Results tagged “winds”

Yesterday it was a fire weather watch, but today the National Weather Service upgraded those warnings into Red Flags. Temperatures will not be as warm as last week, but high winds and low humidity are concerning officials over potential for wildfires.

A fire burning in Redlands within San Bernardino County has scorched at least 5 acres, according to Carl Baker with Redlands Fire Department, who spoke to KNX1070. As of 2:45 p.m., no structures had burned, but some were threatened. Evacuations have been ordered along Sunset, west of Helen in addition to homes on Edgemont and Fairmont. More evacuations had been ordered, but Baker was unaware of specifics at the time of the interview. "If this grows and continues, certainly we'll be setting up an evacuation center," he said. The blaze began around 1:45 p.m.

Shortly before 11:30, the Los Angeles Fire Department received a call of a brush fire in the hills of the San Gabriel Mountains seen from Foothill Boulevard. It is estimated to be 2-3 acres in size on the ridgeline. Temperatures in the San Fernando Valley are cool today, but winds are blowing in a southeast direction at a speed of nine, according to LAFD Spokesman Erik Scott. "It's too early to tell how much of a problem it's going to be," he said. UPDATE: As of 12:13 p.m., the fire had grown to around 5 to 7 acres. UPDATE #2: Firefighters called a knockdown around 1:15 p.m. 10 acres were burned with no structures damaged or injuries sustained.

As the fire neared the city last night, firefighters last night took a stand. "The fire was threatening the city directly," Santa Barbara's Acting Fire Chief Andy DiMizio said via the LA Times. "Last night, all hell broke loose."

At least 20 homes have been lost and three Ventura County firefighters were injured yesterday in the Jesusita Fire that began Monday afternoon in the hills of Santa Barbara. The same kind of weather is expected today--"30 to 40 miles per hour with gusts up to 65 mph"--but fire crews were able to start building a fire line during lulls in the wind yesterday and this morning. Red flag weather conditions are currently in effect.

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for Los Angeles and Ventura Counties for today until 4 p.m. They caution that "Santa Ana winds with gusts up to as high as 70 mph will occur through and below many passes and canyons of Ventura and Los Angeles County through this afternoon. At the same time...humidity levels will remain low with poor nighttime recovery. In addition...warm temperatures in the 80s and 90s will continue. As a result...critical fire weather conditions exist. The mixture of strong winds...low humidities...warm temperatures and very dry fuels will continue to bring a high fire danger through this afternoon across nearly all of Ventura and Los Angeles County."

As Santa Ana Winds began to warm and increase in speed today, the National Weather Service extended their Red Flag Warning for an additional day to 11:00 p.m. Saturday night, prompting the the LA Fire Department to extend their own red flag parking restrictions through 8:00 a.m. on Thursday morning (but that can change in a moment's notice). A couple fires with potential to spread into larger incidents were knocked down north of Chatsworth and in Moreno Valley. The Foxborough Fire in the Fontana/Rancho Cucamonga area is 60 percent contained and was started by fireworks.

A wildfire that began at 12:45 a.m. northwest of Interstate 15 and north of the Foothill Freeway in the hills of Fontana has grown to 250-acres, prompting the voluntary evactuation of about 100 homes and the closure of two schools.