The 105,000 acre Station Fire is headed east with some movement north towards Acton. As the fire continues its eastward trek it should stay in the Forest and away from populated areas.

According to GeoMac the fire appears to have crossed Highway 2 north and east of Mt Wilson. The USFS Google Earth kml overlay lags GeoMac but both mapping services indicate where the fire is headed on its eastern front.

As it looks the fire is headed towards Crystal Lake and Highway 39.

The image below is from Google Earth using the USFS kml overlay that mimics the GeoMac heat detection software.

The views below are pointing west at the advancing fire from above Crystal Lake.

NorthTree Fire International has put together this map of the fire perimeter. NorthTree is THE fire mapping service.

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=http:%2F%2Fwww.northtreefire.com%2Fgis%2Fintel%2Fstation.kmz&ie=UTF8&t=p&ll=34.337766,-118.212891&spn=0.437141,0.891953&output=embed&w=425&h=350]

Current published acreage for the Station Fire is 42,000. You can see from the GeoMac image below the fire is significantly larger than that now. Although the command team says there will be no change in tactics due to the firefighter deaths I suspect that is not altogether true.

The eastern progression may be allowed to run towards Pearblossom with firefighters laying freeway sized dozers lines at some point in the forest. Dietrich will guard against runs to the west and will try to prevent the fire from doubling back to the south into Sierra Madre. In my opinion this is the biggest danger looking at the map.

WildlandFire.com has very good coverage of all new and ongoing wildfires in the state.

InciWeb publishes information directly from the incident command team. The data is updated twice daily.

The images below show a look at the Station Fire as it is seen by residents in Acton and other communities in the Santa Clarita Valley.

For anyone that wants to listen to Station Fire air attack communications listen here.

Choose the channel from the menu that focuses on LA County Sheriff, Fire, and EMS.
The current status is: Scanning BRUSH FIRE

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=117631292961056724014.0004720e21d9cded17ce4&t=p&source=embed&ll=34.341168,-118.164825&spn=0.566957,0.823975&output=embed&w=425&h=350]

The Station Fire incident commander is Mike Dietrich. Dietrich who commanded the efforts on 240,000 acre Zaca fire in 2007 and the 230,000 acre Basin Complex in 2008 has come out of retirement to lead this effort.

Dietrich and his team take a wider view of incidents of this magnitude. Expect this fire to expand well beyond the current perimeters. His resources will be deployed at the urban-rural interface with emphasis placed on structure protection, as it should be.

Dietrich’s team was criticised by some during the Basin Complex in Big Sur for leaving many homes and one monastery to their own fate but he won’t do that with the eyes of the Los Angeles media on top of the fire.

With resources rightfully focused on structure protection the fire will move north and east as fuel, topography and weather dictate. As the fire moves towards Acton Dietrich’s firefighters will be well positioned to save homes that are savable.

This fire is an odd egg. It’s a Socal monster fire with no wind driving it.

Nearly every major fire in Southern California in recent years has been wind driven. The Station Fire is feeding on drought parched fuel beds that have not burned for fifty years or more.

Where will it go? I expect this acreage to double from here with personnel working on this fire for weeks after containment. The danger is the longer there is open flame the closer we get to October when the Santa Ana winds come howling off the high desert.

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As of this morning the Station Fire is now over 35,000 acres with minimal containment. The west head of the fire looks like it wants to merge with the 2008 Marek and Sesnon burns. To the north the fire heads towards the town of Acton in the Santa Clarita Valley. The eastern head of the fire moves unabated deeper into the Angeles National Forest.

The best local coverage of the Station Fire and other blazes burning in Southern California is on KCAL.com.

The LA Times as usual does a fantastic job of covering the fires as well.

Of course Twitter Search is also abuzz with local insights and also where I found this time lapse video.

Time Lapse Test: Station Fire from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.

The fire has consumed 20,000 acres and has burned 3 homes near La Canada and dozens of cabins in the Angeles National Forest within the San Gabriel Mountain range.

4,000 have been evacuated so far as the fire works its way towards the town of Acton near Santa Clarita. With a 360 degree flame front in steep, inaccessible terrain that has not burned in over 50 years firefighters are severely challenged.

One firefighter has a heat related injury and three civilians were injured in the Big Tujunga Canyon area trying to defend their home.

Information gleaned from the ICS-209

Values at Risk:

12 hours: Northern portions of the City of La Canada-Flintridge, Mount Lukens Communications Facility, Edison 220 Kv Powerlines, Edison 33Kv Powerlines to Mt. Wilson, Gould Sub-station, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Arroyo Seco Residences, and Altadena.
24 hours: Northern portions of the City of La Canada-Flintridge, Altadena, Mount Lukens Communications Facility, Edison 220 Kv Powerlines, Edison 33Kv Powerlines to Mt. Wilson, Gould Sub-station, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Arroyo Seco Residences, ANF Clear Creek Fire Station, Clear Creek School, and the Mount Wilson Communications Facility/Observatory.

The Station Fire ice capped mid afternoon providing Southern Californians with a spectacular view of the fast growing blaze. Everyone in the Southland can see this fire.

I grabbed the images below from Google Earth using the USFS kml files from the MODIS Active Fire Program site.

Looking up at the San Gabriel Mountans from between Montrose and San Gabriel.

The Station Fire is currently reported at 5,500 acres with minimal containment. As you can see from the GeoMac image below the fire has multiple heads. Though there is not any wind event present or in the forecast it bears watching. Fuel moisture content is extremely low and the weather is hot.

I took this information straight from InciWeb. Follow the Station Fire on Twitter

Basic Information

Incident Type Wildfire
Cause Under Investigation
Date of Origin Wednesday August 26th, 2009 approx 03:30 PM
Location Los Angeles River Ranger District / Angeles National Forest
Incident Commander Michael Dietrich

Current Situation

Total Personnel 751
Size 5,500 acres
Percent Contained 5%
Estimated Containment Date Tuesday September 08th, 2009 approx 06:00 PM
Fuels Involved

Very heavy fuels of ceanothus (sp), chamise, scrub oak and manzanita across the entire fire area, 15 to 20 feet in height with Big Cone Douglas Fir in the drainage bottoms. Fuels have not experienced any significant large fire activity in the past 40 years.

Fire Behavior

Friday behavior was very active to extreme, with rapid rates of spread and flame lengths up to 80 feet. There is a potential for Saturday’s fire behavior to be similar to Friday. Around noon Saturday, after the inversion has lifted, expect actively spreading fire with up slope runs. Spotting may occur from 1/4 mile up to 1/2 mile.

Significant Events

Mandatory Evacuations as of early Saturday morning include Starlight Crest Drive north to Green Ridge Court, including Forest Green Drive, two, Big Briar Way at Haskel, and third, Donna Maria Lane, Indian Drive, Hacienda Drive, Alta Canada Rd., North of Linda Vista, La Canada Blvd. north of El Vago Street. Evacuation Center: La Canada High School, 4463 Oak Grove Drive, La Canada, CA. Angeles Crest Highway remains closed.

Outlook

Planned Actions

Prepare and protect structures when and where necessary. Construct handlines and dozer lines.

Growth Potential Extreme
Terrain Difficulty Extremely steep and inaccessible

Remarks

1800 homes threatened. 27 commercial properties and 52 other stuctures threatened.

Current Weather

Wind Conditions 5-8 mph E
Temperature 80 degrees
Humidity 30%