Singer-Songwriter Rain Perry on Surviving the Thomas Fire

Singer-songwriter Rain Perry lost her music studio and contents in the 2017 Thomas Fire that burned over 280,000 acres in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Rain lives in Ojai and was fortunate that her home was not destroyed. Many of her neighbors lost their homes to the Thomas Fire. Rain has recently released a video of a song that she wrote, Vapor, filmed at the ruins of the historic Amestoy House in Upper Ojai. One of Rain's representative's contacted me because I write a blog focusing on wildland firefighting asking me if I would share the video with you. I listened to her video featuring at least 12 friends and neighbors who lost their homes and or studios. Each of the dozen people you will see in the video have an object from their burned homes. I found the video to be very moving and thought that some of you would like to see her video. Vapor is but one of the songs on her new album, Let's be Brave. The proceeds of the April 27th celebration of the release of Let's Be Brave held in Ojai CA will benefit the California Community Foundation Wildfire Release Fund.  Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today wrote about Rain Perry and her Let's Be Brave album on April 23rd.


Direct link to Vapor by Rain Perry

Mud slides in area burned by Thomas Fire

Mudslides over night on January 8th-9th 2018 in Montecito area of California. The mudslides, at least in some areas, can be attributed to the Thomas Fire (281,893 acres burned at 92% containment). Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today covered the mudslides in a January 9th article.

Here are a couple of Youtube videos, one from ABC News published on January 9th and a second from CBS Los Angeles published on January 10th.

God speed to all affected . . .


Direct link to video (Jan 9th ABC evening news)


Direct link to video (Jan 10th)

MAFFS6 dropping on Thomas Fire (December 8th)

Here are two videos of MAFFs 6 of the 146th Air Wing of the  Air National Guard (Port Hueneme, California) dropping on the Thomas Fire (Ventura County, California). Both videos are filmed by Col Bryan Allen. Allow about 14 minutes to watch both videos. According to the information provided by Col Allen, "The location of this drop area is Northwest of the City of Fillmore, Northeast of Ventura, on the larger mountain above Fillmore/Santa Paula"

Thank-you 146th Air Wing!


Direct link to video on Youtube


Direct link to video on Youtube

Thanks to US Navy "Black Jacks" HSC Sea Hawks for helping with San Diego County Wildfires

It was not only the Marines who sent helicopters to help out with the recent wildfires that burned in San Diego County, California. At least one Sea Hawk Helicopter from the "Black Jacks" of the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21 based in San Diego.

In this video, just under nine minutes, you will see an MH-60s Sea Hawk Helicopter assigned to the "Black Jacks" working the wildfire. I like the video because I get to see the crew loading the helicopter, attaching the bucket, dipping, and then dropping. There is also some nice footage shot from behind the two pilots looking out front as they lift off.

Thank-you "Black Jacks"

Thanks to the Marines for helping with the Lilac Fire (San Diego County, CA)

I knew from media reports that the Marines from Camp Pendleton, CA helped with the Lilac Fire that burned 4,100 acres (95 percent containment) in San Diego County, CA. I went looking for some videos to share with you from DVIDS, Defense Video Imagery Distribution Systems. I was in luck because I was quickly directed to a page devoted to Marine Corps Support to California Fire.

The three short videos that I am embedding below feature the Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA 267), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. They supplied two UH-1Y Venom with 320 gallon buckets. All the videos are dated December 8, 2017.

Thank-you Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA 267)!!

In the first video you will hear how the Marines were helping CAL FIRE, video by Lance Cpl. Dylan Chagnon.


Direct link to video with description of video

This short video shows some images of the two UH-1Y Venom along with images shot over the fire, video by Sgt. David Bickel


Direct link to video with description of video


Finally, this last video shows one of the UH-1Y Venom's dipping, video by Cpl. Sarah Ralph.


Direct link to video with description of video

Thomas Fire (Ventura & Santa Barbara Counties, CA) grew over the weekend

Direct link to video from CBS San Fran Cisco Bay Area

While the Lilac Fire (San Diego County CA) is now at 80 percent containment having burned 4,100 acres the Thomas Fire, now in its eighth day, in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties California has grown over the weekend to 230,500 acres (15 percent containment).



Smoke images posted about 2 PM PDT on December 12th


Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today on the Thomas Fire: December 10th update and photos of east side.

Media reports
Washington Post (Dec 10th) nice article with photos and videos
Washington Post on Santa Ana Winds with graphics (great information with great graphics)
CNN (Dec. 11th) with a photo gallery
CBS2 Los Angeles photo gallery
Los Angeles Daily News article, discussion on containment

Southern California Wildfires - Lilac Fire (San Diego County) December 2017

Update, December 9, 2017 7:30 AM EST

According to the CAL FIRE Lalic Fire Incident Page, last updated at 9:38 PM PDT the Lilac Fire remains at 4,100 acres burned and as at 15 percent containment. Depending on when you access this post, what you see on the CAL Fire Incident Page for the Lilac Fire may be different.

Update, December 8, 2017 7:30 PM EST

The Lilac Fire remains at 4,100 acres burned and zero containment per the CAL FIRE Lalic Fire Incident Page; as I write this there have been no updates on acreage burned or containment since this morning. The good news is that winds in the San Diego County and the Lilac Fire area were not as bad today. I believe that some air tankers and helicopters made some drops on the Lilac Fire, but I have no confirmation of that.  A smaller fire, known as the Sweetwater Fire has burned approximately eight acres near Alpine in the southern part of San Diego County in the Cleveland National Forest.

The bad news is that the Santa Ana winds will pick up in intensity over the weekend, especially Saturday night into Sunday. Hopefully diminishing early next week. Here is a video report from the NWS San Diego dated December 8, 2017.

Direct Link to Video from NWS San Diego

In my wonderings today, I found another nice interactive map, this one from ABC10 San Diego. You may click on icons in the map for more information - videos, pictures, evacuation centers, etc. The direct link to the ABC10 report and video may be found here.




December 8th, 11:20 AM EST

I have loved ones in and around San Diego County, they are ok! So, I am going to focus on the Lilac Fire that was first reported on December 7th about 11:30 AM near Bonsall, California (San Diego County). As I write this about 11 AM EST), the fire has burned 4,100 acres and is burning out of control. At least 65 structures have been destroyed, and evacuations remain in place, and there are road closures in the area. There have been four civilian injuries, burns and smoke inhalation. For more current information about the fire you might want to check out the twitter feed of the CAL FIRE San Diego Unit or the CAL FIRE San Diego/San Diego Fire Authority Facebook page.

The Lilac Fire as well as other wildfires burning in Southern California have been driving by Santa Ana Winds. Red Flag Warnings are in place for much of Southern California through Sunday evening. The graphic that I am embedding below is from the NWS San Diego, posted about 7:40 AM PST. As you can see, Santa Ana Winds are forecast to continue through Sunday, December 10th.



I found the map of the area burned by the Lilac Fire that I am embedding below from a December 8th report by NBC San Diego. I accessed the map at about 8:10 AM PST on December 8th. Go here to view a larger map and be sure to check the box saying evacuations to see more detail on the areas that were under voluntary or mandatory evacuations at the time the map was published.



If you are interesting in current news of the Lilac Fire you might want to check out NBC San Diego, or CBS8 San Diego.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today wrote about the Lilac Fire on December 7th and again on December 8th.

Some current media reports as of 11 AM EDT.

• CBS8 report (December 8th) with live stream
• December 8th report by NBC San Diego
• Photo Gallery from San Diego Tribune

Southern California Wildfires - December 2017

Like many of you, I have been following the news of yet another round of Santa-Ana wind driven wildfires over the last 36 hours, this time in southern California. The largest of these, and the one I first heard about yesterday morning is the Thomas Fire in Ventura County California. As I write this the Thomas Fire has burned 65,000 acres, is not contained, 12,000 structures are threatened, and evacuations are in place.

Video from NBC Los Angeles' News Helicopter over wildfires (December 5th) compared to before the wildfires


direct link to video from NBC 4 in Los Angeles

Short aerial footage from Guardian News

Direct link to video on Youtube from Guardian News

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has been covering these southern California wildfires, both on Wildfire Today and Fire Aviation:

• Skirball Fire closes I405 in Los Angeles
• Thomas Fire burns to ocean
• Southern California wildfires from space
• California temporarily reconstitutes aerial fleets
• MAFFS and 747 tanker activated

A sampling of media reports:

• Washington Post - photo essay (December 6th, limited free views)
• New York Times - photo essay (December 6th, limited free views)
• KSBY - central California Air Attack assisting in southern California wildfires
• NBC Bay Area - Bay area crews assisting in southern California wildfires
• NBC 4 Los Angeles - Wind driven wildfires
• NBC 4 Los Angeles - Traffic woes, evacuations, etc. (video, photos, and map)

MAFFS in action over Oct 2017 northern California wildfires

Watch this video of MAFFS 4 and 6 from the 146th Air Wing of the California Air National Guard over the Central Complex Wildfires that burned in and near Santa Rosa in October 2017.

Direct link to video

Footage of Tubbs Fire from firefighters perspective

Some awesome footage of the Tubbs Fire that recently burned near Santa Rosa California. This footage was shot by firefighters from Berkley California, and is courtesy of the Berkeley Fire Department. Allow about eleven minutes for the video.


Direct link to video from KTVU (courtesy of Berkeley Fire Department)

Graphic novelist Brian Fies: account of losing his home to recent CA wildfires

I'd like to thank Mike Archer for introducing me to Brian Fies through his October 19th (2017) edition of Wildfire News of the Day. I was intrigued by his description of Fies' work:

In an 18-page web comic titled "A Fire Story", a graphic artist who lost is home in Santa Rosa's Tubbs Fire tried to capture how 50 mph wids turned that blaze into a 'napalm tsunami.'

Archer then linked to a CNN story focusing on award winning graphic artist Brian Fies account of losing his Santa Rosa house to the Tubbs Fire (as I write this on October 20th, 36,432 acres burned at 93 percent containment), you may find the October 18th CNN story on Fies' 18-page web-comic account of losing his house here. Here is an excerpt from the CNN story:

Brian Fies sat down with some Sharpies and some paper to process his pain the way he knows best. 

He began to draw. 

The result is "A Fire Story," an 18-page web comic that recounts the heart-wrenching devastation the California wildfires has wrought.

It details how 50 mph winds turned the Tubbs Fire into a "napalm tsunami." How the blaze devoured his family's home in Santa Rosa, leaving it a heap of burned ash. How all that's left for survivors like him is to inventory prized possessions they'll never see again.

I have no first hand experience in anything that comes close to the experience of losing a house to a wildfire or other natural disaster. Fies is one of thousands who have lost their homes and/or businesses to the recent California wildfires. Perhaps his story is similar to those elsewhere who have lost homes and or businesses to wildfires whether it be this year or in years past.

So I went to Brian's blog and read his web-comic. A Fire Story, where he writes and draws about his family's experiences. First the evacuation, then going back to find that his house is gone, and then the aftermath. Brian Fies' web-comic  account of losing his house to the Tubbs Fire may be found on his October 15th blog entry. Here is an excerpt from Brian's October 15th blog:

It's a first-person report from the front line. They're not always pretty. 

Page 9 has some profanity. Actually, it has nothing but profanity. Sorry. I wrestled with that, but that's exactly the way it happened and I am an honest reporter.

Thank-you Brian for this first person account, and sometimes painful account, of losing your home with us. Words escape me. I wish you and the other families who have lost their homes Godspeed in the coming weeks, months, and years.

IMETs working northern California wildfires (Oct 2017): update

I am sharing a nice video that I believe was from earlier the week of October 16th (perhaps Monday, October 16th?) courtesy of the Weather Channel. You will hear NWS incident meteorologist  (IMET)  Tom Wright (from the US NWS Medford OR) then assigned to the Southern LNU Complex (which includes the Atlas Fire) describing the then current weather situation over the Southern LNU Complex.

IMET Wright was asked what the biggest challenge was that he faced as a meteorologist assigned to this fire. He said forecasting the winds and went on to discuss a little about the challenges the winds posed.



You may recall that one of my blog entries for Friday, October 13th was devoted to IMETs working the northern California wildfires. Just before I posted that article, I reached out the IMET staff behind the US National Weather Service, IMET Facebook page I asked them a question which I get to in a moment. I had started out be mentioning that I knew that these were wind driven fires. I had used the term Santa Anna winds, only to later realize that what are know as Santa Ana Winds in Southern California are called Diablo Winds in the Bay area (see this blog entry on the Diablo Winds).

Random Ramblings: Is there one thing that you would like my readers to know about what IMETs contribute to helping firefighters fight these firestorms (my reference to the wildfires in northern California), and are these contributions different from what they usually do?

US National Weather Service IMET Office: In terms of the work being done by the IMETs in California, it is similar to what we do with other fires. Certainly the Santa Ana winds are something unique to California and are a challenge, but our mission remains the same, which is to keep firefighters and the public safe and support the Incident Management Team with weather information so that they can make tactical decisions on their windows of opportunity and when they may need to disengage.

As I write this article on October 18th, an IMET from the US National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office at Hanford CA is being deployed to the Southern LNU Complex. As of earlier this morning (October 18th), the Atlas Fire referenced in the Weather Channel interview with IMET Wright has burned 51,064 acres and is at 83 percent containment.



IMETs save lives!!

Northern California Wildfires - update for Oct 16th

According to the CAL FIRE Statewide Summary for Monday, October 16th there are 14 large wildfires burning in California accounting for over 213,000 acres burned. An estimated 5,700 structures have been destroyed. At the time I post this, 41 people have died. Some evacuation orders in northern California have been lifted and other evacuation orders are being reevaluated. A driver of private water tender working the Nuns Fire died in a vehicle rollover on Oakville Grade in Napa County. CBS Bay Area reported on the death of the driver in this vehicle rollover in an October 16th report

I compiled the following information on wildfires burning in northern California from the California Statewide Fire Summary (CAL FIRE PIO twitter) for Monday, October 16, 2017. As I transcribed the data from the CAL FIRE PIO's twitter post, any errors in the figures are mine.

Central LNU Complex, In unified command with Santa Rosa Fire Department and Sonoma County Sheriff, CAL FIRE Incident Management Team assigned. 23 civilian fatalities

• Tubs Fire (Sonoma and Napa Counties) 36,390 acres, 70% contained, significant number of structures destroyed
• Pocket Fire (Sonoma County) 11,889 acres, 40% contained
• Nuns Fire  (Sonoma County) 48,624 acres, 50% contained
• Oakmont Fire (Sonoma County) 875 acres, 15% contained

Southern LNU Complex, CAL FIRE Incident Management Team assigned

• Atlas Fire (Napa and Solano Counties) 51,064 acres, 60% contained, 6 civilian fatalities, significant number of structures destroyed

Mendocino-Lake Complex, CAL FIRE Incident Management Team assigned

• Redwood Valley (Mendocino County) 35,000 acres, 50% contained, 8 civilian fatalities, significant number of structures destroyed
• Sulphur Fire (Lake County) 2,207 acres, 85% contained

Wind Complex, CAL FIRE Incident Management Team assigned

• Cascade Fire (Yuba County) 9,989 acres, 96% contained, 4 civilian casualties, significant number of structures destroyed
• Lobo Fire (Nevada County) 821 acres, 97% contained, multiple structures destroyed
• LaPorte Fire (Butte County) 6,151 acres, 95% contained

For current information from CAL FIRE on wildfires burning in California, see the CAL FIRE PIO twitter account.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today continues to report on the wildfires currently burning in California.  You will want to see his two recent updates on the northern California wildfires written on Saturday, October 14th and Monday, October 16th.

Northern California Wildfires - Update October 14th

Saturday evening (October 14th) update on California Wildfires

Latest death toll on the #CAwildfires has sadly grown to 38.
*Sonoma County – 20
*Mendocino County – 8
*Napa County – 6
*Yuba County – 4

— CAL FIRE PIO (@CALFIRE_PIO) October 14, 2017

More sad news! As damage assessment continues, latest estimates that 5,700 structures have been destroyed by the wildfires burning across CA pic.twitter.com/f3djAANIQg

— CAL FIRE PIO (@CALFIRE_PIO) October 13, 2017

(October 14th about 3 PM PDT)


(October 14th about 2 PM PDT)



The latest statewide summary of all the wildfires burning in California may be found at this CAL FIRE website. They start with this summary (from Statewide Summary for Saturday, October 14th):

Gusty winds increased early this morning forcing new evacuations and a sparking a new large wildfire in Lake County. Currently more than 10,000 firefighters are battling 16 large wildfires that in total have burned over 214,000 acres. Approximately 100,000 people have been evacuated from the fires. These fires have been extremely destructive with 5,700 structures estimated to have been destroyed.

The Weather Channel has a short video update on the northern California Wildfires (October 14th, about 6PM EDT) that may be found here, along with a story and a rather large photo gallery of about 300 pictures. 

Two San Francisco media outlets that I have been checking periodically:

• CBS San Francisco
• NBC Bay Area

Red Flag Warnings in Northern CA this weekend (0ct 13 - 15)

If you are arriving at this post after October 15th, the video is still worth watching so you can see an example of how NWS Weather Forecast Offices work to warn those in their forecast area of life threatening weather conditions.

IMETs working Northern California Wildfires

Regular readers know that I have lots of respect for the work the National Weather Service Incident Meteorologists do when the are assigned to a specific for a two-week deployment. See for example my May 17th 2017 post where you will learn a little about what IMETs do from a NWS incident meteorologist and this November 2016 post where you will see a video of an IMET answering questions from a middle school class.

I thought that you might be interested in recent IMET deployments to wildfires in Northern California. So, I went to the NWS IMET Facebook page where I found the following IMET deployments since October 9th. Information about these and other wildfires burning in northern California and elsewhere in California, along with a map, may be accessed from the CAL FIRE Incident Page.

Before I go any further, I want to pause and say how much I appreciate all of you IMETs who are working these horrible and devastating wildfires in northern California. I know that you are working hard monitoring weather conditions on your fire. Especially but not limited to monitoring wind forecasts, I understand that some of these wildfires experienced more high winds the other night. What you do is so crucial to keep firefighters on the ground safe. Thank-you. And you stay safe as well.

Edited on October 14 at 6:30 AM to add: The IMETs working the northern California wildfires as well as nearby NWS Weather Forecast Offices of Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area will be monitoring Red Flag Warning conditions that are expected occur this weekend, October 13th to 15th (see my post of October 13th for more information).

IMETS save lives!

The four deployments below were on the evening of Monday, October 9th.


The Redwood Complex is part of the Mendocino Lake Complex of Wildfires.


The Tubbs Fire is part of the Central LNU Complex of Wildfires


The Atlas Fire is part of the Southern LNU Complex of Wildfires



Last, but by no means least, an IMET Trainee (to read more about IMET trainees read my July 21st post) was deployed to the Central LNU Complex on October 11th.  Wow, I wish this trainee well as they work with an experienced IMET and fill their taskbook.



Here is a screen grab I did this morning (October 13th) from the NWS EDD interactive map showing current IMET deployments (the pinkish-purple circles) in Northern California. To the best of my knowledge, all the deployments that I have referenced above are mapped out below. Note that IMET locations are found in fire weather under more layers.

Temporary Air Control Tower at McClellan AAB

Thanks to Mike Archer for his daily Wildfire News of the Day e-mail where I learned in his WNOTD e-mail yesterday, October 11th) about a temporary Air Control Tower that is in operation at McClellan Air Attack base. Ordinarily McClellan has no tower and the pilots talk to each other as they are arriving, taxiing on the ground, and then departing. However, with twelve Airtankers working the various northern California wildfires out of McClellan, the air and ground space was a little busy so CAL FIRE called Tower Tech for help. Learn about Tower Tech in this report with video from CBS News Sacramento. Unfortunately, I am unable to get the embed code provided by CBS News Sacramento to work, so I hope that you take about three minutes to go and watch the video.

Titus Gall, CEO of Tower Tech spoke with CBS Sacramento:

'The traffic becomes a little bit too complicated,' said Titus Gall, President and CEO of Tower Tech, Inc. . . . 

'Everything that uses this airport is now talking to these guys,' Gall said, referring to the two-man team running the traffic control. 

Typically, there is no air traffic control team at McClellan and the pilots simply communicate with each other when they need to land and depart. 

The Tower Tech team is scheduling 12 air tankers on a loop, loading fire retardant, making drops and coming back to load up again. But the guys are also handling private planes here on business. 

More on CA wildfires - view from a firefighter

Thanks to a friend of mine who told about an NPR she heard reporting on the wildfires in northern California. She said that she had heard a firefighter talking about the challenges in fighting these "monstrous fires." I wasn't sure if I would be able to easily find the NPR audio report, but I think that I found the one that she is talking about. I am embedding the report below. The written NPR report (Oct 11th) where I found the audio report is slightly different, your will find it here.

I like this report because you are hearing from a wildland firefighter about the difficulties in fighting a wind-driven wildfire.

California wildfires - October 2017

Updated on October 12th at 12:30 PM. In an article posted on October 12th, Wildfire Today is reporting that:

The latest figures on this week’s wildfire outbreak, per CAL FIRE as of late Wednesday:

• 22 wildfires have burned more than 170,000 acres

• 3,500 homes and structures have been destroyed

• 21 people have died, and that figure is expected to rise

• More than 8,000 firefighters are working fires across the state, primarily those in Northern California’s wine country. This includes crews on 550 engines, 73 helicopters and 30 air tankers.

Be sure to go and read the entire October 12th article on the California wildfires on Wildfire Today

Fire Aviation has two articles on aviation resources fighting the California wildfires:

• on October 10th they wrote about aviation resources being stretched thin
• on October 11th they wrote about how air attack was important in halting the spread of the Canyon2 fire in Anaheim CA

Finally for those of you who might be interested in local coverage of the California wildfires:

• CBS Sacramento
• NBC BayArea
• NBC Los Angeles

October 11th I suspect that most of you know that among the wildfires currently burning in California are several wildfires burning in Northern California accounting for on the order of 115,000 acres burned. And this is just norther California, and doesn't include wildfires burning elsewhere in the State. These wildfires have been reported across much of the national media, both broadcast and print media. I understand that at least 2,000 homes and businesses have been destroyed and at least 15 people are dead with many more missing. My thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by these devastating wildfires. Thank-you to the wildfire crews on the ground for working these wildfires, stay safe.


Direct link to video from Shaking My Head Productions

Wildfire Today has been doing their usual extraordinary job covering the wildfires burning in California. See for example:

• Northern California among those who lost homes in Napa Valley
• Canyon2 Fire in Southern California
• 80,000 acres in 18 hours in Napa Valley (October 9th)
• Wildfires erupt overnight (October 9th) in California's wine country

I am posting some coverage of these wildfires. All these articles are good. Some of the coverage might be repetitious, but you can get a feeling for the devastation  by looking at the videos and phots from the fires.

California Broadcast and print media

• NBC4 Los Angeles on smoke from Canyon2 fire (October 11, photos and videos)
• NBC4 Los Angeles - images from space
• Anaheim CA wildfire; 8,000 acres burned and 36 structures burned
• NBCBayArea (October 11th) on Napa Valley Wildfires (videos and photos)

National media:

• CNN (October 11th) on California wildfires (good photo gallery and videos)
• New York Times (October 10th) on California wildfires (videos, a couple of photos)
• Washington Post (October 10th) on California wildfires (videos, a couple of photos)