Eaton Fire: A rebuilding journey

Officials continue to gain control of the Sheep Fire, burning near Wrightwood. The 7,128-acre blaze is currently 90 percent contained with full containment expected tomorrow by 6 p.m. On Wednesday, fire personnel began implementing rehab initiatives for short- and long-term repair of the forest and infrastructure. The fire began last Saturday afternoon and has damaged or destroyed a handful of homes, also leaving eight firefighters injured. At one point, the fire prompted 6,000 to...

Los Angeles just got a new fire chief and Long Beach is about to lose theirs. Fire Chief David Ellis announced yesterday, after five years at the top post, his intent to retire by the end of the year. Ellis began his career in Glendale in 1980, but two years later found himself working for Long Beach, where he was raised and schooled as a kid and college student. The Department has about 550...

Photo by AMagill/Flickr A fire last night in a Riverside home proved to be a unique challenge for firefighters because the house was "packed to the ceiling with items," according to cbs2. The fire was sparked by "an electrical problem" and was troubling for the responding crew since "the kitchen and back porch area [...] were stuffed with clutter and there was no way to get inside" and, further, "there was concern that embers...

Photo by Rennett Stowe via Flickr Considering yesterday's amazing progress on the Sheep Fire (a 32 to 75 percent containment jump), it's no surprise that firefighters made no progress over night on the blaze, which still stands at 7,128 acres in size. As noted yesterday afternoon, it's been cold enough in the area of the fire that local ski resorts have been able to produce snow. The LA Times takes a look a the...

A woman's charred body was found shortly after midnight after firefighters doused a dumpster fire in Santa Fe Springs near the 5 freeway. Her hands and feet appeared to be bound by some kind of electrical cord, reports the LA Times. The fire was located behind a furniture store business on the 13100 block of Firestone Boulevard. The coroner's office will work to identify her, but her approximate age could not be determined by...

See some smoke in the hills? A fire 40-foot by 40-foot grass fire was knocked down by Los Angeles Fire Fighters in 18 minutes this afternoon. The fire, first reported at 1:59 p.m., was located at 9785 Trudy Drive, south of Mulholland Drive between Beverly Glen and Coldwater Canyon....

A fire that broke out near Vandenburg Air Force Base has burned through some 300 acres and was 50 percent contained this evening, according to the Associated Press. The Lompoc-area base, about 60 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, employs up to 10,000 people on any given day. 25 buildings with non-essential personnel were sent home early. The blaze began around noon when a transformer blew near the base's main gate along the Pacific Coast...

Dry brush = a fire's fuel | Photo by Caveman 92223 via Flickr 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. "The Santa Ynez range and downwind coastal sections of Santa Barbara County will be the first to experience the dry...

Photo by Caveman 92223 via Flickr The temperatures have been great so far this week, but they might be slightly spoiled as Santa Ana winds pick up beginning Wednesday night and last through Friday. "Humidities will be dropping through the day Wednesday and by Wednesday night into Thursday many areas of Southwest California will be experiencing a combination of gusty Santa Ana winds and humidities at or below 15 percent," the National Weather Service...

Fully contained yesterday, the Guiberson Fire burned through some 17,500 acres, injuring 10, destroying one outbuilding and costing nearly $10 million. On Sunday, the Advanced Land Imager on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite caught this false-color image of the fire area by using "shortwave infrared light to increase the contrast between burned and unburned land."