Another brush fire broke out around 11:15 this morning near Mount Rubidoux Park in Riverside and quickly burned 35 acres. Firefighters are hampered by 30-mph winds.
The Thomas fire has now burned 272,200 acres and is 60% contained. All evacuation orders have been lifted.
The Riverside fire has burned 50 acres. Firefighters have stopped its forward progress. Three hundred homes were threatened but only two were slightly damaged. The cause of the fire is unknown.
https://www.scpr.org/news/2017/12/21...ns-residences/
The Thomas Fire has now burned 272,800 acres and is 65% contained. Firefighters today are setting backfires -- "controlled burns," as they're called -- near Highway 33 on the north side of the fire, hoping winds will push the flames south toward the main body of the fire and prevent the fire from jumping the highway.
News media are calling the Thomas fire California's largest wildfire in recorded history, but that "recorded history" goes back only to 1932. The 1889 Santiago Canyon fire in southern California burned 300,000 acres. The Thomas fire is now at 65% containment and has burned 273,400 acres -- 427 square miles.
The San Diego fire chief says they know the exact spot where the Lilac fire started. It started on the west side of the 15 freeway but they still do not know what caused it. They think maybe a truck was dragging a chain and it caused sparks. They will probably never know for sure. The fire was just a few blocks away from where my family lives.
The Thomas fire has now burned 281,620 acres -- 440 square miles -- and is 86% contained. Firefighters are working to contain the blaze on the north and northeast flanks. It will be at least another week, perhaps two, before the fire is out and they will be able to enjoy a belated Christmas with their families.
The Thomas fire is now 90% contained. The October wildfires in northern California killed 44 people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings -- and this week, in the rubble of a destroyed home, some boys found a grimy bowl containing several goldfish that miraculously survived the fire. The boys are hoping to locate the former residents and return the fish to them.
Goldfish somehow survived Santa Rosa wildfire that burned their home
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...227-story.html
Two hundred eighty-one thousand, eight hundred ninety-three acres burned so far -- and the Thomas Fire still is not fully contained.
Light winds, smoldering brush spark flare-up on western flank of Thomas fire burn area
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...229-story.html
The Thomas fire remains at 92% containment and authorities do not expect the fire to be completely out until January 21 -- but that could change. Rain is expected January 8 and 9. Unfortunately, rain will bring new problems:
Community warned of looming threat of flash floods, mud flows from Thomas fire
http://www.keyt.com/news/community-w...fire/681992917
Well, those looming "flash floods" and "mud flows" have indeed happened. Twenty thousand homes near the Thomas fire burn area were placed under mandatory evacuation two nights ago but not everyone left their homes. A fire captain just confirmed to KNX NewsRadio that they have found five bodies in the Montecito area and many more people are missing and unaccounted for. Dozens of homes and buildings have been knocked off their foundations.
Our state went through droughts, then fires, now floods -- and we're still waiting for that long-predicted earthquake known as "The Big One." California needs a new nickname. "The Golden State" just isn't cutting it anymore.
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