Santa Ana winds are on their way
Bracing for the arrival of a heat wave and the likelihood of Santa Ana winds, Southern California firefighters rushed this weekend to extinguish the Station fire and a smaller blaze east of Temecula.
A high-pressure system building over the Great Basin area today will bring low humidity and temperatures in the high 90s to the Los Angeles area. While weather at the beaches will remain in the 80s, the mercury is expected to reach triple digits inland and in the San Fernando Valley. A high of 98 degrees is expected downtown Tuesday and Wednesday, with temperatures surging to 105 degrees in the warmest parts of the Valley on those days. “It’s going to be a scorcher,” said Jamie Stern of the National Weather Service.
Fire officials are most concerned about Santa Ana winds moving into the region. By this evening, forecasters are predicting winds from the northeast up to 20 to 30 miles per hour in the mountain passes and canyons, with gusts up to 45 miles per hour.
“If any fires were to develop or ignite, it could be a situation where the fire could explosively grow,” said Joe Sirard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “It’s going to be a potentially hazardous situation, so let’s cross our fingers.”
Forecasters have issued a red-flag warning for tonight through Wednesday evening covering the mountains of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, the Santa Monica Mountains, and the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys.
Racing against the weather, crews fighting the Station fire in the Angeles National Forest spent the weekend soaking hot spots north of Mt. Wilson with more than 80,000 gallons of water. Officials hope to contain the Station fire, which has chewed through more than 160,000 acres since it began on Aug. 26, by Tuesday.
After nearly a month fighting the blaze, Fire Information Officer Carol Underhill of the U.S. Forest Service said, officials are relying primarily on aerial surveillance and infrared technology to detect burning embers and prevent the fire from spreading into pockets of untouched forest land within the fire perimeter. Officials used a water tender Sunday to spread fire retardant along the northern slope of Mt. Wilson, while ground crews continued mopping up the fire.
“Right now it’s smoldering in the duff layer -- the pine needles and dry leaves,” she said. “We’re taking an abundance of caution just trying to address those hot spots this weekend before we get that windy weather.”
Facing similar concerns, firefighters in Riverside County made significant headway Sunday stamping out a 340-acre brush fire that spread across rolling hills east of Temecula after it ignited Saturday afternoon near California 79 and Vail Lake Road.
At least 12 structures were destroyed and more than 30 homes were evacuated within a two-mile radius of the ignition point. The fire burned along both sides of California 79, damaging power poles and causing outages. That led officials to close a portion of the highway for much of the weekend as officials repaired power lines and snuffed out hot spots. The highway reopened Sunday evening.
Capt. Fernando Herrera of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the combination of a swift air attack, which included six air tankers and three helicopters, and mild winds Sunday helped them reach full containment of the fire as expected Sunday evening.
“We had two air bases relatively close to the fire and a lot of ground resources were available, so we were able to get personnel up here pretty quick,” Herrera said.
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