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The Chief wrote:

fatdad wrote:Everyone's been saying that the fire is fueled by brush that hasn't burned in 40 yrs. That's a long time for fuel to accumulate.

I am amazed at the non proactive controlled burns that never happened over the years.

Too late now...

The answer most likely will be found here:

http://www.aqmd.gov/hb/attachments/2001/01112ca.doc

If my memory serves me correctly La Canada performed a limited controlled burn a few years ago and caught hell for it.

The Chief wrote:
I am amazed at the none proactive controlled burns that never happened over the years.

Too late now...

That's exactly what I was thinking...

MoapaPk wrote:I have mixed feelings about all this stuff. For years I lived on the edge of the Adirondacks, where fire suppression had been the rule for 90 years. As a result, we had an extremely flammable understory, making us ripe for a devastating fire.

It's men trying to intervene with nature. Ideally, none of these areas should be populated, so they can burn freely. Like you said, preventing fires for years causes less burns but when it does, it's a devastating inferno...

goldenhopper wrote:

Luciano136 wrote:I just read that the last person being evacuated from Newcomb's Ranch indeed confirmed it burned to the ground. Apparently it caught fire late last night and this morning the last person was evacuated when flames overtook the building. That really sucks! It won't be long now before Waterman ski area is gone as well...

The owners are nice people and the place was looking great after all the remodeling they did. I hope they can rebuild.

Looking at the latest map, I believe Newcomb's is just outside that boundary by about a mile orso, so who knows, maybe there's some hope it's not completely destroyed. Definitely a lot more humid tonight.

My boss just gave a slide show of his last 4 days. He's just about at the edge of the forest, South of Mt Lukens summit. The freakiest shots are of the "controled burn." He has some good shots of the helicoters coming and going from Deukmejian Park. His mood today? Glad to get away from the constant THWOP! THWOP! THWOP! of the Sky Cranes.

Heard Tujunga is still under manatory evacuation.

Heard they brought in the Boeing 747 to help save the Mt Wilson Observatory. I would love to see video of that. I think I saw it climbing out this moring. I was far from the fire over in N.ridge. I could see a large jet not in any normal traffic pattern.

The Chief wrote:

fatdad wrote:Everyone's been saying that the fire is fueled by brush that hasn't burned in 40 yrs. That's a long time for fuel to accumulate.

When is the last time you've been up the Big T?

I was riding through there twice a week five years ago and couldn't believe the amount of heavy brush that had grown over a 30 year period since the last big fire in the area.

I am amazed at the none proactive controlled burns that never happened over the years.

Too late now...

It'll probably seem obvious when you answer this, but what's the Big T?

fatdad wrote:

The Chief wrote:

fatdad wrote:Everyone's been saying that the fire is fueled by brush that hasn't burned in 40 yrs. That's a long time for fuel to accumulate.

When is the last time you've been up the Big T?

I was riding through there twice a week five years ago and couldn't believe the amount of heavy brush that had grown over a 30 year period since the last big fire in the area.

I am amazed at the none proactive controlled burns that never happened over the years.

Too late now...

It'll probably seem obvious when you answer this, but what's the Big T?

TEverest

I assume he is talking about Big Tujunga

Duh. I knew it was going to be obvious.

Well there might be some good news regarding Newcomb's Ranch. This was posted on the San Gabriel Forum Board:

Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 1:43 pm

This is my first comment here at this site.

My name is Scott Johnson. I was the former Camp Valcrest Manager from 1993-1996. As of this morning, Newcomb's Ranch has survived the fire. They are currently serving food and drinks to the firefighters. I talk to a LAFD paramedic at Angeles Crest Christian camp who stated that all the resident camps along Sulphur Springs Road are safe. More than 300 firefighters are using Christian Camp as a base for local fire surpression. The fire itself is in the southern end of Chilao. I talked to a couple of Forest Service guys who stated that the Bandido campground seems to be the northern edge in Chilao Flats. I will post more info here as soon as I get it.

BTW, great job on the fire maps!!

Scott Johnson

Burned down, not burned down, ...

Is this last news official? I hope so!

I keep wondering if folks are getting Newcomb Ranch (journalists, posters, etc.)confused with the Hidden Springs Tavern which did burn down. The tavern was on Angeles Forest Highway rather than Angeles Crest Highway. Many journalists writing for the LA Times, OC Register and more need to take a local geography class.

Gary,
I didn't say the LA Times said anything about Newcomb's but it was suggested in this post earlier that it had burned. Point was that some reports are possibly inaccurately describing locations.
Scott

Gary Schenk wrote:

Scott M. wrote:I keep wondering if folks are getting Newcomb Ranch (journalists, posters, etc.)confused with the Hidden Springs Tavern which did burn down. The tavern was on Angeles Forest Highway rather than Angeles Crest Highway. Many journalists writing for the LA Times, OC Register and more need to take a local geography class.

There's been nothing in the Times about Newcomb's, only Hidden Springs.

Scott, do you mean the little cafe? Oh no. They could have done without the road side bar at Newcomb Ranch as sad as it would be to loose that landmark. Itwas just attracting too many motorcycles. I really liked that Hidden Springs Cafe. Really nice guy that ran it.

butitsadryheat,

Much of the stuff on that side near homes yesterday was um..."controled burns." My boss lives up there in upper Glendale near Deukmejian Park. He gave us a slide show today. They were touching off large patches and then knocking them down with the helicopters. Then they'ed move up wind(eastward) and do it again. Some neat pics of the Sky Cranes.

He had fire trucks from all over parked on his street. From as near as Pt Mugu Naval Air Station and as far as Montana. Although we don't quite believe it. some reporter claimed there were fire fighters from 49 different states, excluding only Alaska.