AMU Emergency Management Public Safety

California Wildfires Merge into Mega-Wildfire

California is on fire amid intense heat wave

California, to put it lightly, has had a rough couple-five years. CA is still enduring through a terrible drought and now a searing heat wave has socked the southern part of the state. Something has to give. In the past week, that “something” has been, unfortunately, the dry, parched land giving way to a series of wildfires.

Southern California is burning up.

There are currently no fewer than four large wildfires burning in the state: the Border Fire, the Sherpa Fire, the Pony Fire, and the San Gabriel Complex Fire (formerly known as the Fish Fire and Reservoir Fire).

More on the first three fires in a bit, because the San Gabriel Complex Fire requires some explanation.

San Gabriel Complex Fire, a mega-wildfire

According to [link url=”http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4801/” title=”Inciweb,“] the so-called San Gabriel Complex Fire came to life after two smaller fires merged into one. Both the Reservoir Fire and the Fish Fire began on the morning of June 20 and have since combined into one single mega-fire.

The combined acreage in the mega-fire is about 4900 acres. The fire is approximately 10 percent contained as of this morning; more that 1400 personnel are fighting the fire — ground crews, engines, helicopters, aircraft, and large machinery.

Here’s a breakdown of the status of other current fires in the state.

Border Fire

The [link url=”http://calfireinformation.weebly.com/border-fire-updates.html” title=”Border Fire“] in San Diego County began on the morning of June 19 and has since grown to more than 6,500 acres. Officials list the fire as 15 percent contained.

There have been at least 13 structures destroyed and another 1,000 structures are in danger. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Sherpa Fire

The [link url=”http://calfireinformation.weebly.com/sherpa-fire-updates.html” title=”Sherpa Fire“] in Santa Barbara County began in the afternoon of June 17 and has since grown to nearly 8,000 acres. Firefighters have been able to achieve 89 percent containment as of this morning.

The fire destroyed at least one structured and injured nine people. Nearly 1,700 people have been involved fighting this fire, the cause of which is still under investigation.

Pony Fire

Lightning caused the [link url=”http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4769/” title=”Pony Fire,“] which is still burning in the Klamath National Forest. As of late last night, the size of the fire stood at just less than 2,900 acres and firefighters had achieved about 60 percent containment.

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