Fire in Mountain Center darkens Palm Springs ...

[tarol]

no down pour - flashflooding and slick and dangerous working conditions for our firefighters wouldn't be a good thing... A nice light steady rain would be better!

[Florian]

Talked with forest service public info officer at the indian canyons this morning. He didn't have an updated map but said so far they ARE holding the line pretty well between Hidden Divide and Wellman Divide.

Heavy overcast in the desert right now with some very light rain.

-Florian

[scotts]

Thanks everyone for the updates.

Take care.

[Cy Kaicener]

Updates from the Town Crier

http://idyllwildtowncrier.com/2013/07/2 ... e-updates/

[FridayYet]

http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/photos/CABDF/2013-07-15-1949-Mountain/picts/2013_07_20-16.37.25.604-CDT.pdf

Inciweb has today's fire operations map posted. I thought it was interesting.

Sad to see that Skunk Cabbage Meadow probably burned last night and the fire is really close to Saddle Junction.

[HH8]

I just cringed so f*ing hard when I read this sentence...

"The fire was human-caused, but authorities say they do not know the exact cause."

Look what they did to the human that started the Cedar Fire in 2003:

http://articles.latimes.com/2005/nov/18 ... me-cedar18

[Florian]

I find the radio chatter between helicopters (I assume) and hotshots to be fascinating ... such cooperation

I've been listening to the spotter plane guide in tankers today as they drop retardant on the eastern side. These guys are real pros. But you can tell they're having fun flying airplanes too! And that big DC-10 is really something!!

-Florian

[zippetydude]

Hi Florian. Great post! Makes me kinda wish I had gone into that kind of work. So much fun.

Hey, did any rain fall up there? It poured here in Yucaipa. The "Growth Potential" has declined from Extreme to High to Medium. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of it.

z

[arocknoid]

Yes, Zip, a bit of rain, 0.01" per the Mtn Station report:
(a grab of course, to avoid reset to 0.00 at 00:00h with a live link)


Containment at 45% as of 21:00 h. Per the PIO interviewed on Ch2/9, hotshot teams from the tram combined with retardant drops had productive (optimistic) lines on the south side of the valley from Hidden Divide toward Wellman's, as well as the west and northwest perimeter. Map update tomorrow 06:00

Let's hope for lots of precip, little lightning, and favorable winds with the monsoonal flow.

Thanks and prayers to the firefighters and all those at risk with this fire.

Note that times are GMT; look at the incoming as of 21:00 PST--yeah, baby:



GOES WV loops always are delightful to watch. Even hurricanes are soothing to the eye.
Look at all that water brewing up our way! Puh-leeze!



kind regards,
arocknoid

[skunkboy]

Tramtim said:

When I left around 6 pm we had hot spots on Divide Peak and some on the high trail. All afternoon they were dropping retardant from Wellmans Divide to Hidden Divide. We are getting 4 hot shot crews in the morning they are planning on staying up till it’s over. I’ll try to get up some pictures in the morning; it’s been a long day and morning coming soon

Tim

These are the guys that kept Long Valley and Round Valley from turning into Skunk Cabbage and Laws. God bless them.

Skunk