Multiple new fires in southern California

More fires have started in southern California and are being pushed by the Santa Ana winds. We will post maps of the fires as they are available.

"Freeway" fire near Corona and Yorba Linda

UPDATE @ 4:42 p.m. Saturday

Below is a map showing thermal imagery from a satellite. The red areas are the two fires west of Corona in the Yorba Linda, Brea, and Anaheim areas. The western most one is the Brea or Dump fire. The eastern most one is the Freeway fire. It appears that this imagery is from late this afternoon. The seems to have crossed the 57 freeway, and we already knew the Freeway fire was well established south of the 91.

Click on the map to see a larger version.


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UPDATE @ 2:27 p.m. Saturday

A 250-unit apartment complex south of the 91 freeway near Santa Ana Canyon Road and some single family dwellings in the same area are fully involved.

Here is an updated map that shows the approximate location of the Freeway fire west of Corona. Click on it to see a larger version.



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UPDATE @ 1:45 p.m. Saturday

The fire crossed the 91 freeway in two places and 3,100 homes in the Anaheim Hills area (south of 91 and west of 241) are under an evacuation order.


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11:40 a.m. Saturday

The DC-10 air tanker making a drop on the Freeway fire near Corona. It dropped continuously for 10 seconds, much longer than smaller air tankers. Oddly, there was a smaller twin-engine plane flying closely on the side of the DC-10, unlike lead planes which fly some distance ahead of air tankers.

Here is a map that shows the approximate location of the Freeway fire. Click on the map to see a larger version.



This fire, named Freeway, started late this morning and as of 11:40 a.m. PT has already burned 800-1,000 acres and has damaged or destroyed 12 homes. It is on the north side of the 91 freeway near Green River Road. It has burned into Yorba Linda where evacuations are in progress and some homes burned near Merryweather Circle.

An engine crew was burned over according to LA channel 7. Two firefighters have minor injuries and were treated at a hospital.

Fire in Brea

UPDATE @ 3:40 p.m. PT Saturday

The fire has burned quite a distance to the west and jumped the 57 freeway for a while but firefighters picked up that portion that crossed the freeway. A reporter from Fox 11 is at the fire edge on Wildcat Way just north of W. Lambert Road in Yorba Linda. HERE is a link to a map of that location.

Farther to the east at Hidden Hills Rd. and Greencrest Dr. many mega-mansions are burning to the ground. The situation is complicated by the fact that there is no water pressure at all in the water system. Firefighters are emptying the tanks in the engines, then leaving the area to get water, then returning again.

The director of the Yorba Linda Water District said that there are multiple pumping stations that pump water into some of the higher elevations that are burning now, and at least one of the pump stations burned. They are investigating the possibility of bringing in a pump to replace the one that burned. So... the fire suppression infrastructure works fine... until there is a fire. Just a idea: Make the pumping stations resistant to fire.

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11:40 a.m. Saturday

This is a new fire a mile or two or three west of the Freeway fire. It is smaller than the Freeway fire, but no additional information is available. It may have been a spot from the Freeway fire.
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