Wildland Fires In Running Springs Smolder - Day 6 :: MAXINE

This day finds that one of the few fire areas throughout the seven county fire disaster zone where mandatory evacuations still exist is in the San Bernardino National Forest.

Overnight, headway has been made with the containment at both sites with the Slide Fire moving to become 35% contained and the Grass Valley Fire set at 85% containment.

The weather forecast for the mountains predicts the following (YAHOO! Weather):

Detailed Local Forecast

Today: Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. High near 65F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear. Low 34F. Winds light and variable.

Tomorrow: Mainly sunny. High near 70F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow night: Partly cloudy skies. Low 36F. Winds light and variable.

This in from CalFire - Last modified on October 27, 2007, 08:10 am –

Slide Fire

San Bernardino National Forest

Green Valley Lake near Running Springs

San Bernardino County

This fire has burned 13,800 acres at Green Valley Lake near Running Springs in San Bernardino County and is currently 35 percent contained. 201 homes and 3 outbuildings have burned.

Mandatory Evacuation for east of Crestline to Snow Valley. Voluntary evacuations for Crestline, Cedar Pines Park, Lake Gregory and Valley of Enchantment. The voluntary evacuations for HIghland have been lifted.

Evacuation Centers are located at National Orange Show in San Bernardino and the Victorville Fairgrounds in Victorville.

All highways in the San Bernardino Mountains west of Big Bear Dam are closed to upbound traffic, except those with Sheriffs passes to voluntary areas. Access to Big Bear is via Hwy 38 from I-10 in Redlands or from Hwy 18 through the Hi-Desert in Lucerne Valley.

1,984 firefighters are currently assigned to this fire under unified command.

The estimated cost of this fire to date is $4.5 million.

Slide Fire Information Line (909) 383-5688.

Slide Fire Map 10/26/07

Grass Valley Fire

San Bernardino National Forest

Lake Arrowhead and Crestline communities

San Bernardino County

This fire has burned 1,140 acres and is 85 percent contained. The fire is northwest of Lake Arrowhead. 162 structures have been lost, and more than 6,000 homes remain threatened.

Evacuation and closure orders remain in effect for a large area surrounding the fire. The mandatory evacuation order for the community of Crestline has been reduced to a voluntary evacuation effective at 9:00 am 10/26. All other evacuations and road closures remain in effect.

Evacuation Center have been established at the National Orange Show in San Bernardino and Victorville Fairgrounds in Victorville.

State Highway 18 is closed from 40th/Waterman to the Big Bear Dam, State Highway 330 is closed at Highland to Hwy 18, State Highway 138 is closed at State Highway 173. Residents may leave via these highways (except 330) but cannot go back up into the Mountains.

Access to Big Bear is via Hwy 38 from I-10 in Redlands or from Hwy 18 through the Hi-Desert in Lucerne Valley.

643 firefighters are assigned to this incident.

The estimated cost of this fire to date is $3.6 million.

Grass Valley Fire Information Line (909) 383-5688.

Grass Valley Fire Map 10/26/07

Excerpted from Socalmountains.com Scanner/Chat Forum
–

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 10:55:44
Structure fire in
Arrowhear is not related to the Slide fire; don't want folks thinking fire has
advanced into that area.

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 10:57:20
Initial
reports of the Arrowbear fire indicated there were explosions - before or after
the fact, who knows.

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 11:01:50
the yellow
banana helicopter is at the big bear air port, saw it this morning
resting

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 11:15:13
xxxx the fire is still
above lake view point with very very little movement , we have had only 1 major
hot spot this morning that air craft lifted off around 7:30 to pick up and kill,
so yes we are doing great guys, the ffs are dealling with hot spots that flare
up thats normal- and re inforcing fire breaks

Saturday 27 October 2007 -
11:15:31
I would suspect that if things remain good for our fire (Slide) they
will have 50% or more containment by tonight.

Saturday 27 October 2007 -
11:16:36
2nd part with the hand crews and dozers, they are still reinforcing
all the fire breaks on this mountain from arrowhead to running springfs and from
green valley lake to butler peak, so work goes on and if some where some tree or
ground fire flars up we do have air craft on hold here at the air port
holding

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 11:18:39
Per scanner, Structure
fire knowcked down in Arrowbear.

Saturday 27 October 2007 -
11:24:34
the loud air craft you all might be hearing is one of the helos
going back for refuling or retardant to reinforce lines, nothing major they are
just loud it goes over my home

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 11:41:34
per
scaner aa we are going to support the ground crews with air
attack

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 11:46:12
Map of the location of that
structure that went up in Arrowbear this morning. Not related to the Slide
fire.

There are reports of a fully involved
structure fire at Music Camp Road and Highway 18 in Arrowbear Lake. Reports
indicate there may have been an explosion at the house. Civilian injuries have
been reported with a medical airship en route. The fire appears to not be
associated with the Slide Fire. The cause is not known. Caption Credit:
inciweb.net -- Image Credit: Google Maps via Scanner/Chat
Forum

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 11:49:19
Not good news on
the Arrowbear Music Camp...

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 12:15:15
Per
Scanner: Order up the air tankers please. We will take all 8 of
them.

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 12:15:32
per scanner order all 8 air
tankers we will take all 8 ( unknown location for what area at this
time

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 12:17:30
Not 100% sure xxxx. I can't
imagine them ordering up 8 air tankers for this fire, but I just dont know. It
was fairly clear and on our air attack freq, but it could be transmissions from
the Santiago fire. I'll try to figure it out.

Saturday 27 October 2007 -
12:18:46
the sun is out here in big bear lake west, with lite blue
sky,

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 12:52:37
I think it's picking up some
of the OC fire stuff, that's not up hear... I even heard we'll take all 8 air
tankers, which we don't need, so I think it's bleed over.

Saturday 27
October 2007 - 12:54:56
OK, it's certainly possible that you'd hear stuff.
Could be overlap in 800MHz channels, or more likely you hear aircraft traffic.
It's a relatively clear shot from the Santa Anas to BB, especially from the East
end of the valley.

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 13:10:19
per rotw( per
scanner , chp helo is bringing in some dignitaries to view the fire, - guess
they going to have ca secretary of state on board, or something like that -
helio 534 has lifted off of heaps peak , to the slide to take picturs of the
point of orgin

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 13:24:12
It could be the
Gov. He was just in Irvine

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 13:29:11
xxxx,
our fire is doing just fine, few smokes that pop up but air atack has been
getting those just fine, no worries,

Breaking news from rimoftheworld.net -

Structure Fire In Arrowbear; Initial report of
injuries unfounded
By Rim Of The
World News Staff -- Saturday, October 27, 2007

A fully involved
structure fire in Arrowbear was reported at about 10:30 am Saturday by a
helicopter working the Slide Fire. The residence was located in the 33000 block
of Music Camp Road. A small amount of vegetation burned near the residence. The
fire has been knocked down.

Initially there were reports of a civilian
injured, however according to the Public Information Officer at the Incident
Command, there were no injuries. Reports indicate there may have been an
explosion at the house. Fire officials reported that the fire does not appear to
be associated with the Slide Fire. The cause is unknown.
Reference
Here>>

Firefighters putting out smolders in
the Ponderosa Pine forest near Running Springs. Image Credit:
Breitbart
Excerpted from Socalmountains.com Scanner/Chat Forum
–

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 15:16:30
FYI - Schools in
Big Bear will re-open on Monday. The Rim of the World School District will
remain closed all of next week.

Saturday 27 October 2007 -
15:19:27
Per Air Attack (talking to a relief air attack for shift change),
things are looking real good on both fires.

Saturday 27 October 2007 -
15:20:08
from rotw ( at 2:33 p -- only heard one side of the convesation )
butler fire it has sloped over , all together - hand lines in here- a long ways
probely a mile , - the black old black is pretty new - i havent see any
flames
2:39p( responding to a gass fire off deep creek , rs
this as was an
old call , dispatch was showing more resources were added to that call -- air to
ground we are getting moisture up here is there anything down to you -- slide
fire aa fire has sloped over a bit , we are working on that area butler fire,
crews are in there now, was abit soupy for a while but visiablity is pretty
good, h 534 , working , heading into big bear

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 16:14:31
No rain, but a few sprinkles... back to
TV.

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 16:26:28
Yay rain!

Saturday 27
October 2007 - 16:28:55
channel 6 cars in the villiage have their windshield
wipers on
yippyy

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 16:33:12
this might be
a dumb question. but does the rain get rid of the smoke?

Saturday 27
October 2007 - 17:04:59
Insurance comm John Garamendi was the VIP here today
per knbc. Also Santiago fire area has rain

Saturday 27 October 2007 -
17:05:12
Sure can tell it rained in Running Springs according to the live web
came, yeah

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 18:04:40
aa is going to be
cutting off early for the nite, they deserve it , as the fire is doing
wonderfull for us folks u here in big bear, allday they have been putting out
any hot flare ups that have been poping up,, rest easy tonite all another good
day on the fire lines

Saturday 27 October 2007 - 18:06:40
drizzled all
afternoon in fawnskin, but nothing measurable

RIMOFTHEWORLD.net is reporting -


Currently there are 643 personnel on scene of the Grass
Valley Fire. Good progress continues with line construction in the Miller Canyon
drainage. Fire crews continue to mop up and patrol around structures on the
eastern flank. On the western and northern flanks, improvement to the hand and
dozer lines and continued mop up is in progress. Rehabilitation will
continue.

There is no anticipated incident movement.

Infrared
flights flew the fire to determine the fire has burned 1,140 acres. Damage
assessment teams continue their work. Reports indicate 162 structures have been
destroyed and 20 structures damaged.

No changes in acreage or containment
have been released on the Slide Fire. According to official reports, low
intensity fire behavior with active surface and backing fire has been observed.
Some torching has also occurred. The fire continues to have a potential to move
to the north. Crews are making progress containing the fire's spread on west and
northwest flanks. Southerly containment lines in the southwest corner of the
fire are complete.

Officials state they are beginning to achieve success
with perimeter control strategy as critical resource needs are met. There are
1,984 personnel working this fire.

The Slide Fire is 35% contained and
has consumed 13,800 acres. Over two hundred structures have been lost. There is
no estimate of release of the Damage report.

The cause remains under
investigation

-- END OF DAY --