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| Above: Flames from Southern California’s Thomas Fire shoot up over shrubs left dry by months without rain. Photo from Inciweb by Kari Greer. |
Cal Fire reported today that there has been one firefighter fatality on the Thomas Fire involving one of that agency’s California staffers. ODF extends its condolences to that firefighter’s family and to all our colleagues at Cal Fire. As more details are released by Cal Fire we will share that information.
ODF’s agency representative at the Thomas Fire reports that all 62 firefighting personnel deployed there from ODF districts and the Coos and Douglas Forest Protective Associations are safe. The Oregon Office of the State Fire Marshal is reporting that the 300 Oregon firefighters deployed through that office and other fire entities are also safe.
Our firefighters are among more than 8,000 personnel engaged on the Thomas Fire, which is burning in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties northwest of Los Angeles. It has grown to more than 242,000 acres, making it the fourth largest wildfire in modern California history. As in any wildfire, firefighter safety is a top priority for our task force leaders and crews.
A red-flag warning is in effect until 10 a.m. Friday. No rain is forecast. In Santa Barbara County, the fire continues to threaten Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Summerland, Montecito and surroundings areas. Some 18,000 structures are reported at risk and big sections of the Los Padres National Forest have burned. High fuel loading, critically low fuel moistures, above-average temperatures and single-digit relative humidities are reported to be spurring growth on the fire’s west, east and north sides. Despite that, firefighters have made progress on the fire. As of this morning the fire was reported as 30% contained.
While wildfires occur every year in California, 14 of the 20 largest fires by acres burned have all occurred since 2001, according to Cal Fire statistics. Eight of those mega-fires happened just in the past decade.
For the latest information about the Thomas Fire, visit Cal Fire’s incident information page at http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents.