California Disasters Upcoming Events
2008 Freeway Complex Anniversary
When:
Friday, 15 November 2019
Where:
Anahiem Hills & Chino Hills - Orange County
Organizer: Kim Patrick Noyes
Details:
The Freeway Complex Fire was a 2008 wildfire in the Santa Ana Canyon area of Orange County, California. The fire started as two separate fires on November 15, 2008. The Freeway Fire started first shortly after 9am with the Landfill Fire igniting approximately 2 hours later. These two separate fires merged a day later and ultimately destroyed 314 residences in Anaheim Hills and Yorba Linda.
The Freeway Fire ignited at 9:01 a.m. PDT on November 15, 2008, along the Riverside Freeway (State Route 91, SR 91) in the riverbed of the Santa Ana River, located in Corona. The fire spread west and north into the hillsides of Yorba Linda and south into Anaheim Hills, where multiple businesses and residences were destroyed. It also burned homes in Olinda Ranch along Carbon Canyon Road in Brea, burned through much of Chino Hills, then spread north into Diamond Bar.
The Landfill Fire, also known as the "Brea Fire," was reported at 10:43 a.m. PDT on November 15, 2008, and started near the 1900 block of Valencia Avenue in Brea, just south of the Olinda Landfill. It quickly spread west and eventually jumped the Orange Freeway (SR 57).
The Landfill Fire merged with the Freeway Fire at 3:30 a.m. PDT on November 16, 2008. At approximately 7:00 a.m. PDT the two fires were officially renamed the Triangle Complex Fire. Around 12:45 p.m. the Triangle Complex Fire had been renamed once again to the Freeway Complex Fire still using the OCFA incident number CA-ORC-08075221. According to the final cause report released by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) on January 4, 2010, it was confirmed that the Freeway Fire was caused by a faulty catalytic converter, which California requires in every motor vehicle to reduce emissions.Over a dozen schools were closed during the fire including those in the Brea Olinda Unified School District, Chino Valley Unified School District, Diamond Bar schools in the Walnut Valley Unified School District, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District and Walnut Valley Unified School District. About 40,000 residents were evacuated during the fire. Areas under mandatory evacuation during the fires included Anaheim, Carbon Canyon, Chino Hills, Corona Diamond Bar and Yorba Linda.
As the fire spread, it forced the closure of the Riverside Freeway (SR 91), the Chino Valley Freeway (SR 71), the 241 Transportation Corridor and the Orange Freeway (SR 57) in northern Orange County. It was calculated that 30,305 acres (122.64 km2) were burned during the fire, which included 90% of Chino Hills State Park. The calculated acreage burned would make the fire the fourth largest fire on record in Orange County History behind the 1967 Paseo Grande Fire, Steward Fire of 1958 and the Green River Fire of 1948.
1980 Panorama Fire Anniversary
When:
Sunday, 24 November 2019
Where:
San Bernardino Mountains - San Bernardino County
Organizer: Kim Patrick Noyes
Details:
The Panorama Fire was a wildfire which began on November 24, 1980 and was 100% contained December 1, 1980. The fire was set by an unknown arsonist about 10:50 a.m. near Panorama Point, a county equipment depot along SR-18 in the San Bernardino Mountains in California. The fire's growth was exacerbated by 90 mph Santa Ana Winds which pushed the flames into populated areas in Waterman Canyon and the City of San Bernardino. The conflagration charred 28,800 acres and destroyed 310 homes and 113 other types of buildings.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Panorama_Fire
1956 Inaja Fire Anniversary
When:
Sunday, 24 November 2019
Where:
Peninsular Ranges - San Diego County
Organizer: Kim Patrick Noyes
Details:
Eleven men lost their lives in a fire blow-up in San Diego Canyon on the Inaja fire, Cleveland National Forest, at 8:05 PM, Sunday, November 25, 1956. A 13 person inmate crew from from Viejas Honor Camp, their correctional officer, and 4 FS firefighters were cutting indirect line in the steep canyon west of Julian CA. Upslope winds increased in the evening when the Santa Ana winds ceased. Fire hooked under the men before they could reach safety at the top of a steep chimney. One Forest Service employee and six inmates escaped uninjured. However fire flashed over in an uphill run and 7 inmates, their correctional officer and 3 FS Firefighters died.
About the fire, from the report: Before being controlled at 6:00 pm, November 28, the fire burned 43,611 acres within the Cleveland National Forest and adjoining land protected by the State and burned at least 5 homes. More than 2,000 men fought the fire, 1,300 under Forest Service supervision. These included 500 Indians (local and Southwestern Region), about 500 Navy personnel, 200 inmates from San Diego County and State Honor Camps, and other organized crews. These men plus 3 helicopters, 4 air tanker planes, 2 scouting planes, 27 bulldozers, and a fleet of 90 stake, tank, and pickup trucks, formed one of the greatest arrays of men and equipment ever assembled to fight a forest fire in San Diego County.
From this incident came the 10 Standard Firefighting Orders 1957.
Source: https://www.wlfalwaysremember.org/incident-lists/166-inaja-fire.html
2017 Thomas Fire Anniversary
When:
Wednesday, 4 December 2019
Where:
Santa Ynez Mnts. & Topatopa Mnts. - Santa Barbara & Ventura Counties
Organizer: Kim Patrick Noyes
Details:
The Thomas Fire was a massive wildfire that affected Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and one of multiple wildfires that ignited in southern California in December 2017. It burned approximately 281,893 acres (440 sq mi; 114,078 ha) before being fully contained on January 12, 2018, making it the largest wildfire in modern California history at the time, being surpassed by the Ranch Fire, part of the Mendocino Complex, less than a year later in August 2018. The Thomas Fire destroyed at least 1,063 structures, while damaging 280 others; and the fire caused over $2.2 billion (2018 USD) in damages, including $230 million in suppression costs, becoming the seventh-most destructive wildfire in state history. As of August 2018, the Thomas Fire is California's eighth-most destructive wildfire. Ventura's agriculture industry suffered at least $171 million in losses due to the Thomas Fire.
By January 2, 2018, the Thomas Fire had cost over $204 million to fight, and had forced over 104,607 residents to evacuate. At its height, the Thomas Fire saw over 8,500 firefighters mobilized to fight it, which was and still is the largest mobilization of firefighters for combating any wildfire in California history.
The fire began on December 4, north of Santa Paula, near Steckel Park and south of Thomas Aquinas College from which the fire was named. Fast-moving, it quickly reached the city of Ventura, where over five hundred residences were destroyed that night. The fire destroyed almost as many residences in several rural communities amidst the rugged mountain terrain of Ventura County. The fire threatened the Ojai Valley, and on December 13, the fire completely surrounded the area, including Lake Casitas. The fire began burning through the rugged Santa Ynez Mountains as it threatened several small communities along the Rincon Coast north of Ventura, expanded into the Los Padres National Forest, and reached Santa Barbara County. Firefighters concentrated on protecting the communities of Carpinteria and Montecito in the southern portion of the county as the fire burned in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains where access was difficult.
The unusually strong and persistent Santa Ana winds were the largest factor in the spread of the fire. Much of Southern California experienced "the strongest and longest duration Santa Ana wind event we have seen so far this season", according to the National Weather Service. The region experienced an on-and-off Santa Ana wind event for a little over two weeks, which contributed to the Thomas Fire's persistent growths in size. At its height, the wildfire was powerful enough to generate its own weather, qualifying it as a firestorm. There were periods of time when the fire was advancing at a rate of an acre (0.4 ha) per second. The winds also dried out the air, resulting in extremely low humidity. The area, along with most of Southern California, experienced the driest March-through-December period on record.
While November is the typical beginning of the rainy season in California, the first measurable rain for the area fell on January 8, 2018, more than a month into the fire. With the natural vegetation burnt, flash floods and mudflows damaged homes in Montecito when the rains arrived. Evacuations were ordered or anticipated for neighborhoods that sit below areas recently burned by the Thomas Fire and other wildfires. By January 10, at least 21 people had been killed by the sudden flooding and debris flows that followed the heavy rains, which also destroyed over 100 homes.Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Fire
2017 Creek Fire Anniversary
When:
Thursday, 5 December 2019
Where:
San Gabriel Mountains - Los Angeles County
Organizer: Kim Patrick Noyes
Details:
The Creek Fire was a large wildfire that burned in Kagel Canyon and the Angeles National Forest north of Sylmar, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States, and one of multiple wildfires that broke out across Southern California in December 2017. The Creek Fire has burned 15,619 acres (63 km2) and destroyed 123 structures, including 60 homes, before being contained on January 9, 2018, following heavy rainfall from a winter storm. The fire threatened the communities of Santa Clarita, Glendale, Olive View, Lake View Terrace, Sunland-Tujunga, Shadow Hills, Sylmar, Pacoima, Lopez Canyon, and Kagel Canyon, as well as the Olive View–UCLA Medical Center. During the wildfire, 115,000 residents were forced to evacuate their homes.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creek_Fire
2017 Rye Fire Anniversary
When:
Thursday, 5 December 2019
Where:
Santa Susana Mountains - Los Angeles County
Organizer: Kim Patrick Noyes
Details:
The Rye Fire was a wildfire that burned in Santa Clarita, California, in the United States, and one of multiple wildfires that broke out across Southern California in December 2017. The fire threatened over 5,000 structures, including Six Flags Magic Mountain, and threatened the communities of Santa Clarita, Valencia and Castaic Junction and impacted traffic on Interstate 5. The Rye Fire burned a total of 6,049 acres (24.48 km2), before it was fully contained on December 12. The fire destroyed six buildings, including minor structures located at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rye_Fire
2017 Skirball Fire Anniversary
When:
Friday, 6 December 2019
Where:
Hollywood Hills - Los Angeles County
Organizer: Kim Patrick Noyes
Details:
The Skirball Fire was a wildfire that burned in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States, and one of multiple wildfires that broke out across Southern California in December 2017. The fire burned 422 acres (171 ha) of land on the slopes of the Sepulveda Pass on its east or Bel Air side, causing the closure of Interstate 405 (as well as the parallel Sepulveda Boulevard), a major traffic artery in the city. The Skirball Cultural Center, Bel-Air Country Club, Getty Center, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, and various private schools were closed as a result of the fire. Classes were cancelled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Santa Monica College, while Mount Saint Mary's University evacuated from its Brentwood campus to its downtown Los Angeles location. The fire destroyed 6 structures and damaged 12. On December 10, at about 1 PM PST, all evacuation orders and road closures for the Skirball Fire were lifted, as containment of the wildfire increased to 85%. Late on December 15, it was reported that the Skirball Fire had been 100% contained, at 422 acres (171 ha).
On December 12, it was reported on that the fire had been sparked by an illegal cooking fire at a homeless encampment within the pass.
During the Skirball Fire, firefighters in the LAFD employed drones to help them combat wildfires for the first time.Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skirball_Fire
2017 Lilac Fire Anniversary
When:
Saturday, 7 December 2019
Where:
Northern San Diego County
Organizer: Kim Patrick Noyes
Details:
The Lilac Fire was a fire that burned in northern San Diego County, California, United States, and the second-costliest one of multiple wildfires that erupted in Southern California in December 2017. The fire was first reported on December 7, 2017, burned 4,100 acres (1,659 ha), and destroyed 157 structures, before it was fully contained on December 16. The fire cost at least $8.9 million (2018 USD), including $5 million in firefighting expenses and property damage, and an additional $3.9 million in cleanup and erosion control costs. The fire threatened the communities of Bonsall, Oceanside, Vista, Fallbrook, and Camp Pendleton. During the fire, an estimated 10,000 residents were forced to evacuate, while a total of over 100,000 residents were forced to or advised to evacuate. On December 7, the Lilac Fire also cut the power to 20,000 people.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilac_Fire
1987 PSA 1771 Crash Anniversary
When:
Saturday, 7 December 2019
Where:
Santa Lucia Mountains - San Luis Obispo County
Organizer: Kim Patrick Noyes
Details:
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 was a scheduled flight from Los Angeles, California, to San Francisco. On 7 December 1987, the British Aerospace 146-200A, registration N350PS, crashed in Cayucos, California, as a result of actions by one of the passengers. All 43 passengers and crew aboard the plane died, five of whom, including the two pilots, were presumably shot dead before the plane crashed. The man who caused the crash, David Augustus Burke, was a former employee of USAir, the parent company of Pacific Southwest Airlines.
USAir, which had recently purchased Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), terminated David A. Burke, a ticketing agent, for petty theft of $69 from in-flight cocktail receipts; he had also been suspected of involvement with a narcotics ring. After meeting with Ray Thomson, his manager, in an unsuccessful attempt to be reinstated, Burke purchased a ticket on PSA Flight 1771, a daily flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Thomson was a passenger on the flight, which he regularly took for his daily commute from his workplace at LAX to his home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Flight 1771 departed from LAX at 15:31 PST, scheduled to arrive in San Francisco at 16:43.
Using USAir employee credentials that he had not yet surrendered, Burke, armed with a Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver that he had borrowed from a coworker, was able to bypass the normal passenger security checkpoint at LAX.[7] After boarding the plane, Burke wrote a message on an airsickness bag, but it is not known if he gave the message to Thomson to read before shooting him. The note read:
Hi Ray. I think it's sort of ironical that we end up like this. I asked for some leniency for my family. Remember? Well, I got none and you'll get none.
As the aircraft, a four-engine British Aerospace BAe 146-200, cruised at 22,000 ft (6,700 m) over the central California coast, the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recorded the sound of someone entering and then leaving the lavatory. A Mayday episode suggests that this was Burke entering the lavatory to draw his revolver discreetly, possibly loading it and giving Thomson time to read the note before killing him. Captain Gregg Lindamood, 44, and First Officer James Nunn, 48, were asking air traffic control about turbulence when the CVR picked up the sound of two shots being fired in the cabin.
The most plausible theory as to what happened was deduced from the pattern and audible volume of the shots on the CVR. According to the Mayday episode, it is likely that Burke first shot Thomson twice. Thomson's own seat was never recovered. Part of a seat that was identified from its serial number as being directly behind Thomson's was found to contain two bullet holes. As a result of the revolver's considerable power, the bullets could have traveled through Thomson's body, his seat, and then through the seat behind. First Officer Nunn immediately reported to air traffic control that a gun had been fired, but no further transmissions were received from the crew. The CVR then recorded the cockpit door opening and flight attendant Deborah Neil telling the cockpit crew, "We have a problem!", to which Captain Lindamood replied, "What's the problem?" A shot was heard as Burke shot the flight attendant dead and announced "I'm the problem." He then fired two more rounds. Most likely, he shot the captain and first officer once each, incapacitating them, if not outright killing them. Several seconds later, the CVR picked up increasing windscreen noise as the airplane pitched down and accelerated. The remains of the flight data recorder (FDR) indicated Burke had pushed the control column forward into a dive.
A final gunshot was heard followed not long after by a sudden silence. It is most likely that Burke killed Douglas Arthur, PSA's chief pilot in Los Angeles, who was also on board as a passenger and who may have been trying to reach the cockpit to save the aircraft. There was speculation that Burke shot himself, though this seems unlikely, because a fragment of Burke's fingertip was lodged in the trigger when the investigators found the revolver. This indicated that he was alive and he was holding the gun until the moment of impact. The plane crashed into the hillside of a cattle ranch at 4:16 p.m. in the Santa Lucia Mountains near Paso Robles and Cayucos, exploding on impact. The plane was estimated to have crashed slightly faster than the speed of sound, at around 770 mph (1,240 km/h), disintegrating instantly. Based on the deformation of the hardened steel black box data recorder case, the aircraft experienced a deceleration of 5,000 times the force of gravity (G-force) when it hit the ground. It was traveling at an approximately 70-degree angle toward the south. The plane struck a rocky hillside, leaving a crater less than two feet (0.6 m) deep and four feet (1.2 m) across. The remains of 27 of the passengers were never identified.
After the crash site was located by a CBS News helicopter piloted by Bob Tur, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were joined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). After two days of digging through what was left of the plane, they found the parts of a handgun containing six spent cartridge cases and the note on the airsickness bag written by Burke, indicating that he may have been responsible for the crash. FBI investigators were able to lift a print from a fragment of finger stuck in the revolver's trigger guard, which positively identified Burke as holding the weapon when the aircraft crashed. In addition to the evidence uncovered at the crash site, other factors surfaced. Burke's coworker admitted to having lent him the gun, and Burke had also left a farewell message on his girlfriend's answering machine.Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Southwest_Airlines_Flight_1771
2003 San Simeon Quake Anniversary
When:
Sunday, 22 December 2019
Where:
Santa Lucia Mountains - San Luis Obispo County
Organizer: Kim Patrick Noyes
Details:
The 2003 San Simeon earthquake struck at 11:15 PST (19:15 UTC) on December 22 on the Central Coast of California, about 7 miles (11 km) northeast of San Simeon. Probably centered in the Oceanic fault zone within the Santa Lucia Mountains, it was caused by thrust faulting and the rupture propagated southeast from the hypocenter for 12 miles (19 km).
The most violent ground movement was within 50 miles of the epicenter, though the earthquake was felt as far away as Los Angeles. With a moment magnitude of 6.6, it was the most destructive earthquake to hit the United States since the Northridge quake of 1994.
The area around the epicenter being sparsely populated, the most severe damage was in Paso Robles, 24 miles (39 km) east-southeast. Two women were killed when the Acorn Building, an unreinforced masonry structure built in 1892, collapsed. Other unreinforced masonry buildings, some more than a century old, were extensively damaged. No structure that had even partial retrofitting collapsed.
Two sulfur hot springs in Paso Robles erupted after the earthquake. One was underneath the parking lot of the recently opened city hall/library building. There was formerly a bath house at the location, and the spring was capped after it closed down. Hot water and sediment were released at a rate of about 1,300 gallons per minute (4,900 liters per minute), forming a large sinkhole and endangering the building. Emergency efforts saved the building. However, it took until 2010 to fully repair the damage and fill in the hole. This was mainly caused by the requirement for a full Environmental Impact Study, and the inability to do any work on the project, other than the initial emergency work. Another hot spring flowed out of the embankment at the Paso Robles Street exit on U.S. Route 101.
Other unreinforced masonry buildings, some more than a century old, in the city's historic downtown area also had extensive damage. However, none of the buildings that had even partial retrofitting collapsed. There was a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the relatives of the 2 women killed in the earthquake against Mary Mastagni, and several trusts which owned the Acorn Building. The jury found Mastagni negligent in the care and maintenance of the Acorn Building, due to not retrofitting the building, in violation of city ordinances. The jury awarded nearly $2 million to the plaintiffs.
Outside of Paso Robles the damage was less severe, with unreinforced masonry buildings taking minor to moderate damage. Buildings even 40 miles from the epicenter in San Luis Obispo suffered minor damage such as ceiling tiles falling. Brick veneers were also disproportionately affected. In addition, water tanks in Paso Robles, Templeton and Los Osos were damaged. Residential buildings, predominantly one- to two-story wood-frame structures, weathered the quake with little or no damage. The building that housed Atascadero's City Hall was damaged and vacated shortly after the quake. After extensive repairs, it reopened in August 2013. Some wineries, especially those near the epicenter along State Route 46, reported damage such as barrels toppling and bursting. The Mission San Miguel Arcángel had $15 million worth of damage. The earthquake also caused extensive damage to George H. Flamson Middle School. The main building was damaged and had to be demolished in 2004. A new building reflecting the original 1924 building was opened for use in August 2010. In Templeton, Bethel Lutheran Church (ELCA), sustained major damage to its 110+ year old building and the apse had to be rebuilt.
The area where the quake struck displays complex faulting, between the Oceanic Fault and Nacimiento Fault zones, along with possible interaction from the Hosgri fault and San Simeon Fault zones.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_San_Simeon_earthquake
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