Mo's Manic Monday - Fire
Posted: Monday, February 23, 2009 by Travis Cody in
Welcome to another Manic Monday with Morgen. Don't forget to cruise by MM HQ at the Manic Monday blog. Today's theme is Fire.
Fire Siege of 2003
In October 2003 it seemed like the entire southern part of the state of California was on fire. At least 15 different wildfires burned, covering over 720k acres, killing 24 people while displacing 120k and destroying over 3600 homes. The fires caused an estimated $2 billion worth of damage.
In San Diego County, more than 2200 homes were destroyed by the Cedar Fire, which burned over 280k acres. The Old Fire burned in the San Bernardino Mountains up to Lake Arrowhead and consumed over 91k acres and 993 homes. These fires were both started by arson or carelessness and killed 21 people between them.
Photo credit: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite
To the northwest of those two huge fires, Simi Valley and Santa Clarita Valley were also burning. Fires raged from the Piru area to Ventura to Simi Valley to the Stevenson Ranch area and eventually merged into one huge fire, separated in spots only by highways or natural fire breaks like stream beds.
I was living in Valencia near Magic Mountain at the time. I remember the fire crews talking about setting fire breaks so that the fires would burn in a circular pattern through the canyons, eventually running up against areas that had already burned. Ultimately that was the best way to put the things out. So many fires raged out of control during that 2 week period in October and November.
The Stevenson Ranch edge of the fire burned right up to Interstate 5, about a mile from my townhouse. I had the Liberty packed up with stuff. I was ready to scoop Mr Tucker and get out. Fortunately, firefighters used the freeway to help them turn the fire back into the canyon. If it had jumped the freeway, it couldn't have been stopped before it destroyed a lot of property in Valencia, Santa Clarita, and Saugus.
We were lucky. But it sure was scary. You never knew if the Santa Ana winds would whip the flames up and send them off in a new direction. You could get caught by highway closures. Or the police could come to your door and tell you to grab the family and get out now.
Some of the same areas burned again in 2007. I know it's part of the natural cycle of the area. The eco-systems are well adapted to periodic burnings. But these fires in 2003 were started by arson and by human carelessness. There's nothing natural about that.
Some horrendous fires there. A post with a timely reminder.