El Prieto at risk!/Station Fire (merged threads)

Looks like the southeast end of the fire near Cogswell dam is subsiding. The northeast end near Twin Peaks still looks strong.

I read today that this fire has consumed 1/4 of the Angeles National Forest!!

 

No confirmation that I am aware of but I think it is a foregone conclusion. I hope I am proven wrong.

 

El Prieto Burned

I took a recon into the lower Arroyo last week. I did not go up the road below the USFS residence to El Prieto but continued up the Arroyo. First sign of fire was just after the USFS residence. Got a little worse (but spotty as I headed up). Only went to first stream crossing. Fire hit the water in a few places. Many spots where hillside to my right East was burned. That, along with reports that Millard is charred above the campground makes me suspect El Prieto is burned. I may be wrong and hope I am. Here are some photos of my recon:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=121706&id=538416086&l=05d8d1daf1

 

Unreal photos. So sad to hear about Vetter Mountain Lookout. I had a friend out from England this spring who wanted to ride Strawberry Peak, but I did not have the skill level for that ride so suggested Vetter Mountain as an alternative. I had never been but I got 2 friends together and my wife all decided to try it. Sadly my wife did not get to it, but the rest of us did and had a great time talking with the couple staffing it that day.

So far it has been one of the hightlights of my mountain biking experiance.:-({|=

 

I am reasonably sure that a lot of El P was probably torched.

 

My fav place in the Gabs, sucks

Is that Brown?

 

Yes. Thats the fireroad up to the saddle

 

Is anything open to ride inthe Gabes?

 

Yeah, you can ride the Gabes but the trail names have been changed:
Brown Mtn-Grey Mtn
El Prieto-El Fuego
Gabrielino-Charcoalino
Chilao-Inferno
etc...

 

funny but not, all at the same time.

 

All roads are closed,Hwy2,Chantry,Hwy39. Even if we wanted to ride,we couldnt get there. Channel 5 says its 58% contained and moving the command post from Hansen dam to Irwindale to be closer to the East flank which still isnt contained.

 

GeoMac map shows latest burning on north side of ACH/ 2 between 3 Points and Cloudburst summit (heading down towards the desert) and ALL of Mt. Waterman, including the NE side which contains our beloved trail. Eastern edge of the fire at or near Kratka Ridge.

Map shows no fire in southern San Gab wilderness....(i.e. Cogswell, W Fork River and points north

EDIT- -latest ANF Twitter says "Crews focusing today on area above Chantry Flats, towards Cogswell Res.", so must be hot spots or more still on soutern edge...

UPDATE- from Mt Wilson Blog-- backfire postponded until Tuesday? Below:

It appears to be a perfect day for the back fire operation, although we haven't heard anything official about that yet. The plan as I understand it is to complete the laying of about 20,000 feet of fire hose along the break they cut from the mountain out along Newcomb's Ridge to continue outward along the dozeer break. It will take about 1840 gallons just to charge the hose line. They will either use water from our large tank or bring in "pumpkins" and supply them by water tenders coming up the mountain. They will then light the back fire either with Hot Shots on the ground using drip torches, phospherus grenades and other hand lighting devices. The fuel for the drip torches is a 3 to 1 ratio of diesel fuel to unleaded gasoline. Alternately, they will fly in a helicopter with a torch on a long sling that dispenses a napalm-like material. Either way, the fire will be lit methodically and will burn for days before the area is an effective, completed controlled burn and declared "black."
Operations such as this require a lot of logistics to occur in proper sequence as well as favorable winds and relative humidity, so there is always a chance the back fire may not be lit today

 

Southern California -- this just in

Station fire 56% contained; another firefighter injured [Updated]

September 7, 2009 | 10:50 am
Containment of the 13-day-old Station fire burning in Angeles National Forest reached 56% this morning as thousands of firefighters worked to encircle the historic blaze as it continued to crawl eastward through steep canyons.[Updated at 11:57 a.m.: Controlled burns later today in the mountains north of Monrovia and Arcadia could send up towering plumes of smoke and residents should not be alarmed, officials said. When and if the backfires will be conducted depends on wind and weather conditions, said Nathan Judy, a U.S. Forest Service public information officer.
The intentional fires would help protect the Mt. Wilson Observatory and a series of critical communications towers, as well as several campgrounds in the Cogswell Dam area, Judy said.
Meanwhile, on the eastern flank of the fire, one of the most active stretches has been near the Mt. Waterman ski area. Hand crews were working today cut protective fire breaks. “We’re not out of the woods just yet,” Judy said. “The weather could change and we could be running again.” ]
The Station fire, which officials say was caused by arson, has destroyed 78 homes. The estimate of acreage consumed remained at 157,220 acres this morning, the largest forest fire on record in Los Angeles County. The fire was 51% contained Sunday.
Crews are working sporadic hot spots above Little Tujunga near the western flank of the fire.
But for the most part the charred horn of the fire area stretching from La Cañada Flintridge around the San Gabriel Mountains to the Littlerock area in the high desert was under control. “The whole western portion of the fire is looking real good,” U.S. Forest Service information officer Nathan Judy told The Times this morning.
Along the still-uncontrolled eastern edge of the fire, commanders planned to set backfires about a mile east of Mt. Wilson and cut new fire lines to make a stand in the next few days above the Duarte area.
“We’re hoping to hold it within the wilderness area, which isn’t a whole lot more, mileage-wise,” Judy said.
A firefighter who fell while cutting fire breaks overnight had to be airlifted out of the mountains. The extent of the firefighter's injuries wasn't immediately available.
“Our crews working that wilderness area are in real steep, rugged terrain,” Judy said. "One misstep and you're going down the hillside.”
Two firefighters have been killed and authorities are treating the probe into the fire's origins as a homicide investigation. Ten firefighters have been injured.

 

i had a update from work

30 of my co workers are helping to assit in this fire and the azusa and morris fires
im a little too new to assit
its not just fireman but
they are the ones right up to it
the magna tude of all all the people that help with these are so amazing
i wish people would stop lighting them on fire
its stupid thats why they make fire pits or old washing mashing fire pits :-k death penalty for arsons theres no more trees in the hills when i was 15 there were more trees

 

latest...

"DC-10 being deployed to support FF's near Sulfur Spgs and Squaw Canyon"

this likely north of the PCT that goes from 3 Points to Sulfur Srping CG

 

Arsonist Raymond Lee Oyler was handed down the death penalty for starting the Esperanza fire in October 2006. The fire overran a fire engine, and five firefighters were killed. Since two firefighters were killed during the Station Fire, a similar scenario might play out if the arsonist is caught.

I've been checking the Mt. Wilson Towercam incessantly, and it's good to see the fire getting weaker.

This can't end soon enough!

 

From Observatory website... photos from Angeles Crest yesterday...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46447149@N00/sets/72157619849016667/

 

This has got be the longest thread in str history or possibly the internet, this fire if not stopped may go all the way to devore.

 

What a drag for the whole community. How do your favorite trails look?

Hopefully the devastation won't cause everyone to lose interest in mountain biking. Sometime (after July 2010) I will lead a trip for my LA friends to BC: Silver Star, Whistler, Vancouver Island...

Hang in there!

Anne

 

Got these photos of Brown Mountain and El Prieto from a friend. Not sure who took them but he has access to the closed forest.

Note: Removed photos that could link the photos to the photographer.

















More incredible photos from a Forest Service person from the front lines. 209 photos in all. Sorry I can't figure out how to link to the photos due to a strange photo sharing site.
http://tjvrieling.zenfolio.com/p434357744/h3f9db186#h2450a823