CA-LPF- La Brea - Wildland Fire(Chaparral) 29,480 acres, 10%

La Brea Fire - Los Padres National Forest

3-day-old wildfire in the San Rafael Wilderness area of the forest scorched almost 33 square miles of brushy canyon lands that haven't burned since 1922.CA-LPF- La Brea - Wildland Fire(Chaparral) 25,724 acres, 10%

CA-LPF- La Brea - Wildland Fire(Chaparral) 21,153 acres, 10%

Evacuations:

New mandatory evacuations have been ordered overnight for some homes near the La Brea wildfire. The new mandatory evacuations include the area of Upper Tepusquet Canyon and Pine Canyon to Highway 166.
Mandatory evacuation orders still stand for Sierra Madre Ridge Rd, east to Highway 166, from Spoor Canyon, south to Cottonwood Rd.
Evacuation warnings are still in effect for Cottonwood Rd and Wasioja Rd, between Highway 166 and Sierra Madre Ridge Rd.
A Red Cross emergency shelter has been moved from Benjamin Foxen school in Sisquoc, to Cuyama Valley High School in New Cuyama.

IC: California Interagency Incident Management Team 3/CAL FIRE
Jeanne Pincha-Tulley/R.Lewin Incident Commanders
Acres: 25,724
Personnel: 1,277
Containment: 10%
Start Date: Aug. 8, 2009
Resources:
Engines: 39
Crews: 49
Dozers: 19
Helicopters: 10
Total personnel: 1,277
Closures: An emergency closure order is in effect for portions of the Los Padres National Forest in and around the fire. For more information, please contact Fire Information at (805) 961-5770 from 6am-10pm or http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1803/.

Flight Restrictions: Temporary flight restrictions have been put in place over the fire area.
Last night, strong winds of 45-50 mph pushed the fire west toward Treplett Mountain. The winds also enlarged the slop over on the east side of the fire above Cuyama Valley, but the fire remains on the National Forest. The Santa Barbara Sheriff's Evacuation Order remains in effect in portions of Cuyama Valley. Yesterday and last night, good progress was made with burn out operations to secure the north side of the fire along Sierra Madre Ridge. Additional firefighting resources continue to arrive. The La Brea Fire is now under Unified Command including the U.S. Forest Service and CAL FIRE.

Firefighting conditions remain difficult due to the steep and inaccessible terrain, dry dense chapparal, low relative humidity, and erratic winds. Extreme fire behavior has been observed since the fire began. The northeast portion of the fire area has not burned since 1922. The fire has not entered the Sisquoc River area. There is significant fire suppression vehicle traffic and congestion on Highway 166. The public is urged to seek an alternate route and to use extra caution when traveling the highway.

A community fire information meeting will be held tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Benjamin Foxen Elementary School, 4949 Foxen Canyon Road, in Sisquoc.

Current Situation: The fire is now estimated at 25,724 acres. Today, firefighters will focus on securing fire line around the slop over above Cuyama Valley, opening and reinforcing dozer lines on the west side of the fire, and building fire line along the east side of the fire above Horse Canyon. Three helibases now support the fire, one at Santa Ynez Airport, one at Santa Maria Airport, and a supply helibase at the Incident Command Post. A retardent base is located at Spanish Ranch in Cuyama Valley.

Weather: The weather continues to be mostly sunny, hot and dry with highs of 84-92 degrees along ridgetops and 92-98 degrees in the valleys. Wind gusts today may reach 20-25 mph on the fire.
Current Weather: RAWS: LPF Portable 3 : http://raws.wrh.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/roman/meso_base.cgi?stn=TR154

Inciweb: La Brea Fire Link
LPF Call Center
Phone: 805-961-5770
Note: Cause of the La Brea fire is under investigation. Tip line for you to call with any information: 686-5074.
For more Information: www.inciweb.org; or call (805) 961-5770 from 6am-10pm
Previous related posts:
CA-LPF- La Brea - Wildland Fire(Heavy Chaparral) 20,622 acres,
10% CA-LPF- La Brea - Wildland Fire(Chaparral) 10,544 acres, 0%
CA-LPF-La Brea - Wildland Fire 1300+ acres 0%