Eaton Fire in Pasadena, California
Eaton Fire
IC is in Farnsworth Park -- Staging engines and strike teams in my former home.
This is the view from Mt. Disappointment -- Eaton Fire
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...anyon_1920.jpg
7:20 pm
This is from the Burbank (Verdugo area) looking towards east Pasadena
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...nyon_19250.jpg
7:51 pm
This is from Mt. Lee in Los Angeles looking at Pasadena
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...anyon.2000.jpg
This is the view from the Mt. Wilson Web camera at 5:15 am this morning.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog..._0108_0514.jpg
This is from the Verdugo Fire (Burbank) looking at the Eaton Canyon area
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog..._0108_0522.jpg
05:23 am
Winds drastically reduced
Repeater station along Chantry Road in Arcadia at 8 am:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog..._0108_0801.jpg
Winds drastically reduced
Ops reports fire on both sides of Chantry Road all the way to Chantry Flats.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...24_Chantry.jpg
8:25 am
Active fire burning east from the Chantry Road
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...31_Chantry.jpg
08:32 am
This is over at Mt. Harvard Web cam looking to the east.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...Mt.Harvard.jpg
10:00 am
So, this is from the Mt. Harvard Cam.
The burned canyon is the upper Eaton Canyon -- Mt. Wilson is just out of view to the right (east) of this photo.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...Mt.Harvard.jpg
10:15 am
This is the Chantry Flats drainage looking west towards Sierra Madre
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...06_Chantry.jpg
11: 00 am
This is the camera on Mt. Wilson looking west -- I think that is the Red Box Road and parking lot at Mt. Wilson on the right.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...Mt.Harvard.jpg
1:00 pm
And this is from Mt. Wilson looking east towards Altadena.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...WilsonEast.jpg
1:08 pm
This from the Verdugo Tower -- you can see the spot fire in Millard Canyon and the smoke has lifted some.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...12_Verdugo.jpg
Mt Wilson looking South -- Fire has slopped over the ridge
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...WilsonEast.jpg
7:00 pm
Nearly all of the fire cams that I have been using for this fire went offline last night -- I believe the fire has cut off power to their locations or burned the repeaters.
Radio Traffic suggests that fire will impact the Mt Wilson Observatory in less than 30 minutes.
Here is a view from Pine Mountain looking NW towards Mt. Wilson.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...Mt.Harvard.jpg
January 9th 9:15 am
This was Mt. Howard around 5 pm on the 8th active fire below the repeater -- cam out of business seven minutes later.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...Mt.Harvard.jpg
Heavy push to Mt. Wilson (seen from the Pine Mountain tower)
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...neMountain.jpg
10:15 am
Slurry Drop on Mt Wilson
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...neMountain.jpg
10:43 am
Mt. Wilson Zoomed in
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...neMountain.jpg
11:11 am
Diligence is still called for
It's not out yet!
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog..._0119_1102.jpg
This is at Mt. Wilson looking east, there is some smoke below in the canyon, most of the active fire line would be the right of this image, but there are no cameras facing that. (Actually, there are some, but they are offline right now.)
I have been monitoring fire channels for the last couple of hours. There is active fire along the NW section of the fire line. Not a lot of smoke -- but still a source of concern.
AA (Air Attack) has been flying over the fire for two hours. And a helitanker (it is a Sikorsky S-64F) is now actively dumping water on some of the hot spots near Mt. Lowe and Mt. Wilson.
There is a predicted wind event tomorrow that could bring sustained winds at 20-30 mph and gusts to 60 mph to the fire area. So, no one has relaxed much.
Despite the good relations and press briefings, I have found no evidence that FEMA has done anything to help local residents yet. Pretty much the same experience I had when our home burned in a wildfire in 1993. I suppose that FEMA funds are in use to pay for fire departments and the National Guard, but at the homeowner level -- very poor support.
And while none of our family lost homes -- there were still several encounters with would-be looters. One weird thing about such fire events, is that otherwise reasonably conscientious people look at burned-out neighborhoods as a "free zone" where everything is like a giant scavenger hunt. At our fire in 1993, tourists showed up with metal detectors and shopping bags looking for artifacts. And it happened a few times on this fire at houses that family and friends were guarding.
Mark
a gorgeous day in Los Angeles.
This is the view of a gorgeous day in Los Angeles. Taken from Mt. Lee looking to the NE. Those tall buildings are downtown Glendale, California.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...e_Glendale.jpg
January 21st at 11:36 am.
No fires visible.
San Gabriel Mountains in the back of the frame.
Mark
a perfect attack on a growing fire.
Yes, it was a perfect attack on a growing fire.
Air Tankers dropped retardant all day long, building a “catcher’s mitt” along a prominent ridge, creating a miles-long line. Crews followed up along with dozers, punched in line, and burned off roads to cut the fire off.
One of the properties threatened was a "Honor Camp" -- which is a lower-threat prison and the fire crews burned around the facility and "pushed" the fire past the property.
There was 100-acre spot fire yesterday morning that put up some smoke but five large air tankers dropped on it plus heavy helicopter work and it was basically done.
There were four more fires that kept crews and aircraft zipping back and forth across LA -- but none caused any significant damage.
Mark
Sometimes, houses were saved because...
Actually, what burns in a wildfire is much more about luck than anything. When I left my yard in 1993 during the Altadena Fire, the roof on the house across the street was on fire --with ten-foot flames shooting out under the tile -- 95% of the house didn't burn -- while every other house on the street--including mine--was burned to the ground.
At my sister's house, houses on all sides of her house were destroyed -- her house has some heat damage -- but it survived.
Sometimes, houses were saved because of goal-line stands by fire fighters and/or residents, but fire is much more fickle than you might think.
Mark
Secondary Effects Starting for Palisades
There has just been an evacuation warning issued for the area around the Palisades fire. Rain is turning the burned out forest land to mud and holds the potential for major landslides.
AZBuck
Mudflows in Eaton Canyon area too
And a similar story in the Altadena area.
The other side of the storms are the mudflows in the fire areas. Look at this video from the outflow side of the Sierra Madre Dam in southern California!
When you look at the link above, set the playback at 12 hours -- in the lower right. Most of the night, it is just rain, but it gets light at about 5:30 am and it is just water streaming, but by about 11:30 am, the water turns to a muddy water flow.
Bummer, the camera lost power at 1:54 PM.
Mark
Still Digging and removing Dirt
Work continues as the rain has gone for a couple of days.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...raMadreDam.jpg
March 8th at 2:25 pm PST
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Men-at-work continues
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...raMadreDam.jpg
March 10h at 8:40 am PDT
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Maybe this is the new level for the time being?
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...raMadreDam.jpg
March 10th at 3:54 pm PDT
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They moved the camera over a tad so can see more of the dam.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...raMadreDam.jpg
March 11th at 9:53 am PDT
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Opening the channels so water--and less mud--- is able to flow by
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...raMadreDam.jpg
March 13th at 10 am PDT
Still Digging and removing Dirt
A whole lot of activity today at the Sierra Made Dam:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...raMadreDam.jpg
March 20th at 1:10 pm PDT
Men and their trucks continue to have fun
And the loading begins again today!
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...raMadreDam.jpg
March 24th at 9:13 am PDT
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This is the most trucks I've seen on this project at once!
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...raMadreDam.jpg
March 24th at 10:30 am PDT
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And work continues at the Bailey Canyon Debris Basin as well.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...ailey_1118.jpg
March 24th at 11:18 am PDT
Two Moments in time from Bravo Base
Two vastly different views: Both from LAC FD Helio Base in the Santa Monica mountains:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...ACFD_helio.jpg
January 7th during the Palisades Fire
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog..._2025_0325.jpg
March 25th -- A beautiful spring day with views of snow-capped mountains to the east.
Still Digging and removing Dirt
Work continues at the Bailey Canyon Debris Basin
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...ailey_0836.jpg
March 27th at 8:30 am
From the Heltiack repeater station
And the hills are greening up a bit.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog..._0327_0842.jpg
Santa Anita Canyon, March 27th at 8:30 am
And deeper and deeper they go
The surface of the dirt is now down about 20 feet from where they started digging.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog..._0411_1206.jpg
April 11th at 12:00 pm
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Lots activity today and you can see the level dropping
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog..._0416_0942.jpg
April 16th at 9:42 am PDT
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And the amount of dirt removed, thus far, from Bailey Canyon is impressive.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...946_Bailey.jpg
April 16th at 09:46 am PDT
