Fire burning in Angeles Forest above Azusa

He219 · Post by **He219** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:23 pm

Fire burning in Angeles Forest above Azusa
Pasadena Star-News - ‎8 minutes ago‎

Posted: 08/25/2009 04:57:29 PM PDT

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST - A large fire is burning in the Angeles National Forest north of Azusa.

The fire is on both sides of Highway 39 and firefighters with the Angeles National Fire Service are combating it, Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman Fred Stowers said.

Between 25 and 50 acres have burned so far near Morris Dam.

County fire also has helicopters, ground crews and engines assisting, Stowers said. The fire, which started around 4:30 p.m., appears to be moving north, Stowers said.

Highway 39 is closed in both directions.

The cause is under investigation.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:48 pm

Not cool, not at all. Towercam is looking right at it:

http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~obs/towercam.htm

Huh...what a coincidence that a fire was started right as a few days of hot dry weather sets in.

I realize it's almost impossible to prevent arson. But the ones they catch should be drawn and quartered, publicly.

lilbitmo · Post by **lilbitmo** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:56 pm

cougarmagic wrote:Not cool, not at all. Towercam is looking right at it:

http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~obs/towercam.htm

Huh...what a coincidence that a fire was started right as a few days of hot dry weather sets in.

I realize it's almost impossible to prevent arson. But the ones they catch should be drawn and quartered, publicly.

And the meat should be hung next to one of your camera's so we can get more shots of the "cougars"

Now that would be "Just" punishment

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:13 pm

lilbitmo wrote:
cougarmagic wrote:Not cool, not at all. Towercam is looking right at it:

http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~obs/towercam.htm

Huh...what a coincidence that a fire was started right as a few days of hot dry weather sets in.

I realize it's almost impossible to prevent arson. But the ones they catch should be drawn and quartered, publicly.
And the meat should be hung next to one of your camera's so we can get more shots of the "cougars" Now that would be "Just" punishment

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:53 pm

Very impressive header above my house in Glendora...

Keep us posted, Fred!

Post by **HikeUp** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:31 pm

http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1852/

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:59 pm

Thanks for the updates!! I love our fire crews. Simply amazing.

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:54 pm

Adios amigos is what I say...good luck fighting this bad boy. Once it gets to Pine Mtn all bets are off!

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:26 pm

AW wrote:Adios amigos is what I say...good luck fighting this bad boy. Once it gets to Pine Mtn all bets are off!

Didn't some of this area burn in the Roberts Fire about 8-10 years ago and then again in the Curve Fire in 2002???

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:58 pm

The wind has shifted almost 180°. It is very smoky in Glendora.

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 5:05 am

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 5:10 am

DamOTclese wrote:I'm not sure when the Red Box Canyon area and West of Morris might have burned last.

9/8/1957

I check again but that appears to be the most recent date

Matt

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:08 am

mattmaxon wrote:
DamOTclese wrote:I'm not sure when the Red Box Canyon area and West of Morris might have burned last.
9/8/1957

I check again but that appears to be the most recent date

Matt

Sorry try 8/24/1996 Reservoir fire 1,465 Ac, very similar to this fire

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:23 am

DamOTclese wrote:The smoke in Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas on the ground almost looks like fog.

I guess the training for Badwater to Whitney is out for today

Ug!

You getting any ash?

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:30 am

The ashfall isn't too bad considering the poor visibility.

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:51 am

http://inciweb.org/incident/1852/

outwhere · Post by **outwhere** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:11 am

Outta curiosity - and ignorance - but why do they say the fire is only 10% contained at this point [9am Wednesday] - to the average Joe like myself, it looks much more in control than that [going by tv/mt wilson cam sightings]...

What am I not taking into account?

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:20 am

outwhere wrote:Outta curiosity - and ignorance - but why do they say the fire is only 10% contained at this point [9am Wednesday] - to the average Joe like myself, it looks much more in control than that [going by tv/mt wilson cam sightings]...

What am I not taking into account?

Those containment figures are a line on the ground around the fire

You see those handcrews and firefighting bulldozers must cut a line down to mineral soil around the perimeter of the fire to consider it 100% contained.

Contained does not mean extinguished

These things can smolder for months until a good rain finally extinguishes it completely.

It's kinda a meaningless figure to me...

outwhere · Post by **outwhere** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:30 am

Excellent info, Thanks for that MattMaxon!

calicokid · Post by **calicokid** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:05 am

The smoke is thick and choking us in Monrovia this morning. The ash is not bad but the air is nasty. Hope for some breeze to move the smoke out of the valley. However, wind could be bad for fire fighters.

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:25 am

Didn't really notice it on the way in the AM at 5:30 but there is lots-O-Smoke here in "Beautiful downtown Burbank" uck!

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:10 pm

This view shows the perimeter of the 8/24/1996 fire and the MODIS detections overlaid on GE with USGS 24K topo

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:47 pm

outwhere wrote:Outta curiosity - and ignorance - but why do they say the fire is only 10% contained at this point [9am Wednesday] - to the average Joe like myself, it looks much more in control than that [going by tv/mt wilson cam sightings]...

What am I not taking into account?

This fire is basically zero percent controlled. It hasnt gone past the old firebreak to the west but thats because its not burning in that direction. If it wants to it will. The deal is if this makes it up Pine Mtn(via Browns Gluch) then my bet will be it jumps Redbox-Rincon. Then it burns along the west fork area uncontrolled. It could easily nab the San Gabriel wilderness......also will likely come back across to the Front Range-Monrovia?Its way too early, with that horrible forecast predicted for winds and heat.

Right now, of course our thoughts are with the firefighters. I cant even imagine how hot or dangerous it is next to that fire...jeez...those flames look like they reach hundreds of feet...I do not envy their task one bit and I hope they prove me wrong...but yeah, if someone is a homeowner west of this fire they should be on nervous.

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 3:10 pm

Nice LA Times photo

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:50 pm

~3:00 pm the fire roared up the western side of Glendora Peak (Garcia Canyon area?) and crept down the eastern side. Air support helped tamp it down before it headed down into Little Dalton Canyon. The front of the fire is burning into the Curve Fire area of seven years ago.

Would not want to see this thing go back into the Crystal Lake area.... Is it a possibility?

I think AW made an excellent point regarding the westward advancement of the Morris Fire. When was the last time the north slope of Wilson burned? There is a lot of important old growth stands there...

hikehigh · Post by **hikehigh** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:28 am

makes a good sunrise:

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:32 am

DamOTclese wrote: So now resources have to be diverted to go hoof it in and collect them.

Why?

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:16 am

DamOTclese wrote: The Nanny State saving us from ourselves.

So, then, isn't trying to put out forest fires a Nanny State activity? Let 'em burn, right?

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:11 am

I was a busy bee

I downloaded and georegistered the perimeter map on the inciweb page, traced the perimeter and uploaded it here, you can download and play to your hearts content

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=332165

Alternately this image shows it quite well

Post by **Taco** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 2:01 pm

Cool map, Matt.