Zaca Fire: Emergency Briefing Call
The Governor's Office just hosted an Emergency Briefing Call at 2:30, concluding at 2:54 pm. Following are notes from the call:
Yesterday morning, the Governor's Office received a request to declare an emergency in Ventura County, which was signed by the Governor yesterday. This follows a declaration for SB County on August 3rd.
The #1 Priority for Unified Command is the southern edge of the fire, which is "almost buttoned up", with two miles of open fire line to secure. #2 Priority is in the northeast, the Richardson Zone, which spans both counties. They are confident on having a "good handle on it by tonight." #3 Priority is the northwest, which is rough terrain. The plan is still being established.
A coordination team has been established at VC Fairgrounds, working on the possibility of the fire expanding into Matilija Canyon. The teams are being challenged by an active Fire Weather Watch. Challenges faced include difficult terrain and "no recorded fire history, exceeding 75 to 100 years" for much of it. What is going well is the total communication effort, with no breakdowns recorded.
The DC-10 has flown every day "for the past few days". Forest Service Air Operations gives it high praise, but warns that it is not a "silver bullet", but a tool in the toolbox which is being used effectively and well.
There are bulldozer contingency lines just about completed at Wills and Rice Canyon, at least 8-10 miles as the crow flies from the fire. All lines are holding, and the fire has not crossed Highway 33. Trigger points have been established, which would give the Ojai community 72 hour notice if the fire does come in.
Highway 33 has a hard closure at Pine Mountain, including closure to residents, until the burnout is done. Gravel trucks, which have been watched traveling 33 would not be able to get past the hard closure were they to travel up that far. I believe that the 33 is not closed at Wheeler Gorge right now, but has been moved up to Pine Mountain, so that Rose Valley residents can reach their homes and farms.
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Comments (6)
I was glad to see Ginnys’ report from Ojai, California that the DC-10 Supertanker water bombing aircraft is now dropping fire retardant on the Santa Barbara Zaca fire on federal land, in addition to state land, with CAL -FIRE picking up the tab. Sadly, this is the first time I've heard of the U.S. Forest Service using a Supertanker in any way but I'm glad for this small but significant improvement. The DC-10 or Supertankers like it are THE SINGLE SOLUTION to uncontrolled wildfires in our entire country which the U.S. Forest Service has refused to use and obstructed for over 12 years, thus facilitating the destruction of thousands of homes and scores of lives with seeming impunity then and now(see: www.JBS.org (search: wildfire). This has to stop and the officials involved prosecuted if we are to stop being horribly victimized by a U.S. Forest Service that promotes deadly fires instead of putting them out. It's sad also that CAL-FIRE has to foot the bill for DC-10 drops on federal land to stop fires that the U.S. Forest Service WON'T stop that are threatening California. The truth is that 5 or 6 Supertankers (3 DC-10s' and 3 Boeing 747s') would pragmatically end all uncontrolled wildfires in our country which is what we need! We must not forget that all our major fires in California (and the rest of the country) during the past 12 years could have been stopped by the Supertanker aircraft the U.S. Forest Service deliberately REFUSED to use. Some people are saying this is because the U.S. fire officials view massive fires as money making opportunities for themselves and their sweetheart sub-contractors and the longer the fire burns the more money they're going to make. I realize this sounds too horrible to believe can happen in America but I will comment from my personal experience in dealing with politicians and bureaucrats for a great part of my life by observing that they have constituted the seemingly dumbest, most self-serving, truly sub-human life forms I have ever met, who care about their paychecks and pensions but absolutely nothing for human life or suffering. This has to change and the U.S. Forest Service is a good place to start. Contact your representatives now and demand Supertankers be developed and used continuously on ALL uncontrolled wildfires! -Ed Nemechek --760-246-8059 (ednemechek@verizon.net).
Comment #1 Posted by: Ed Nemechek | August 20, 2007 03:29 PM
I don't know about the U.S. Forest Service but Ed's allegation about politicians and their sweetheart subcontractors (and bosses) wanting to make money for themselves off of the sufferings of others is evident to anyone who has half a brain and is not brainwashed by our media who are also in on the scam. That line of thinking occured to me earlier today when I saw a couple fire trucks in town. When a fire breaks out, wouldn't officials know it very soon, with cells phones and all nowadays. If they had three or four big planes on standby, it seems reasonable they could really stop it if they wanted, unless there was a roaring wind which might make it out of control. I'm no expert; just following up on Ed's comment.
Comment #2 Posted by: Dennis Leary | August 20, 2007 08:22 PM
Thanks Tyler for the update! I’m back at work and monitoring the site once again on my breaks!
OK, Ed does make some good points – and yes Ed’s concerns about the DC-10 flying on Fed land was true just a few months ago during the Day. But it appears our Governor (or someone) has cut through the red tape to get the DC-10 on Fed lands. Major improvement and a major step for us in CA!
Now my response to Ed (sigh). Like Ed I have a lifetime of experience working with the Feds and have personally lived/worked/dealt with them in DC. It’s unbelievable, but nothing we do will change that environment in the near term – no letter writing campaigns or phone calls. I know this comment will probably spring a whole new rant, but sadly it’s true. When living in the DC area I watched as the Congress (no less) had to vote on the Dulles toll road improvements the state of VA wanted to do – a state and public run airport….our tax dollars at work. Our representatives enjoy reserved parking at the front doors of those airports (Dulles, BWI, National) relegating us peons to shuttles from parking lots located in the far forty. The perks they get are vast. It’s a mind set that we aren’t going to change in the near future, and it is believed to be an inherited right. The same arrogance we have seen from the CEOs (e.g. Enron) is the same arrogance our representatives have. It’s big business and big perks/bucks, and I hate to say it’s the American way. Boy do I know this sounds negative (sorry), and rocks will fly - but it’s true for the ‘movers and shakers’.
As for Ed’s concerns about the CDF paying for the DC-10 – they won’t. It’s a game or shell-game (as they say). The cities and counties don’t have the resources and money to pay for these fires, so they cry foul to the State. The State doesn’t want to pay for the fires, so they call Emergency/Disaster….the next step is the President declares a disaster and viola the Feds kick in the bucks. Come on folks – we have seen this played over and over - Day Fire, the flood, etc. The next step in this ‘game’ is the aftermath that we poor peons get beat over the head again with – Why are these folks allowed to build in these high risk areas that cost us (US citizens) to pay for time and again. We (US citizens) should enact more regulations to stop the proliferation of building in these areas. Then we are back at square-one – more laws, restrictions, and folks (like those in Matilija) who fear if they burn and lose everything they won’t be able to rebuild because of the new ‘laws’.
As for the independent contractors working the Zaca – the firefighters have several blogs going with their complaints, but they are caught in the same bureaucracy. So all of this is not a infamous plot to destroy CA or Ojai – it’s business as usual.
These fires are big business with big bucks attached to them – Fed, State, County, City. Our tax dollars (Fed and State) pay for them, and I for one am ecstatic for the quality of resources we have on this fire. Every boot on the ground, every individual risking his/her well being, and every gov’t official who has supported this effort.
We are all adults, and some of us have the grey hair to prove it . Let’s just praise our lucky stars for the quality of folks we have fighting this fire, the resources assigned and pray Ojai and our sister cities (each and every resident) is spared from any harm and/or loss.
I apologize for this super-long post…let the rocks fly….and then can we get back to the Zaca?! ..and I promise never to post such a long and/or negative message again!
Comment #3 Posted by: Ginny | August 20, 2007 10:03 PM
Ginny -
What do you know about the independent contractors? Who are they? What are they doing? Who called them in? Who do they answer to?
Comment #4 Posted by: phalarope | August 20, 2007 11:19 PM
Ginny -
Do you have links to any of the firefighter blogs you reference?
Comment #5 Posted by: Tanya | August 21, 2007 05:04 PM
Thanks for not stoning me on my post - I was really expecting it. I was in the South Bay all day, and just got home. I took HWY 1 down there, and on the way back tonight (approx 1 hr ago) there is a strong smell of smoke along the Beach in Oxnard behind the Port H. Don't know if that is a wind shift off the Zaca or a blow down from the fire in Lompoc.
The top site I've found that the firefighters are posting to is www.wildlandfire.com - great site! For the talk on contractors click on the TheySaid button. For posts on the Zaca click on the News button, then WFL Hot List Forum and Search on Zaca. I think you'll have fun playing with the links on the News site (e.g. live scanners)- and learn a bunch on the TheySaid site concerning the political struggles the firefighters are dealing with!
Enjoy - and I'm glad I don't have to start wearing a disguise when I go to town (smile).
Comment #6 Posted by: Ginny | August 21, 2007 11:08 PM