Here we go again SoCal....
 

It's not looking good for the people around Santa Clarita or Lake Los Angeles. If anyone needs help or a safe place to park the car or horses don't hesitate to shout.
This is the view from the North East end of The Valley.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1090104338.jpg

ooooops Sorry Jack I meant to post this in the OT Forum.

:(

Here's another shot we took from the 210 to 118 overpass when the fire was just 2 hr's old :(
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1090111257.jpg

What a stupid thing to say...

You think this is a joke?

People are losing their homes right now!

you ass...

Anyway, here's a pic from many many miles away from my neck of the woods. Schity camera, but you can clearly see the only clouds in the sky are from the smoke of the fires. Freggin big cloud if you ask me :eek:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1090122335.jpg

I saw the huge plume from the Sepulveda Pass earlier today...holy ****e I knew it was a fire but there was nothing on the radio for some reason. I hope it's under control now, or will be soon.

Evacs are taking place right now. Looks bad according to the 11PM news.

NPR had a story just days ago about how the CA. parks and forestry budget has been cut dramatically. As a consequence, overgrowth is horrible in So. Cal. Thus the fires...

quote:
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Originally posted by on-ramp
your glorified over-priced shacks are about to burn to the ground, muaahahahaha
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on-ramp...
lol, dork!


I wish you guys all the best and hope that things are put under control soon. once again, our prayers are with you

Looks like the mountains north of Tucson a year ago when the hamlet of Summerhaven burned to the ground. We watched it from our back yard; the mountain is only 15-18 miles from our house. My heart goes out to all those in danger.

Prayers and thoughts from Michigan. I hope everyone stays as safe as possible.
Wayne

I heard that the 'super scooper' airplanes we had leased from Canada aren't here any longer. Does anyone know if it's true?

They were instrumental in saving homes in the past.

No The Cheapos at the LA County only;lease them from Sept on.

Here is the 747 Firebomber
http://www.evergreenaviation.com/supertanker/flighttestvideo.html

I thought I heard the "super scoopers" had been grounded by the FAA for safety concerns and the new 747's are awaiting approval

I thought a super scooper crashed last year fighting a fire. I haven't seen any of them since. Maybe it was the FAA who grounded them. Not entirely wise IMO as they're instrumental in saving many homes. This state should have bought a fleet of them long ago.

The main fire season doesn't start for another 3 weeks. The sccopers arrive in VNY last week of August.

Evergreen is thinking the 747 will be certified mid spring next year. Too late for this season.

Maybe singpilot can comment on this, but I've heard (from pilots) that the 747 is not exactly known for its low alititude, low speed handling prowess -- which would make for a tricky fire drop plane!

I noticed today that our LA County brush clearance seems to be behind schedule and we have not had an explicit Fire Marshall inspection since 2001. We are in an extreme fire hazard / brush area, but fortunately the area directly behind our lot is a watershed area which stays mostly green, otherwise I would be inclined to hike out there and start cutting myself :O

There was a small fire in the Hanson Dam Park this evening. It burned for less than an hour but with no wind to speak of the air in the north end of the valley is thick with smoke. Kinda like standing too close to the BBQ. Sure don't enjoy this.:(

The low speed handling of the 747 is actually quite good. Just that not many people are used to doing it at gross weight. The feds were looking to verify that the plane could manuever down low at weight and still have climbout and speed margins if the drop was aborted or unsuccessful.

Widebody;

It is my understanding that all 'staffing' schedules went out the window with budgetary constraints recently imposed. The 'staffing schedule', to include material assets, was slewed to acknowledge the late season peak of previous years' activities. Hence, the scoopers delayed arrival. The west ramp at Van Nuys was completely taken over by fire fighting activities this year for the construction of new hangar and resupply facilities for the CDF and LA County Helo squadrons. This was the reason given for the cancellation (forever) of the very popular, but complaint-generating Van Nuys Air Show.

What the idiot locals don't realize, is that the Fire base (soon to be one of the largest in the western states) is going to be a 24 / 7 operation.

They traded 3 days of flyovers every year during daylight hours for 24 hours a day noise exempt airplanes operating at 115% of gross weight limitations on an experimental type cetificate. Not to mention red 'dribbles' on your property and cars every time you are overflown.

Ya gotta love the public implementation of stupidity.

The firefighters wanted Palmdale or Lancaster.