Wildland Fire Danger Report
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furluvcats
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Looks like we're about done with this one....
Fire battle turns corner
TOLL: The two largest blazes have charred more than 25,000 acres and destroyed 16 homes.
08:35 AM PDT on Thursday, May 6, 2004
By RICHARD K. DE ATLEY / The Press-Enterprise
Lower temperatures, higher humidity and quick work by firefighters and water-dropping helicopters combined Wednesday to tame wildfires in western Riverside County - but fickle winds kept firefighters and residents watchful.
Related
Fire battle turns corner
People often provide the spark
Federal help expected to ease firefighting cost
New fires beat policy reforms
The two largest fires - the Eagle blaze east of Temecula and the Cerrito Fire near Corona, consumed more than 25,000 acres and destroyed 16 homes, including the nine cabins of the Dorland Mountain Art Colony near Temecula.
Temperatures on Wednesday were 86 in Corona and 89 in Temecula, compared with 94 and 92, respectively, Tuesday.
David Bauman / The Press-Enterprise
A CDF helecopter drops water near hand crews as they dig a fire break to protect homes from the Cerrito Fire in the Good Hope area west of Perris.
The Cerrito Fire, which claimed 16,460 acres of brush, was 65 percent contained Thursday morning, the fire is expected to be fully contained by 6 a.m. Friday with the possibility of it being sooner, said Bill Peters, spokesman for Riverside County Fire Department. All evacuations have been lifted and there are no road closures. There are approximately 1,300 personnel tending to the fire and we are hoping to be sending some of them home by this afternoon, Peters said.
Today's goals are to finish containment lines and for firefighters to walk the lines, said to Ventura-based CDF Battalion Chief Ted Smith. "We don't want to find any sleepers that may jump out of there," Smith said. "We need to connect the dots."
Cooler tempuratures and a dense fog are expected tonight, according to the National Weather Service.
With the 8,945-acre Eagle Fire 70 percent contained Wednesday evening and its active fires isolated to a few canyons and ravines, authorities ended evacuations and began sending some firefighters home.
"Now we'll go back and wait for the bell to ring again," said Temecula-based CDF Fire Engineer Tracy Norrie, 43.
More than 2,500 firefighters from around the state and Arizona were on the line against the two fires, with 16 injuries reported. Both blazes cost a combined $2.5 million to fight - in the first week of Southern California's fire season.
Dangerous duty
Kevin Kliem of San Clemente, a firefighter with the Orange County Fire Authority, twisted his knee while fighting to rescue a father and son Tuesday while the two tried to rescue animals from their home in the Bull Canyon area near Lake Mathews.
Kliem said the home was in a steep ravine and had two walls of flames approaching it, so he threw flares to create a backfire and slow the advancing fire. Kliem injured his knee and had to crawl back up a hill with the flames behind him, he said.
Fellow firefighter Robert Frick helped move Kliem up the hill, where they put the father and son and two dogs on top of their firetruck. They tied the family goat to the back of the truck and rolled away at 5 mph.
"It happened in a matter of minutes," Frick said. "It burned so fast that before you knew it, the flames were all around you, and you just had to keep going."
The firefighters "have been able to do a lot with limited sleep and limited resources," Riverside County Fire Capt. Julie Hutchinson said.
Leslie Lefroy, who lives in the Bull Canyon area near Lake Mathews, evacuated llamas, horses and dogs Tuesday from her ranch and animal-rescue shelter, Mitzi's Meadows Ranch.
"It came hard and fast and it was too late for me to leave," she said of the advancing Cerrito Fire. Lefroy stayed in her home as dozens of firefighters worked to spare her ranch. "There were flames everywhere. They went over and around my house. It was surreal, like it wasn't happening."
Wednesday, her home was surrounded by charred hills. She lost only a small hay barn in the onslaught.
"Thank God for those firefighters," said Jerry Maguire , an employee of the ranch. "Those guys are like angels."
Fuel and heat
Dale Hutchinson, the CDF commander for the Eagle Fire, said Wednesday the fire spread so fast because it had plenty of fuel and hot, dry weather.
"We had a tremendous amount of dead chaparral that hadn't burned in 60 to 80 years," Hutchinson said.
The other factor working against firefighters was the weather. Low humidity, near-record temperatures and shifting winds made the fire burn fast and erratically, he said.
"It was definitely a challenge," Hutchinson said Wednesday.
At one point Monday afternoon, winds pushed the fire directly toward the firefighters' base camp at Vail Lake, where crews had to take up a defensive position while the flames skirted the lake.
"In my career, I've never seen that happen before," Hutchinson said.
A break in the heat Tuesday night finally allowed firefighters to get an upper hand on the blaze.
"It was the first chance we had since Sunday that the fire didn't actively burn through the night," Hutchinson said.
While firefighters had a good day against the blazes Wednesday, not all the strategies worked smoothly.
In the community of Good Hope, about 15 miles southeast of Corona, erratic afternoon winds sent a backfire set to fight the Cerrito blaze swirling over and around a line of inmates being used as a hand crew on a hillside.
The blaze briefly threatened dozens of homes a couple hundred feet away before water-dropping helicopters swarmed the runaway fire and doused it.
There appeared to be no injuries, although the close call sent the orange-clad inmates running and shouting down the hill.
"The helicopters did their job," Riverside County firefighter Matt Stanford said. "These winds are unpredictable."
Lakes help
Being so close to Lake Mathews and Corona Lake has helped to control flames that flare up in the afternoons, Julie Hutchinson said.
Helicopters have been able to pick up water in those lakes and carry them to hot spots within just a couple minutes, she said. If the lakes were not available, the helicopters would be able to pick up water from hydrants and portable water tanks, but Corona Lake and Lake Mathews have made things "a lot easier."
"We don't have to tie up other resources and this makes it a quick turnaround," she said.
Arraignment postponed
In Riverside, arraignment was postponed for the man charged with starting the Cerrito Fire.
Richard Drew Brown, 44, looked unkempt and appeared dazed during his appearance Wednesday afternoon before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Gordon R. Burkhart , who ordered Brown to remain in custody. Bail had been set at $25,000.
Authorities said Brown, an itinerant handyman, was hauling a large steel plate behind his pickup truck, intending to cut it into scrap metal. The metal and attached chain bumped along rural Mayhew Road near Glen Ivy Hot Springs, throwing sparks and igniting the fire Monday afternoon, investigators and witnesses said.
Brown has been charged with two felonies: one for recklessly starting a fire that burned forest land and a structure, and another for causing a fire that burned an inhabited structure and inhabited property.
The Riverside County district attorney's office also filed a special allegation because of the extent of damage caused by the blaze. Brown could face a maximum penalty of seven years and eight months in prison, district attorney's spokeswoman Ingrid Wyatt said.
Brown also could be held responsible for the cost of battling the fire but if he doesn't have the assets to cover the cost, "I don't know what they'll do," Wyatt said.
Riverside County Fire Department arson investigators continued seeking information about three off-road motorcycle riders seen Monday near the ignition point of the Eagle Fire.
The request was made after residents in the area where the fire started reported the riders and gave descriptions of them, their motorcycles and helmets.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
Staff writers Lisa O'Neill Hill, Stefanie Frith, Tim O'Leary, Sonja Bjelland, Nathan Max, Paige Austin and Henri Brickey contributed to this report.
TOLL: The two largest blazes have charred more than 25,000 acres and destroyed 16 homes.
08:35 AM PDT on Thursday, May 6, 2004
By RICHARD K. DE ATLEY / The Press-Enterprise
Lower temperatures, higher humidity and quick work by firefighters and water-dropping helicopters combined Wednesday to tame wildfires in western Riverside County - but fickle winds kept firefighters and residents watchful.
Related
Fire battle turns corner
People often provide the spark
Federal help expected to ease firefighting cost
New fires beat policy reforms
The two largest fires - the Eagle blaze east of Temecula and the Cerrito Fire near Corona, consumed more than 25,000 acres and destroyed 16 homes, including the nine cabins of the Dorland Mountain Art Colony near Temecula.
Temperatures on Wednesday were 86 in Corona and 89 in Temecula, compared with 94 and 92, respectively, Tuesday.
David Bauman / The Press-Enterprise
A CDF helecopter drops water near hand crews as they dig a fire break to protect homes from the Cerrito Fire in the Good Hope area west of Perris.
The Cerrito Fire, which claimed 16,460 acres of brush, was 65 percent contained Thursday morning, the fire is expected to be fully contained by 6 a.m. Friday with the possibility of it being sooner, said Bill Peters, spokesman for Riverside County Fire Department. All evacuations have been lifted and there are no road closures. There are approximately 1,300 personnel tending to the fire and we are hoping to be sending some of them home by this afternoon, Peters said.
Today's goals are to finish containment lines and for firefighters to walk the lines, said to Ventura-based CDF Battalion Chief Ted Smith. "We don't want to find any sleepers that may jump out of there," Smith said. "We need to connect the dots."
Cooler tempuratures and a dense fog are expected tonight, according to the National Weather Service.
With the 8,945-acre Eagle Fire 70 percent contained Wednesday evening and its active fires isolated to a few canyons and ravines, authorities ended evacuations and began sending some firefighters home.
"Now we'll go back and wait for the bell to ring again," said Temecula-based CDF Fire Engineer Tracy Norrie, 43.
More than 2,500 firefighters from around the state and Arizona were on the line against the two fires, with 16 injuries reported. Both blazes cost a combined $2.5 million to fight - in the first week of Southern California's fire season.
Dangerous duty
Kevin Kliem of San Clemente, a firefighter with the Orange County Fire Authority, twisted his knee while fighting to rescue a father and son Tuesday while the two tried to rescue animals from their home in the Bull Canyon area near Lake Mathews.
Kliem said the home was in a steep ravine and had two walls of flames approaching it, so he threw flares to create a backfire and slow the advancing fire. Kliem injured his knee and had to crawl back up a hill with the flames behind him, he said.
Fellow firefighter Robert Frick helped move Kliem up the hill, where they put the father and son and two dogs on top of their firetruck. They tied the family goat to the back of the truck and rolled away at 5 mph.
"It happened in a matter of minutes," Frick said. "It burned so fast that before you knew it, the flames were all around you, and you just had to keep going."
The firefighters "have been able to do a lot with limited sleep and limited resources," Riverside County Fire Capt. Julie Hutchinson said.
Leslie Lefroy, who lives in the Bull Canyon area near Lake Mathews, evacuated llamas, horses and dogs Tuesday from her ranch and animal-rescue shelter, Mitzi's Meadows Ranch.
"It came hard and fast and it was too late for me to leave," she said of the advancing Cerrito Fire. Lefroy stayed in her home as dozens of firefighters worked to spare her ranch. "There were flames everywhere. They went over and around my house. It was surreal, like it wasn't happening."
Wednesday, her home was surrounded by charred hills. She lost only a small hay barn in the onslaught.
"Thank God for those firefighters," said Jerry Maguire , an employee of the ranch. "Those guys are like angels."
Fuel and heat
Dale Hutchinson, the CDF commander for the Eagle Fire, said Wednesday the fire spread so fast because it had plenty of fuel and hot, dry weather.
"We had a tremendous amount of dead chaparral that hadn't burned in 60 to 80 years," Hutchinson said.
The other factor working against firefighters was the weather. Low humidity, near-record temperatures and shifting winds made the fire burn fast and erratically, he said.
"It was definitely a challenge," Hutchinson said Wednesday.
At one point Monday afternoon, winds pushed the fire directly toward the firefighters' base camp at Vail Lake, where crews had to take up a defensive position while the flames skirted the lake.
"In my career, I've never seen that happen before," Hutchinson said.
A break in the heat Tuesday night finally allowed firefighters to get an upper hand on the blaze.
"It was the first chance we had since Sunday that the fire didn't actively burn through the night," Hutchinson said.
While firefighters had a good day against the blazes Wednesday, not all the strategies worked smoothly.
In the community of Good Hope, about 15 miles southeast of Corona, erratic afternoon winds sent a backfire set to fight the Cerrito blaze swirling over and around a line of inmates being used as a hand crew on a hillside.
The blaze briefly threatened dozens of homes a couple hundred feet away before water-dropping helicopters swarmed the runaway fire and doused it.
There appeared to be no injuries, although the close call sent the orange-clad inmates running and shouting down the hill.
"The helicopters did their job," Riverside County firefighter Matt Stanford said. "These winds are unpredictable."
Lakes help
Being so close to Lake Mathews and Corona Lake has helped to control flames that flare up in the afternoons, Julie Hutchinson said.
Helicopters have been able to pick up water in those lakes and carry them to hot spots within just a couple minutes, she said. If the lakes were not available, the helicopters would be able to pick up water from hydrants and portable water tanks, but Corona Lake and Lake Mathews have made things "a lot easier."
"We don't have to tie up other resources and this makes it a quick turnaround," she said.
Arraignment postponed
In Riverside, arraignment was postponed for the man charged with starting the Cerrito Fire.
Richard Drew Brown, 44, looked unkempt and appeared dazed during his appearance Wednesday afternoon before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Gordon R. Burkhart , who ordered Brown to remain in custody. Bail had been set at $25,000.
Authorities said Brown, an itinerant handyman, was hauling a large steel plate behind his pickup truck, intending to cut it into scrap metal. The metal and attached chain bumped along rural Mayhew Road near Glen Ivy Hot Springs, throwing sparks and igniting the fire Monday afternoon, investigators and witnesses said.
Brown has been charged with two felonies: one for recklessly starting a fire that burned forest land and a structure, and another for causing a fire that burned an inhabited structure and inhabited property.
The Riverside County district attorney's office also filed a special allegation because of the extent of damage caused by the blaze. Brown could face a maximum penalty of seven years and eight months in prison, district attorney's spokeswoman Ingrid Wyatt said.
Brown also could be held responsible for the cost of battling the fire but if he doesn't have the assets to cover the cost, "I don't know what they'll do," Wyatt said.
Riverside County Fire Department arson investigators continued seeking information about three off-road motorcycle riders seen Monday near the ignition point of the Eagle Fire.
The request was made after residents in the area where the fire started reported the riders and gave descriptions of them, their motorcycles and helmets.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
Staff writers Lisa O'Neill Hill, Stefanie Frith, Tim O'Leary, Sonja Bjelland, Nathan Max, Paige Austin and Henri Brickey contributed to this report.
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weatherlover427
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furluvcats
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- Location: Temecula, California
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