Sheep Fire and Silence of the Lamb

Fire Chases 4,000 From Their Homes

Sheep fire forced thousands of residents to evacuate the mountaintop town of Wrightwood about 130km (80 miles) east of Los Angeles, according to state officials.

Having blackened 7,500 acres since Saturday, the blaze reached the outskirts of Wrightwood, a scenic resort town of 4,000 in the San Gabriel Mountains.

The blazed has destroyed at least 5 structures, but officials said they they could most probably save the town. The cause of the fire is still unknown/ undisclosed.

The fire containment, as of posting, was 20%.

Photo: Smoke rises Saturday evening over the San Bernardino Mountains. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times. Image may be subject to copyright.

Details of Sheep Fire:

• Incident Type:  Wildfire
• Cause: Under Investigation
• Date of Origin:  Saturday October 3, 2009 02:11 PM PCT
• Location:  Between Lytle Creek & Lone Pine Canyons

Current Situation:

• Total Personnel: 936
• Size: 7,500 acres
• Percent Contained: 20%
• Fuels Involved: Chaparral and timber
• Fire Behavior: Extreme fire behavior with rapid rates of spread, fire is fuel, topography, and wind driven
• Significant Events:  Numerous helitankers and fixed wing air tankers dropped water and retardant on the fire yesterday and back fires were set to protect homes at the eastern edge of Wrightwood. The fire has not crossed Hwy 138 or Hwy 2 at this time.

Outlook:

• Planned Actions: Crews are constructing direct fireline and numerous engine strike teams are in place for structure protection for the eastern portions of Wrightwood.

• Growth Potential:  Extreme

• Terrain Difficulty: Extreme

Remarks:

• The Forest Service is in unified command with San Bernardino County Fire and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Resources assigned to the fire are:
  • 24 handcrews,
  • 80 engines,
  • 4 dozers,
  • 7 water tenders,
  • 6 helicopters and
  • 9 airtankers (including the DC-10 and the Martin Mars).

Evacuations:

• All residents of Wrightwood are under a mandatory evacuation. Mandatory evacuations remain for residents in Swarthout and Lone Pine Canyons, Hwy 138 between I-15 and Hess Road, and residents on the east side of Lytle Creek Road including Applewhite Campground and Mountain Lakes Resort. Road Closures: Hwy 2, Hwy 138 between I-15 and Hwy 2, Lone Pine Canyon Road, Lytle Creek Road. Lytle Creek road is open to residents only.

Current Weather

• Wind Conditions: 19 mph SW
• Temperature:  45 degrees F
• Humidity: 45%
• Source:  InciWeb

Incident Overview [from InciWeb]

The Sheep Fire started near Sheep 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. Numerous helitankers and fixed wing air tankers dropped water and retardant on the fire yesterday and back fires were set to protect homes at the eastern edge of Wrightwood. Engines are also continuing to do structure protection and hand crews are constructing fire line.

Mandatory evacuations are still in place for all Wrightwood, Swarthout Canyon, Lone Pine Canyon, and areas along Hwy 138 between I-15 and Hess Road. Mandatory evacuations also 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. 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.

Related Links:

• Calif Fire Looks Like Volcanic Eruption
• SoCal End-to-End Corporate Arsons Blaze On!
• Calif Fires 2009 – Part 2 ‘We’re Watching You!’ [includes entries up to September 22, 2009]
• California Fires 09 – Part 3 ‘Pile on the Manure, Sheriff!’  [for entries dated after September 22, 2009]

• Hazard Mapping System Fire and Smoke Product [Links to Satellite Images]
• Our Forecast for 2009 California Fires
  
• Thought for the Day: The Car Salesman & SoCal Fires
• Tell Schwarzenegger Damage from Fires Is Preventable!
• Shock and Awe Southland Fires Take No Prisoners
• California Fires: Not Hard to Understand!
• The War on Wildfire
• Links to FEWW SoCal Fires Entries

Thought for the Day: The Car Salesman & SoCal Fires

Don’t Buy the Official Story!

You are being shafted by the fire industry!

A distraught Joan Kezios, 78, waits to hear about the fate of her home at Sylmar’s Oakridge Mobile Home Park. (Photo: Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times). Image may be subject to copyright.

Because cars are made that way!

Imagine being told by a car salesman that the car he wants you to buy is a fine car, but you mustn’t drive it faster than 20 mph because its breaks would fail. AND it’s also liable to roll over if driven without a passenger in the front seat. Why? Because the manufacturers design their cars that way!

Would you seriously consider buying the car? Moreover, would you buy the salesman’s story about the car manufacturers designing their cars that way?

IF you don’t buy the salesman’s story about the ‘freaky’ cars and their crazy manufacturers, how could you buy the official story that the massive damage caused by SoCal fires every year is inevitable?

It’s time SoCal residents held state officials responsible for the pain and damage caused by the fires!

Related Links:

• Tell Schwarzenegger Damage from Fires Is Preventable!
• Shock and Awe Southland Fires Take No Prisoners

• Santa Barbara Fires Update
• Santa Barbara Tea Fire Targets Luxury Homes
• SoCal’s Godfather Brush Fire!

• Our Forecast for 2009 California Fires
• Marek and Sesnon Fire Update
• The “F” word is back in SoCal

• Right on Track for 2009 Cost of Calif Fires Forecast
• California Wildfire Scam Continues
• California Fires: Not Hard to Understand!

• The War on Wildfire

SoCal’s Godfather Brush Fire!

submitted by a reader

Sepulveda Pass brush fire closed 405 Freeway for several hours

400 firefighters and nine water-dropping helicopters took 8 hrs to extinguish 100-acre Sepulveda Pass brush fire

Sepulveda Pass brush fire was the mother of all brush fires of late. It  must have been. It took 32 firefighter-hours to extinguish each acre [one acre is about 4,047 m².] In other words, it took each firefighter an average of one hour to extinguish an area measuring about 11.25 x 11.25 meters (12.3 x 12.3 yards, or 1,361 ft²), about 7.7 full-size car spaces (20′ x 8′ parallel parking, one-way aisle – Off-Street Parking Design Standards, San Jose, California).

And of course nine water-dropping helicopters from the city and Los Angeles County helped douse the flames with their massive loads.

How long will a tumbleweed take to burn out?

A helicopter drops water as drivers make their way over the Sepulveda Pass on the 405 Freeway. An early-morning brush fire temporarily closed the interstate. Photo: Gus Ruelas/Associated Press. Image may be subject to copyright. See Fair Use Notice.

Sepulveda Pass brush fire was also a very intelligent fire! It started at about 12.50 am trying to catch the  brave firefighters off guard. The fire started west of Interstate 405 in Los Angeles and crept toward the Getty Museum, a college, a cultural center as well as some of the most expensive homes in SoCal.

This was a fire to capture the attention of the well-heeled, grabbing their private parts so that their hearts and minds would follow, softening the attitude of anyone [without a wild imagination ] who might have doubted the seriousness and prevalence of California fires. This was a fire with a message for the wealthy elite [who didn’t strike it rich through the fire industry] and lawmakers alike: No amount of money, not even a zillion dollars, is too much to pay to fight the flames.

Can you imagine, god forbid, the Getty Museum going up in smoke because there wasn’t enough money to fight the flames?

Call it Sepulveda Pass brush fire, if you must, but this brush fire was no ordinary fire. It had blood from the severed head of Khartoum splashed all over it!

An excerpt from Brush Fire Burns 100 Acres near The Getty Center

Date: Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 12:51 AM,

• 69 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters,
• 7 LAFD Rescue Ambulances,
• 1 Heavy Rescue, 4 Arson Units,
• 3 Rehab Units,
• 8 Helicopters,
• 7 EMS Battalion Captains,
• 16 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams,
• 2 Division Chief Officer Command Teams,
• LAFD Dozers, [unspecified numbers]
• Water Tenders, [unspecified numbers]
• Mobile Command Post,
• 2 CERT Team Coordinators,

and companies from

• Los Angeles County,
• Orange County and
• State Office of Emergency Services Fire Departments

all under the direction of Assistant Chief Craig Fry responded to a Major Emergency Brush Fire at the South Bound 405 Freeway near Getty Center Dr. in Bel Air.

Related Links:

• Our Forecast for 2009 California Fires
• Marek and Sesnon Fire Update
• The “F” word is back in SoCal

• Right on Track for 2009 Cost of Calif Fires Forecast
• California Wildfire Scam Continues
• California Fires: Not Hard to Understand!

• The War on Wildfire