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Miller

This incident is no longer being updated.

INCIDENT UPDATED 8/25/2010

Approximate Location

34.305 latitude, -117.313 longitude

Incident Overview

The Miller fire started on August 17th, shortly before 5pm on the northern edge of Lake Silverwood, north of Crestline in the San Bernardino Mountains. The fire burned upslope towards Forest Road 2N33 in steep rocky terrain, burning in chaparral and isolated pockets of dead and live trees. The winds were blowing from the southeast and the majority of the smoke drifted into Hesperia and Victorville in the high desert.

The fire was originally estimated at 100 acres. Once an aerial overflight using GPS technology was completed, the acreage was corrected to 66 acres within the fire perimeter.

Firefighters have placed the Miller Incident into patrol status.

There are no threats to residents in the local mountains or Summit Valley area of Hesperia. There is no smoke visible from the fire, and all highways are open. No evacuations (mandatory or voluntary) were put into effect on this incident.

The Pacific Crest Trail was not damaged or impacted by the fire and is open.

Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area was not damaged by the fire and the lake was closed to boats briefly during intial attack to support fire helicopters dipping from the lake. The state park is open.

All Forest Service roads in the area are open - visitors need to excercise extreme caution along FS Road 2N33 since there are fire crews and vehicles working along the road.

Fire was under unified command with CAL FIRE until containment at 6:00 p.m. on August 19. The US Forest Service now is managing the incident.

The fire area burned during the 2003 Old Fire.

The Old Fire was a wildfire that started on October 25, 2003 in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. It was one of at least a dozen wildfires burning around Southern California at this time (which included the Cedar Fire, the third largest fire in California history (behind the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889 and the Witch Creek Fire). Fanned by the Santa Ana winds, the fire burned 91,281 acres, destroyed 993 homes and caused six deaths. The final cost of the fire was $42 million. The fire was fully contained by November 2, 2003 with the help of rain and snow. A USFS report on the "true" combined costs of the 2003 Old Fire, Padua, and the Grand Prix wildfires (the Grand Prix Fire merged with the Old Fire and the part of the Old Fire that crossed into Los Angeles County was known as the "Padua Fire") was nearly $1.3 billion. When cleanup, watershed damages and other costs are considered beyond the expenses for firefighting and property damage, wildfire impacts are much higher. About 750,000 acres were blackened across five southern California counties.


Basic Information

Incident TypeWildfire
CauseUnder Investigation
Date of OriginTuesday August 17th, 2010 approx. 04:59 PM
LocationLake Silverwood
Incident CommanderNelsen

Current Situation

Total Personnel16
Size66 acres
Percent Contained100%
Estimated Containment DateThursday August 19th, 2010 approx. 06:00 PM
Fuels Involved

Chaparral - approx 7yr growth. Fire area burned during October 2003 Old and Grand Prix fires Limited timber stands in the burn area.

Fire Behavior

Fire behavior was mostly smoldering, no flame activity, and no spread

Significant Events

Working in extremely rocky steep terrain, firefighters continue to improve fire line and mop-up within the fire perimeter with no reported injuries.

Outlook

Planned Actions

Firefighters are conducting mop-up of hot spots within the fire interior.

Growth Potential

None

Terrain Difficulty

Extremely steep rock terrain

Remarks

No smoke visible from the highway and communities.

Current Weather

Wind Conditions5 mph SW
Temperature69 degrees
Humidity65%

Unit Information

USFS Shield
San Bernardino National Forest
U.S. Forest Service
602 S. Tippecanoe Avenue
San Bernardino, CA 92408

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