Red Alert for Calif. - GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES TONIGHT AND SAT

[link to usnews.nbcnews.com]

'Monster' California wildfire reaches ocean, pushes toward Malibu




The Springs Fire is reflected on wet sand Thursday night at a beach near the Pacific Coast Highway, just north of the Ventura County line. Friday morning, the fire had reached the beach and was burning toward Malibu.

By John Newland, Staff Writer, NBC News
Southern California firefighters were battling a growing, brush-fueled wildfire early Friday that had reached the beach in Ventura County and was pushing toward the upscale city of Malibu, officials said.
The so-called Springs Fire, made worse by howling Santa Ana winds and unusually dry vegetation, was within "seven or eight miles" of Malibu at 2 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET), Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Bill Nash said.
"We've got hot, dirty, unglamorous firefighting work going on right now, guys with shovels trying to scratch out lines on the ground," Nash said early Friday. "We've got those guys on these steep hillsides in the dark with nothing but the light of the fire and a flashlight."



Weather permitting, the six water-tanker airplanes and eight helicopters working the fire were to return to duty after sunrise, he said.

Official reports put the fire's size at about 8,000 acres, or 12 square miles, but Nash said it had grown overnight -- "we just don't know by how much."

The fires become especially dangerous when tree cover is dry and Santa Anna winds gust at high speeds, creating a wake-up call for everyone in California to be prepared. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.
Evacuations took place Thursday, and as of Friday morning 15 homes had been damaged. More than 2,000 homes and 100 commercial properties were under threat from the fire, Nash said, adding that the numbers could grow as Friday wore on.
"Where it's burning right now, the population is mostly ranches and camps and rural-type properties," he said. "But it doesn't have to go very far to get to some expensive homes and more populated areas. ... It came out literally on the beach and now it's essentially burning down the mountainside toward Malibu."
Though the more than 900 firefighters on the scene got a brief overnight reprieve as the humidity jumped and winds died down, conditions were expected to worsen after sunrise on Friday.
Santa Ana winds, which blow torrid air from the desert toward the Pacific Ocean, were at a sustained 40 mph Thursday and were expected to return on Friday, though perhaps to a lesser degree, Nash said.
Complicating the situation is the extremely dry plant life left from a season in which only about five inches of rain fell, he added.
Friday "may be the hottest day of the week, and the humidity we do expect to plummet," he said. "We’re faced with a situation right now where the vegetation on the hillsides, the moisture level is what we typically see in August."

Local Fox 11 news says:

Red Flag Warning
until 5pm Friday
- High Winds, Hot Temps & Dry Relative Hunidities under 5%

Wind Advisory until 2pm Today
Areas of NE Winds 15 to 30mph -- with guts up to 45mph

The News says the Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC), worth billions is there, there as well and hoping they to set the fires back before it hits the base.


[link to en.wikipedia.org]

???

I guess this update of mine was a waste of time? Hello???

Not a waste, just not much to say about it.

Fires burn every year here, as you know.

I was kind of hoping some out of state GLPers to hop in their car n come out here n help us!

Where are U?

...take care, God bless

Ok, but keep on eye on that Naval base, it's a big communications op

Oh my

Sorry, that's all I got.

The winds are actually less today. And the wind is forecasted to be LESS tonight not more. There is also a little humidity coming in beginning Saturday in the form of a marine layer, and on Sunday a chance of actual sprinkles. The fires are something to keep an eye on but your title is misleading

Seems early for the Santa Annas.

Sounds like another rough year in SoCal.

My title is not misleading:

It's straight from this advisory warning:



[link to www.srh.noaa.gov]