Search

A
A+
A++

Local News

Digg |

Facebook |

Stumble It! |

del.icio.us |

Fark
E-mail | Print

Jul 14, 2008 11:46 pm US/Pacific

Wildfire Season Now Worst In California History

Google Map Of Major California Fires

CBS 5 WeatherCenter: Fire Weather Conditions

Slideshow: Raging California Wildfires
Complete Wildfires Video Coverage

MOFFETT FIELD (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― California officials said that this year's wildfires have resulted in the most acreage ever burned in recorded state history. More than 1,700 wildfires have scorched the state this season, burning a total of 829,000 acres — or nearly 1,300 square miles — as of Monday.

The current complex of fires is "the largest single fire event in history for California," said Kelly Houston, spokesman for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

The previous record was set in the October 2003, when wildfires scorched more than 1,155 square miles, Houston said. State record-keeping on wildfires began in 1936.

Firefighting Drone Deployed

Also on Monday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, where he credited the use of NASA-developed technology for its contributions to firefighting efforts that saved lives last week.

An unmanned drone using infrared technology discovered a hot flare-up in a canyon near the town of Paradise, prompting fire officials to issue evacuation orders for 10,000 people. Thick smoke and heat had prevented other aircraft from patrolling the area.

"The NASA drone is really a spectacular development,'' said Schwarzenegger, who referred to the aircraft as the one of the "most exciting new weapons in our firefighting arsenal.''

"This unmanned plane is a true life-saver. But even though we get all this terrific help, California needs more resources, there's no two ways about it," Schwarzenegger explained, as he pushed an initiative to charge homeowners a fee to pay for emergency response equipment.

Monterey County

The massive Basin Complex wildfire in the Los Padres National Forest continued spreading north and east Monday, relieving the danger to the storied coastal town of Big Sur but forcing residents of another community to stay away from their homes for a third day.

Mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders, first issued Saturday, remained in place for more than 200 homes in the rural Cachagua community near the northern boundary of the forest.

This area included all of Tassajara Road as well as Cachagua Road from the intersection of Tassajara Road to Trampa Canyon Road.

In addition, a voluntary evacuation along Carmel Valley Road was upgraded Monday to a mandatory evacuation. The road was closed to all traffic except emergency vehicles between Martin Road and Piney Creek Road.

The blaze, which already had charred 187 square miles and destroyed 27 homes, was about 1 1/2 miles from the residential area, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Firefighters had a strong fire line there that they expected to hold, keeping the flames from reaching the more populated Carmel Valley, said Tacy Skinner, a Forest Service spokeswoman.

On the southwest border of the blaze, which was 61 percent contained, firefighters were in cleanup mode Monday.

The Pacific Coast Highway fully reopened ahead of schedule a day earlier, as crews now focused their efforts east of the highway, and residents and business owners were settling back in after three weeks of evacuations.

However, all state parks and many other roadways in the region remained closed as more than 2,000 fire personnel battled the blaze.

The raging fire, which began in late June after a lightning strike ignited brush in the area, has cost around $45 million to fight and is not expected to be contained until July 30.

Inyo County

A large cleanup effort was under way in the eastern Sierra Nevada town of Independence, where a weekend mudslide on fire-scarred land forced residents to evacuate their homes.

Crews were working Monday to clear mud and debris from state Highway 395, about 90 miles east of Fresno, said Carma Roper, spokeswoman for the Inyo County Sheriff's department.

The huge mudslide, caused by severe thunderstorms over an area ravaged by fire last year, was still blocking all but one lane of the road, and the California Highway Patrol was escorting vehicles through the blocked area, she said.

As the mud oozed across the highway, some of it came within a half mile of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which supplies much of Los Angeles' water.

The mud avalanche damaged about 55 homes, and about 25 of them are now uninhabitable because mud had swallowed the structures, Roper
said.

"There aren't really houses to go back to," she said. "It's not a liveable area."

Kern County

The rain also caused some problems for the area around the Piute Fire, which has charred the Sequoia National Forest for the past three weeks.

The moisture helped calm the flames, but contributed to flooding in Lake Isabella, located in a canyon in the southern Sierra Nevada.

While officials planned to lift the last of the fire evacuations related to that blaze, evacuation orders remained for 75 Lake Isabella homes threatened by flooding.

The Piute fire was 68 percent contained after burning 57 square miles.

Butte County

Cooler weather around the state allowed officials to lift evacuation orders in the fire-ravaged towns of Paradise and Concow.

The Bute Lightning Complex fires, which burned 83 square miles and destroyed 50 homes in Butte County, weren't threatening any homes Monday, officials said.

"Things still seem to be looking pretty good. They are still making progress on it, I haven't heard of any problems today," said Kevin Colburn, a state fire department spokesman in Butte.

He added that expected triple-digit temperatures never materialized Monday. Highs were in the mid-90s, helping the firefight.

At least one person was found dead after the blaze swept through Concow. Officials have not released the person's identity, and the cause of death had not been determined.

Mendocino County

Fires that have been burning in Mendocino County for the past three weeks have consumed 53,300 acres but were 85 percent contained Monday.

Cal Fire officials indicated that roughly 130 fires were started by lightning strikes on June 20-21 in the county.

The largest fire still burning was the 8,020-acre Red Mountain fire near Cummings, Leggett and Leggett Valley.

The Sugarloaf Fire in the Cold Springs area has consumed 6,105 acres, and the Hardy Creek Fire near Rockport has burned 5,581 acres. They both posed a moderate threat to residents but firefighters were nearing containment, Cal Fire said.

An evacuation warning was lifted Sunday for the community of Rockport. The cost of fighting the fires was now at $37.1 million.

The fires have resulted in 42 injuries and one death, an Anderson Valley Fire Department volunteer who suffered a heart attack. Two homes were destroyed and 30 are threatened, Cal Fire said.

Favorable weather conditions are expected over the next several days, and full containment should happen this week. Approximately 2,154 fire personnel were still fighting the blazes.

Santa Barbara County

In the southern extension of the Los Padres forest near Santa Barbara, another wildfire there also benefited from more favorable weather.

After charring more than 15 square miles, 55 homes still remained under an evacuation warning due to the Gap Fire.

Fire crews had contained 90 percent of the blaze and expected to complete the containment lines on Wednesday, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman David Daniels said.

"We're starting to get close," he proclaimed.

Other Fires

A pair of blazes burning in the foothills west of Lake Tahoe were sending plumes of smoke toward the alpine resort area. The soot was sporadic, but air quality was so bad it prompted the cancellation of the annual Donner Lake Triathlon.

And another blaze in the Sequoia National Forest east of Bakersfield was 68 percent contained after burning more than 58 square miles, said Forest Service spokeswoman Laurie Rotbart.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said 288 blazes were still burning around the state, most of them in the mountains ringing the northern edge of the Central Valley.

So far this fire season, flames have destroyed about 100 homes across California. Most of the blazes were sparked by a June 21 lightning storm across the northern part of the state.

Cal Fire updates on all the major blazes burning throughout the state are available online at: http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_current.

From Our Partners

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.