Eaton Canyon Fire Knocked Down

The Los Angeles County Fire Department is reporting that the fire in Eaton Canyon has been knocked down.

You may have seen the numerous helicopters flying over. There was a fire in Eaton Canyon. Here's the update from Carolyn Seitz:

It was contained to approximately 1 acre.

The area will be monitored, likely through the evening.

Search & Rescue crews from Altadena and Sierra Madre are still sweeping the trails to evacuate hikers. Montrose Search & Rescue is on scene and ready to assist.

Traffic controls may be in place to prevent access to the Canyon for the night, and it is being reported by some residents in the President Streets area that some portions of Altadena Drive are blocked to through traffic.

More information will be provided when available.

MFSC Tree Update

The Meadows FireSafe Council is winding down on the last phase of the grant. Tree vendors will be in the neighborhood for about five more days.

We've reached approximately 55 properties with varying degrees of tree or bush removal. To give you an idea, a day's work with one tree vendor is approximately $2000 paid for by the grant money. So, besides making ourselves more fire safe, the grant is bringing great value and savings to homeowners.

The FireSafe Council has heard many, many compliments for the volunteer work they've performed and the excellence of the tree vendors. We've heard two concerns from neighbors about the removal of trees and its impact to their specific property or the look of The Meadows in general. Overall, the positives have well outweighed the negatives.

Besides making us more fire-safe, the removal of the trees is helping indigenous trees thrive as they were fighting for sunlight or space. Several diseased trees were removed which will help to curb further infestation. And, many wonderful views of the mountains, canyons and city lights have been restored.

Postings on Craigslist.com for free firewood has benefit ted many in the Antelope Valley. These folks have driven in to get the firewood as it is sometimes their only source of heat during the Winter. They, too, have expressed much gratitude.

Many thanks to the FireSafe Council volunteers who have put in countless hours in meetings, planning, working with the brush and tree vendors, addressing neighbors questions and coordinating all of the work.

MFSC Tree Removal Begins

Tree removal under the Meadows FireSafe Council 2009 grant will begin Monday morning, November 16 starting at the tops of Risinghill Road and El Prieto Road. Steven's Trees and Gomez Tree Service will be moving through the neighborhood over the next several weeks. Homeowners will be contacted with approximate schedules as the work progresses.

MFSC Tree Removal Begins Soon

The Meadows FireSafe Council begins its final phase of this year's grant work with the removal of trees as agreed to by homeowners.

Beginning this weekend for several days, MFSC members will be contacting homeowners to tape the trees that will be removed. Homeowners should check our work to make sure the correct trees are taped and that the homeowners are still in agreement with the designated trees.

Removal of the trees should begin within the next two weeks with two vendors, Steven's Trees and Gomez Tree Removal working in the neighborhood.

Due to the great response we had and the limits of the budget, the grant work is expected to only cover tree removal, not tree trimming. In cases where there are many trees to be removed on one property, the MFSC member and homeowner will agree to specific trees. Not all can be removed given the budget.

Homeowners are welcome to obtain bids from Steven's and Gomez for tree trimming as they may offer better rates while in the neighborhood. That work would be done after the grant work is completed.

Thanks for your participation in this year's fuel reduction - making The Meadows more fire-safe.

MFSC Monday Morning

Called the Sherriff this morning at 7:00 a.m. We're still evacuated. Sherriff did not have an estimated time to lift the evacuation.

Talked to a resident on El Prieto who is still in The Meadows. She said that everything looks good. She saw firefighters positioned on El Prieto and Gravelia.

If anyone has other information, please let me know.
thanks,
Meadows FireSafe Council

Saturday Pics

From a neighbor who stayed in The Meadows yesterday.
1. taken from the entrance to the Meadows around 6:30 PM
2., 3., & 4 – taken from the trailhead in the lower part of El Prieto Rd. around 7 PM.
5. taken from the observation point above El Prieto Rd. about 7:10-7:15 PM.
6. again, from the trailhead in the lower part of El Prieto Rd.

MFSC Saturday Afternoon Update

The Meadows continues to be under mandatory evacuation. We know of no structures damaged. They were doing plenty of water and chemical drops behind Theo's house at the top of Risinghill and down El Prieto Canyon. Parts of JPL have been closed.

KCAL9.com had a good streaming video from their helicopter that showed The Meadows periodically. Watching the local news and online news seems to be the best way to get updates.

Thanks,
Meadows FireSafe Council

MFSC Saurday Morning Update

Fire crews are now in The Meadows and carefully watching developments in El Prieto Canyon and the ridge north of The Meadows. Water and chemical drops are not happening this morning due to heavy smoke. Maps of all fire hydrants and pools are being given to the fire crews. Please be vigilant of the developments surrounding us.

Thanks,
Meadows FireSafe Council

Station Fire Update Link

Link to Station Fire Update Link:

http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1856/

Station Fire / Meadows Update

(pics from El Prieto Rd perspective)

As we head into the evening, here's some observations about the fire and its impact to The Meadows. Please know this is only observation from neighbors as specific information from a variety of sources has been hard to obtain.

From El Prieto Side: the fire crested a peak northwest of Little Roundtop. (The peak to the northwest visible from the Meadows. Brown Mountain is not from here; it is farther east, farther north, and higher). This still is not immediately threatening to The Meadows. Both water and chemical plane drops were performed which quickly turned dark smoke to white. A chemical drop was also performed down El Prieto Canyon presumably as a precaution. From a perspective at the very top of El Prieto, the fire continues to appear west of us.

From the access to El Prieto: Flames can still be seen from the mountains above La Canada and in the mountainside almost directly north of The Meadows. Again, not immediately impacting us.

From Risinghill: One can see flames at the ridge on the mountains above and in the canyons below the mountains, but again not immediate threat to The Meadows.

A consensus opinion is that since the fire is not immediately threatening homes, it is being allowed to burn to reduce the fuel and quickly followed by water and chemical drops.

Crime: As posted earlier, the Sheriffs are patrolling the neighborhood. Please be vigilant of unusual activity and call the Sherrif (626-798-1131) as we continue to have many unknown cars coming into the neighborhood.

Please let me know of any other information you may have. Again, this is mainly observation from residents of The Meadows.

Increased Patrol Presence

With the fire has come an increase in curious persons and cars here in The Meadows creating safety concerns. In addition, a Canyon Crest neighbor's car tires were slashed last night.

Altadena Sheriffs will increase their presence in The Meadows this evening including a watch at Lincoln and Canyon Crest to help identify residents as legitimately having access to The Meadows. Please be sure to have you I.D. with you should you need it.

Also, if you see suspicious activity, please do not hesitate to contact the Altadena Sherriff at 626-798-1131.

Thanks,
The Meadows FireSafe Council

Sheriff Presence to Increase Tonight

Altadena Sheriff Department will be sending additional patrols to The Meadows tonight. With the increased traffic coming through the neighborhood to see the fire, it was felt that we as a community needed a stronger patrol presence to avoid a potential crime increase.

One neighbor's car tires were slashed last night on Canyon Crest.

Please do not hesitate to call the Sheriff if you see unusual activity.

Station Fire Update

Just saw the water dropping helicopter head towards the fire.

This from the L.A. Times this morning:

"In the Station fire in the Angeles National Forest, firefighters cut breaks above La Cañada Flintridge in an effort to stop flames before they reached hundreds of homes in neighborhoods near Angeles Crest Highway, the U.S. Forest Service said. [Updated at 6:36 a.m.: The fire jumped Highway 2 and into the Arroyo Seco area overnight. Fire officials were concerned about homes along Starlight Crest Drive, which runs just east of Highway 2 and is adjacent to a watershed park. The blaze had burned 1,500 acres and was 10% contained.]
Around midnight, flames were about three-quarters of a mile from residential neighborhoods, the Forest Service said. Hundreds evacuated their homes.
An evacuation center, which had been designated at Crescenta Valley High School, was moved to La Cañada High School, the Forest Service said."

Station Fire Timelapse from The Meadows

From a Meadows resident, timelapse photography view of the fire from The Meadows last night.

More Pics of Station Fire

From a Meadows neighbor, pics of the fire from La Canada (I think) and JPL. Gives good perspective on location.

Station Fire as Seen From Meadows

At around 7:30 p.m. this evening, flames from the Station fire in La Canada could be seen from the west side of The Meadows.

The Meadows FireSafe Council sent a mass email to neighbors with an attachment with great information about readiness in the event of a fire.

Please check your in-boxes (including junk and spam) for that email. If you did not receive it, I may not have your latest email. If you'd like to be included, please comment back to this post with your email or send me an email at greg.stanton@dilbeck.com

Station Fire Website Link

Here's a link to the incident website for the Station Fire in La Canada.

http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1856/

La Canada Station Fire

Have been trying to round up information on the La Canada Fire. As of this post, here's what I know:
1. The fire is 300 acres burning North
2. It has come over the ridge towards La Canada
3. Updates should be on http://www.inciweb.org/state/5/ momentarily.

Here's an email from JPL but this does have old information. May be from yesterday:

The Station Fire which ignited three to four miles northwest of JPL late yesterday afternoon has burned less than 100 acres. The fire is burning in rough terrain with heavy brush which has resulted in a large visible plume of smoke.

Fortunately, the wind is blowing at only five to eight miles per hour towards the north-northwest. The fire is not currently posing a threat to JPL. We anticipate that the Angeles Crest Highway (2) will remain closed throughout the day and evening. The JPL Fire Department is providing assistance to the U.S. Forest Service which is using the MESA to service its water dropping helicopters. Plans are for the helicopters to remain on the MESA throughout the night.

We are continuing to monitor the fire’s size and direction of burn for any appreciable changes.

Any updates will be communicated by email; or, the Emergency Public Address System or the Emergency Communication System.Due to the Station Fire and the Morris fire, both burning in the San Gabriel Mountains, air quality is expected to be poor today and for the next two or three days. Local temperatures are forecast to reach over 100. JPL personnel are advised to use caution during activities outdoors in smoky conditions.

All JPL personnel, especially those with heart or respiratory disease, are advised to avoid non-essential prolonged vigorous outdoor activity and to limit time spent outdoors when smoke is visible or the odor is present. Individuals with medical conditions sensitive to smoke exposure should monitor their condition and should continue taking their prescribed medications. Those who have asthma should keep their “as needed” medications or inhalers with them at all time. JPL personnel who must work outdoors should drink plenty of fluids throughout the day and rest indoors as needed.Office of Protective Services

FireSafe Assessments Almost Complete

The Meadows FireSafe Council is nearing completion of its FireSafe assessments. This year, the council has assessed over 50 properties here in The Meadows. Next step will be to evaluate the findings and issue recommendations to the homeowners. These recommendations will include work that the FireSafe grant will complete and pay for and recommendations of other work homeowners can perform to make their properties more fire-safe.

It is expected that the grant work, which will mainly include tree and brush removal, will begin as early as August.

FireSafe Assessments Deadline

Today was the deadline for returning requests for assessments to be performed by the FireSafe Council. We only had 16 returned requests and have to think that there are more properties in need of fire-prone tree removal. Also, the assessments are a great way to learn how you can further reduce the propensity for fire.

So, if that Meadows FireSafe Council mailer that was sent a few weeks ago is sitting in the "to-do" pile, grab it, complete it and return it to be included in this year's grant work.

And please tell your neighbors to do the same. A group effort will continue to make us fire safe.