Wildfire news, October 13

New fire in southern California: Sesnon Fire

The heel of the Sesnon fire at 1:30 p.m., Monday, about 2 hours after it started.

A new fire started around 10:30 a.m. PT about 12 miles west of the Marek fire. It is in the Oak Oat Mountain area northeast of Porter Ranch. Observing the live video from the Los Angeles CBS TV station, it is spreading rapidly in mixed grass and oak vegetation. The fire is threatening some important radio repeaters on Oak Oat Mountain, some of them belonging to LA County Fire Department and are being used currently on the going fires. (at 12:15 PT, this fire was 750 acres.)

Two Super Scooper air tankers are dropping on the fire, but they are ineffective since the wind is blowing the water horizontally away from their targets. The Sikorsky Sky Crane helicopters are more effective.

As forecast, the Santa Ana winds have decreased a bit, but they are still blowing and should increase Monday evening. The red flag warning has been extended to 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Live video comes and goes, but it has been seen on local NBC and ABC stations.

Angel Island fire



This fire on an island in San Francisco bay that Wildfire Today told you about yesterday, is now 250 acres. The local ABC TV station has some excellent photos. HERE is a web cam view of the fire.

Assigned to the fire are 200 personnel, at least 8 engines, 2 helicopters and several hand crews. Additional resources have been ordered and as of yet, no structures have burned. The resources are staging and waiting for ferries and boats to transport them across the bay to the island.