Saturday Afternoon Gap Fire Update

2:15pm

Good news! They've lifted some of the evacuation orders this afternoon. Those areas revert to "Evacuation Warnings" but still, people can go home.

This morning I took the dogs for a walk up Kellogg to Cathedral Oaks and west on Cathedral Oaks for a while. The road was closed, and it was a little eerie. Not too many people about. Luckily, the air was clear and it felt good to walk.

I could see wispy bits of smoke from the mountainsides. Here are some pictures.

Look close, and you can see a helicopter in the middle-right.

The best news is that they are starting to contain the fire. The containment lines are along the southern edge of the fire boundary. This is great news for us! See the map below.

The Governator is in town and showed his concern.

The DC-10 flew over our house today on its way to make a drop. I was too slow with my camera. Darn.

The Gap Fire has been designated a “Type I” fire, which means that there are more resources coming, and the best of the best at that.

Here is a cool picture that appeared in the LA Times this morning.

Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.

And here is a great map with current status:



Latest statistics:

Acreage burned: 8,357
Amount contained: 24%
Structures burned: 4 outbuildings
Injuries: 2 firefighters with smoke inhalation
Cost to date: $2.5 million

They are making good progress, but still not out of the woods.

If you are in the mood for donating, of course the American Red Cross can always use funds. One of my favorite humanitarian charities is Direct Relief International. They are a locally-based international non-profit. For the last 60 years, they’ve been supplying medicine and supplies to disaster-stricken areas all over the world. Yesterday and today, Direct Relief International supplied face masks free to the community. The high-quality N-95 masks filter even the smallest micro-particulates.

Right now, we’re going to see Wall-E at the movie theater.