Tag: fires

Replied to a tweet (Twitter)
I’m sure there was a similar peak in 2009 for the Station Fire. I remember seeing the pyrocumulus cloud in Glendale/Pasadena all the way down to San Diego.

It’s also the last time that Mt. Wilson was threatened, though tonight it’s from the East side of the mountain. I’m watching closely because I’m 8 miles from the Bobcat Fire to the East and we’re under an evacuation warning. Fortunately the live cam has some reasonably clear footage of the immediate danger as the observatory is 4 miles up the hill above us.

Night photo of flames burning near the Mt. Wilson Observatory.
Mount Wilson Observatory live cam facing east toward the Bobcat Fire at 12:40 AM PST
Read Monrovia, Duarte On Alert As Bobcat Fire Continues Its Rapid Growth (CBSLA / KCAL 9)
With powerful Santa Ana winds expected to create challenges for firefighters Tuesday, the Bobcat Fire burning in the Angeles National Forest north of Monrovia nearly doubled in size for the second straight day. The Bobcat Fire has burned 10,344 acres and still had zero containment as of 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The fire is churning through some vegetation and brush which has not burned in more 60 years. “The canyons that this fire has lined up with — Monrovia Canyon, Santa Anita Canyon, Little Santa Anita Canyon — those canyons have not burned since 1957 in the Monrovia Peak Fire,” Angeles National Forest Chief Robert Garcia said Monday.
Nothing really very new here.
Liked a tweet (Twitter)
This seems to be the first official resource with details about the evacuation warning. Sad that none of the local news, fire, or government sources on Twitter have got this sooner.

Event the local Altadena Sheriff’s station had little detail on a phone call. (I’m sure they got swamped.)

Read Bobcat Fire: Arcadia Warns Of Possible Evacuations As Blaze Surpasses 10,000 Acres (LAist)
The Bobcat fire ignited on Sunday and quickly grew to threaten Mount Wilson.
We’ve just gotten an evacuation warning, so I’m searching around a bit to find sources to back up the text that disappeared. So far there’s nothing in the media, and it may take a half an hour or more to find more details.  This is the only recent story online at the moment and there are a few spurious tweets that cover Altadena in the warning, but those are entirely unsourced.

Phone notifications that disappear too quickly in emergencies can be really bad UI.

Bobcat Fire update
I’m just South and slightly West of the Wilson Observatory which is at the top of the mountain just above our house. Fortunately we’re not in any of the preliminary evacuation zones which are all immediately South of the fire. We won’t really need to worry heavily unless it gets closer to the observatory.

View from the Mount Wilson Observatory East towards the burning flames of the Bobcat Fire
View from the Mount Wilson Observatory facing east toward the fire at 9:00 PM on September 7th.
Topological map of the Bobcat fire in the Angeles National Forest
The Bobcat fire coverage as of about 11:30 AM this morning. (Courtesy of the Angeles National Forest)
Read Tall Plume of Smoke Rises From Fire Near Azusa (NBC Los Angeles)
A tall plume of smoking is rising from a brush fire in the Azusa area during an afternoon of triple-digit heat across Southern California. The tower of smoke from Angeles National Forest can be seen from the San Gabriel Valley and beyond. Details about how the 1,800-acre fire started were not immediately available.  The fire was reported near 14300 West…
Report from 7:07 PM tonight. It’s starting to get dark out now, so I’m hoping the fire quells by itself overnight. I can definitely smell the smoke in the air.
Read Bobcat Fire: 1,800-acre blaze rapidly spreading in Angeles National Forest near Azusa; structures threatened by KTLA Digital Staff (KTLA)

A rapidly spreading fire in the Angeles National Forest near the Azusa area is threatening structures on Sunday, officials said.

The Bobcat Fire erupted around 12:20 p.m. and has scorched about 1,800 acres of heavy fuels, according to forest officials. Video from the scene shows smoke rising from the Azusa area.

“Firefighters are experiencing erratic fire behavior,” officials said.

The fast-moving fire had exploded to about 500 acres by 2:40 p.m., doubled in size in just two hours and then grew another 800 acres by 6 p.m. It was 0% contained.

I noticed that the late afternoon sun was coming in an odd orangish-yellow and presumed there was a fire somewhere. I didn’t know it was this close to the house though!

❤️ PFA809 tweet The fires in So. Cal are urban interface fires and have NOTHING to do with forest management.

Liked a tweet by Pasadena Fire Assn.Pasadena Fire Assn. (Twitter)