Counting four structures so far on the live feed that are involved.
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There 9 now.
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Does anyone know the com plan?
CMD: Fire OC
A/G: CDF Air to Ground 1
TAC’s: Vfire 22 , 24
Air Tactics 6
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I know it’s early, but I’m assuming a large resource has been placed with South Ops?
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Many Strike teams enroute from all over SoCal. OES and Local Gov.
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Today is a sad but perfect example of what we are going to be facing for some time to come, as urban developments continue to evolve with zero clearance lots. These homes were all very high value homes but also were built to fill the entire property with their neighboring houses in extremely close proximity. The extreme radiant and convected heat transfer makes creating a defensible break in the advancement extremely difficult.
Watching the live stream footage of this today really drove home just how often now we are going to be seeing major devastation even on what would be considered relatively small fires
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This is the start of what I think will be a very bad fire season. Not truly the start but it sure is a signal to be prepared for a busy season that will tax our fire resources badly.
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Meanwhile laws have been passed in most states to
Increase density. Limiting offsets, getting rid of single family lots, developing du/tri/quad plexus on 1/4 acre lots, in the name of affordable housing. Happening right next to me, in a high risk fire area, and each unit will sell for over 1m a piece…
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This fire is in a 29yr fuel scar from the 1993 Laguna Fire. Was wind and Slope aligned from the get go. Temp was in the low 70’s
RH 50% wind W17G20. That put the P.I.G at 40%. But the 10hr LFM is below 90% and the 100HR Fuels were less than 10. This fire is less than 5 miles from the Emerald Fire that burned in Feb.
This is a harbinger of things to come and should be a HUGE wake up call to anyone in California of the potential for 2022.
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The Laguna Fire in 93’ did not burn this far south. It’s been well over that since this area burned. The only fire I can remember in this area was a small IA fire just outside the burn area in the early 2000s.
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Slope and wind were in alignment.
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Normally I would agree Keith but watching video of it there was a very good break between the wildland and the homes. I didn’t see anyone between the homes and the wildland protecting the properties. Not saying they didn’t but it’s hard for me to believe they couldn’t save those homes. I was right down the road and only saw one engine from Newport Beach responding on Hwy 1. It didn’t seem like adequate resources were dispatched early enough. Just my 2 cents.
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You are totally correct. I didn’t see any resources up on that hill by the homes. I was watching the live feed the whole fire and didn’t see any engines up there. Yea they had a chance to save the homes if they called adequate resources early as the fire was making a push up towards the homes. Don’t want to be arm chairing but we can learn from it for sure. Order big early!! Then cancel if needed.
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Read the post again…”(it) was wind and slope aligned from the get go”
Not a question, it was a statement.
It could’ve gone either way, but that’s how I read it! Haha
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We also need to remember just recently our infamous legislature in Ca. added to the mess by passing zoning law that allows A.D.U’s (Accessory Dwelling Units) in our already overfilled lot space. These are commonly called granny flats, casitas, etc. These are secondary dwelling units on a single family dwelling lot. With the ongoing housing crunch, and affordable housing nightmare, our legislature created this inclusive zoning. What this does is create more buildings to burn in the W.U.I. (Woodland Urban Interface) and gives us in the fire services another problem. When you evacuate neighborhoods or are checking for residents make sure your people know that there could be more occupiers in buildings, A.D.U.’s, in the back yards. These units are allowed and inhabited as either expanded family living units or lease/rented. Just an FYI people!
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I hate to point fingers, but the incident was downplayed during the first hour. The initial size up said no structures threatened, and there was never an order for fix wing and more rotary wing until it was too late. I was on the hillside above and could not believe the lack of putting together a structure protection group off the bat, or an order for fixed wing. It was obvious that they weren’t making much progress with the initial resources.
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These homes did not have any ADU’s and they did not contribute to the destruction. That may be the case in other areas and in other fires but not the case with these 10k sq foot homes.
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In one shot there was a Type 1 engine that had worked its way onto the walking pathway between the wildland and the homes back fences trying to make a difference. Much to late and after the entire row of houses were burning. That should have been a pre-planned mode of attack early or even using to backfire from. Just my 2 cents as I wasn’t there but from the pics seemed logical.
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