Things are optimistic today!
A national team from Montana is taking over management.... ahem, I mean the Northern Rockies Type-I Incident Management Team.
There are about 2,500 firefighters active on this fire according to the new incident commander at today’s press conference. There are still a lot of helicopters and air tankers helping out.
The southern edge looking “extremely good” according to the incident commander, and it is in mop-up stages; the eastern boundary is also looking good. The northern boundary is West Camino Cielo road, and the fire isn't expected to leap over.
The western side still concerning. It is very rugged, and conditions are not very safe for firefighters. It is spreading west, but not really spreading in other directions.
Most areas that were evacuated revert to “Evacuation Warnings.” There are still mandatory evacuations mostly in the Western. There are no road closures in our area anymore--only in the extreme eastern and extreme western areas of the fire.
Weather is good. The sundowners are expected to be over. The weather is due to get very hot over the next few days.
We lost power for about an hour this afternoon. I had just gone out to do some errands. Home Depot was able to complete my transaction, but at Staples was doing cash-only sales, with an escort to get the items. I waited a little bit for an escort, but then decided I could wait to buy my dumb fax film.
Here are the latest Gap Fire statistics:
Acres burned: 9,367
Percent contained: 28%
Expected containment: unknown
Injuries: 2 (Smoke Inhalation)
Structures threatened: 1,700
Structures destroyed: 4 Outbuildings
Suppression cost to date: $6.2 Million
Do you remember this picture from Christmas, 2006? It was taken very close to the point of origin of the fire. The photo is looking toward the southeast.
And here is one more photo of a plume of smoke I spotted on my way home. This picture was taken from the 101/Fairview offramp.
Here is the latest map of the fire status.
I'm really happy to see the black lines around the southern edge! Yay firefighters!
2 comments:
Firefighters are the best! It is so good to hear good news. The more containment, the better the chance of controllinlg the rest, I should imagine. I'm glad the evacuees are getting back to their unburned homes and that you didn't have to evacuate!
Firefighters rule! I hope Goleta has a parade for all the firefighters and heavy equipment guys as a way of saying thanks.
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