I awoke this morning staggered out to the kitchen and fired up the coffee maker. Out of habit, I turned on the TV and switched to the morning news. I was quite surprised to see images of flame, smoke and people fleeing an approaching flame front.
At first, I thought perhaps it was footage from an earlier incident, but it soon became apparent that there was a growing fire in the foothills above Glendora Ca.
Daaaamn Gina, It's freaking January!
I know we're in the middle of a drought and I know the winds are a dry, offshore flow, but still - January!
As Glendora is very near L.A. and it started just before 0600, there was a LOT of live TV coverage. At least 5 separate helicopters and several ground videographers were covering the fire on 6 TV channels.
The winds were causing embers to spread the fire, often hundreds of feet or more in front of the body of fire. Palm trees, may of which appeared to be poorly maintained, were igniting a quarter of a mile or more ahead of the fire. Needless to say, the crews were busy.
I was a little surprised at how fast the fire moved from the foothills into a few remote canyons with homes in them and then spotted into developed neighborhoods.
The news is reporting three or four homes lost, depending on which channel you are watching. As of 1000 hrs. the latest acreage estimates are in the 1700 range. Again, pretty impressive for January.
It appears that a lot of resources were pumped into the area and I think that they will get a handle on things today. Part of the fire is in LA county jurisdiction and part in the Angeles National Forest combined. Along with the mutual aid network, there should be sufficient people and equipment to get a handle on it.
Time will tell on that.
Thanks for reading,
Schmoe
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