California Raging Station Fire Has Burned More Than 105,000 Acres

The California Station Fire has been burning wild for over a week and is nowhere near containment. According to California fire fighters over 105,000 acres has burned so far and continuing to burn North into Acton, CA, as well as spread in all other directions. The fire has scorched 164 miles of brush and has threatened more than 12,000 homes. According to local news station KFI AM 640 21 homes have been destroyed and three of those are reported to have been Acton homes. 2,500 firefighters are on the scene and have been trying to contain this fire since Sunday afternoon. With only 5% containment, the official fire Commander is expecting the fire to continue burning until September 15^th and possibly through the end of September. 2 Firefighters died of fatal injuries in Acton after their vehicle rolled down a ravine 700ft. Flames and smoke can be seen from the West San Fernando Valley in Granada Hills, into the Sunland and Tujunga areas where the smoke and flames are extremely dangerous, all the way north to Acton and the Antelope Valley areas.

Since the fire started many surrounding areas have been issued poor quality air warnings and have been advised to stay indoors until further notice. Over the past weekend in the Antelope and Santa Clarita Valleys, the San Fernando Valley, and surrounding areas, hazy skies and smoke filled canyons where almost everywhere you went. Locals experienced grey ashes falling from the sky miles away from the burning areas. The smoke and fire has cause Highway 14 North to be closed for a short period of time and did cause a traffic jam until the Highway was reopened.

Air support Super Scoopers and helicopters have been working hard dropping fire retardant and massive amounts of water on top of the fire trying to get some type of control before the fire reaches the town of Acton about 30 minutes North of Los Angeles. Mandatory evacuations have been issued for the surround areas in Acton and in the Angeles National Forest. The wild fire has trapped 6 people in a canyon who refused to evacuate near Gold Creek. They had previously refused to evacuate and now have called for rescue assistance but cannot be reached due to the danger of surrounding flames. Some other locals in those areas have also decided to not evacuate.

Huge plumes of mushroom clouds called Pyro-Convective Clouds have formed and are produced from large intense fires that release enormous amounts of water vapors. These clouds can be seen from Los Angeles and the surrounding areas as they have been reported to have reached over 20,000 feet into the sky since Saturday. Some reports have been made that the smoke has been seen as far as Las Vegas.

Several local high schools are acting as shelters located in La Canada, La Cresentia, Sunland, Tujunga, and Acton. LA County Animal Care and Control as well as LA City Animal services are assisting in the evacuation of both small and large animals, as well as providing shelter for misplaced animals at their facilities. Pierce College is also providing emergency shelter for livestock and large animals. Dept of water and power has issued a statement that the Station fire is threatening 500-kilovolt transmission lines northeast of Acton which could disrupt power through the Los Angeles area.

The local fire officials are grateful that the Santa Ana winds that generally sweep through Southern California at this time year have not played a factor in the fire so far. Should these winds arrive, the fire has the potential to be completely unstoppable as it was last year when the Sylmar fire destroyed many homes and an entire mobile home park, resulting in the misplacement of hundreds of people.