres in 12 states, mostly in the West, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ca...-idUSKCN10K1ZV

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    New wildfire spreads at staggering pace in California...

    Southern California fire burns at least a dozen buildings
    August 17, 2016 — A wildfire broke out Tuesday and spread at a staggering pace in every direction through drought-parched canyons east of Los Angeles, burning at least a dozen buildings — including some homes — and prompting evacuation orders for entire communities.
    The blaze that began as a small patch of flame next to Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass had scorched 15,000 acres of the San Bernardino Mountains. By nightfall, it had churned up and over ridges and was descending into the Mojave Desert. "The smoke is on the desert floor," said Eric Sherwin of the San Bernardino County Fire Department. Snaking walls of flame rising 50 to 100 feet high turned nearly two dozen square miles of chaparral to ashes, along with outbuildings and homes in the ranchlands 60 miles east of Los Angeles. "I can confirm that we've lost structures, both residential and commercial," Sherwin said at the scene of a hard-hit cluster of ranches. "I'm looking up here and I'm seeing buses, I'm seeing outbuildings, I'm seeing houses." At least a dozen buildings had burned, including the Summit Inn, an historic diner near Interstate 15, he said.

    Mandatory evacuation calls went out to 34,506 homes with more than 82,600 people, ranging for the ski resort of Wrightwood to the sprawling high desert town of Phelan, with more than 14,000 residents. "This fire is burning in significantly different terrains at multiple elevation levels," making it difficult to fight, Sherwin said. Hundreds of animals, including dogs and horses, also were evacuated. The flames were fueled by thick stands of drought-stricken brush in the canyons and grass at lower elevations. The flames burned faster in the grassy areas, making them less likely to burn homes but also making them more vulnerable to wind shifts, Sherwin said. The fire forced a shutdown of Interstate 15, leaving commuters stranded for hours.

    Blue Mountain Farms, a horse ranch in Phelan, was in the path of the fire — just as it was for another fire in the area a year ago. "Breathing smoke again, just like last year," Shannon Anderson, a partner in the ranch, said as she panted into the telephone. "It's raining ash." Ranch hands used hoses to wet down fences and anything else that could burn. Six firefighters were briefly trapped by flames at a home where the occupants had refused to leave, forcing the crew to protect the house, fire officials said. "We were fully engulfed in smoke," county firefighter Cody Anderson told KCBS-TV. "It was really hard just to see your hand in front of your face." "We just hunkered down and sat there and waited for the fire to blow over," he said. Anderson and another firefighter were treated for minor injuries.

    Gov. Jerry Brown quickly declared a state of emergency in the fire area, freeing up special resources and funds for the firefight and recovery. As that fire surged, a major blaze north of San Francisco was fading, and about 4,000 people in the town of Clearlake were allowed to return home. Their relief, however, was tempered with anger at a man who authorities believe set the blaze that wiped out several blocks of a small town over the weekend along with 16 smaller fires dating back to last summer.

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