August 23 Update
Incident: La Brea Fire Wildfire
Released: 8/23/2009
La Brea Fire Information
August 23 Update
Los Padres National Forest
California Interagency Incident Management Team 3 / Jeanne Pincha-Tulley - Incident Commander
Acres: 89,489 Personnel: 901 Containment: 100%
Start Date: Aug. 8, 2009
For more Information: www.inciweb.org/incident/1803 or call (805) 925-9538
Please note: This will be the last update distributed for the La Brea Fire, but up-to-date information will continue at http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1803/ or by contacting the Santa Lucia District Office at (805) 925-9538.
Two weeks from the start of the La Brea Fire, and after long days of tough firefighting involving over 2,000 firefighters at its peak, it was declared fully contained as of Saturday, August 22 at 6 p.m., as firefighters have completed the last section of fire line within the San Rafael Wilderness.
The fire, located about 23 miles east of Santa Maria, was under the direction of Incident Commander Jeanne Pincha-Tulley, who leads California Interagency Incident Management Team 3, and unified command with CALFIRE and Santa Barbara County Fire. Additionally, implementing and lifting evacuations required coordination of the team and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office. Resources working the fire included engines, hand crews, dozers, aircraft, and water tenders.
The fire, early on, gained nearly 10,000 acres per day, exceeding over 20,000 acres on one mid-week day. As it grew, the strategic plan utilized existing dozer lines built during the Zaca Fire of 2007, existing roads where possible, and as best possible a 2-day lead time before the wildfire would hit the containment lines being built for burnout operations.
One key to making the strategy work was incorporating a 48,000 acre fuels treatment project that the Santa Lucia Ranger District was implementing on the northwest and west flanks of the fire. Jamie Copple, Battalion Chief on the District, said the treatments helped, and if the next planned unit had been treated prior to the La Brea fire "there would have been no need to evacuate the Tepusquet Canyon."
The initial priority was to protect private property and homes, with the portion of the fire burning deep in the San Rafael Wilderness dropping in priority until those other fire flanks were contained. Once that was done, and with the fire stalling in the wilderness, the decision was to take a direct attack approach using hotshot crews, supported by heavy lift helicopters making water drops, and heavy air tankers dropping retardant when needed. Approval to use motorized and mechanized equipment in the wilderness was obtained so chainsaws and helicopter landing spots could be employed. If that attack failed, and with limited solid defensible ridges to the southeast, the potential was for the fire to run to the Zaca Fire.
Starting tomorrow, the fire will be managed by the Central Coast Interagency Incident Management Team 7, under Incident Commander Dana D'Andrea. Over the next several days, firefighters will continue to mop up 500 feet inside the firelines and rehabilitate the suppression lines.
Although likely to decrease each day, some interior smoke and flare-ups are to be expected, consuming islands of unburned fuel mostly well inside the burned area. They do not pose any serious threat of crossing the containment lines and firefighters monitor these interior flare-ups, usually not taking any suppression action since it is not needed.
Suppression line rehabilitation using fire crews, dozers and track hoe excavators is progressing with water bar construction, road culvert cleaning, and scattering vegetation on back-up firelines that were built as a contingency, or on fireline sections where the fire is clearly out. Water bars are small berms built across the slopes to slow water and reduce erosion when the rains return.
The fire received little rain late Saturday afternoon, which only slightly moistened the fire area. Some crews were moved from the fire due to a concern for the development of muddy and slippery roads.
Closures: An emergency closure order remains in effect for portions of the Los Padres National Forest in and around the burned area. For more information, see http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/lospadres/
Resources: Engines: 30 Crews: 19 Dozers: 5 Water Tenders: 56 Helicopters: 7 Air Tankers: Available
