Officials report the Station Fire is now some 42% contained. It's moved east toward the San Gabriel Wilderness and is still south of Highway 2. While firefighters have had great success tackling the fire, and the weather is expected to improve over the weekend, officials still rate the danger from the fire as high.
Hand crews and bulldozers continue building fire lines across critical areas. The fire is now officially the largest in Los Angeles County history. It has burned over 230 square miles of forest. That's about the same amount of forest land destroyed by the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980
Smoke and ash from the fire continue to create air quality concerns. High levels of particulates are have now spread into the San Fernando Valley, and air quality throughout the basin is poor. Along with other fires, the Station Fire is contributing to air quality problems as far away as Las Vegas and Denver.
Fire officials don't expect the Station Fire to be fully contained until September 15. And the Angeles National Forest may remain closed to the public for an indefinite period of time.
The image used in this post was taken by Flickr user DisneyKrazie. It was used under the Creative Commons license.
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My kids and I have spent a lot of time on those mountains and traveled those roads many, many times. I dread going back there now.
Oh good, that’s always progress, poor people that have to endure such a tragedy; our prayers to the Lord are with you. Keep strong…