U.S. Forrest Service Update Station Fire
Firefight continues in upper Little Tujunga Canyon near the Dillon Divide area. Heavy duty helicopters, called HeliTankers, are actively making water drops in support of ground crews there.
Commanders in the air are evaluating the smoke conditions in the Chilao area to determine if fixed wing aircraft can be deployed to slow the fire between Santiago Canyon and Bare Mountain. More than 30 aircraft are assigned or available to fight the fire today so maintaining visibility minimums are crucial to flight safety.
Plans are also in action to continue water and retardant drops near Mount Wilson. Crews have done a tremendous amount of work prepping the mountain top against the fire.
Crews are also working on completing containment lines by cleaning and brushing off existing truck trails above Sierra Madre.
Incident Commanders are pleased that residents in the areas of Acton, La Crescenta and La Canada-Flintridge areas were able return to their homes. They are well aware of how difficult the disruption to daily life can be when a wildfire forces people to flee so the decision to call for evacuations is never taken lightly. They will continue to actively review the areas under closure and lift those orders as soon as it is safe to do so. Again, the fire dictates our firefighting strategy and tactics and it is prudent for people in these areas to have a plan in place should conditions warrant.
If your are not sure that the fire is at a safe distance away please err on the side of safety and go to your pre-designated safe place. Don't wait for an order to evacuate. Visit http://www.fire.lacounty.gov/ for a downloadable document called "Ready, Set, Go! Your Wildfire Action Plan." Operations reported significant progress on constructed fire line during the overnight period. Divisions M, on the north side of the fire and Divisions E through W on the south side of the fire, remain quiet and in the mop-up phase.
Fire crews are in mop up and patrol stages in the areas where evacuations have been lifted so please keep an eye out for their presence and give them room to work.
The fire burned actively into the Little Tujunga and Oak Springs area on the western side of the fire. Residents in these areas east and north of the 210 Freeway are urged to pay close attention to their fire information sources for potential evacuation orders. Several hundred firefighters are assigned to that area along with water and retardant dropping helicopters and air tankers. 670,000 gallons of water and retardent were dropped on the fire yesterday.
Yesterday crews made good progress constructing fire line along Santa Clara Ridge bordering Magic Mountain Wilderness however there is still a lot of work to be done closing off the advancing fire between the Magic Mountain Wilderness and Limerock Peak.
A dozer line is in place between Bootleggers Canyon and Aliso Canyon near Acton helping to ease fears on the northern part of the fire.
Yesterday the fire on the north east flank backed down the Little Rock drainage between the Desert Marksman Rifle Range and Bare Peak. In the Juniper Hills area a bull dozer fire line is now in place from just west of Indian Bill Canyon south to Forest Road 4N15 and down to Little Rock Creek. The fire moved to the lower Chilao Road and into Manzanita Camp Ground near Hwy 2 forcing commanders to consider pulling back from a helicopter landing spot.
Yesterday the fire continued to move west toward Mount Wilson. Currently there is a large contingent of fire engines, hand crews, and water tenders in place to protect and defend the valuable assets on top of the mountain. Aircraft were also called in to drop retardant on the west slope of Mt. Wilson to slow the fire's progress. Thanks to the hard work done over the past few days Mount Wilson's defensibility has been greatly improved.
The fire burned on the west side of the San Gabriel Wilderness and access is a problem. Contingency plans are being developed to stop the fire at Hwy 39 along the North Fork of the San Gabriel River.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger paid a visit to the Incident Command Post yesterday and spent some time meeting with the firefighters and personally expressing his thanks for their efforts. He later met with incident commanders for a briefing on the current situation.
Mandatory Evacuations:
Glendale: Dukmejian Wilderness Park
Angeles National Forest: entire eastern main body of the Angeles National Forest will be closed effective 12:00 p.m. 9/3/09 until full containment of the Station Fire.
Open to Residents Only:
City of Los Angeles: Riverwood, Sister Elsie Canyon, and Blanchard Canyon
Openings: All OTHER residential evacuations associated with the Station Fire have been lifted at this time.
Road Closures:
Angeles Crest Hwy between Big Pines Hwy and the Angeles National Forest Boundary in La Ca?ada Flintridge
Little Tujunga Rd between Placerita Canyon Rd and Osborne St
Big Tujunga Rd between Mt Gleason Ave and Angeles Forest Hwy
Angeles Forest Hwy between Aliso Canyon Rd and Angeles Crest Hwy
Chaney Tr at Angeles National Forest gate
Evacuation Shelters: Located at La Ca?ada High School, and Golden Valley High School, Recreation Building at Marie Kerr Park, Verdugo High School.
Animal Shelters: Located at Pasadena Humane Society, Baldwin Park Animal Shelter, LA County Agora Hills Animal Shelter. Antelope Valley Fairgrounds will accept all large animals. Pierce College can only accept horses, donkeys and mules. Lancaster Animal Shelter and Agoura Animal Shelter are both accepting small animals.
Address/Location
LASD - Norwalk Station, Los Angeles County Sheriff
12335 Civic Center Dr
Norwalk, CA 90650
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 562-863-8711