New Backfires Ordered in Station Fire

Irwindale (myFOXla.com) - Fire commanders ordered a new round of backfires on Tuesday in their effort to destroy some of the vegetation fueling the 250-square-mile Station Fire burning in the Angeles National Forest.

You can watch Christina Gonzalez's report in the video player.

The backfires were to have been set Monday, but the idea was scratched because of a flareup in the blaze. Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mark Whaling said Tuesday morning that a new attempt at backfire operations would be made.

The Station Fire command post, meanwhile, was moved this morning from the Hansen Dam area in Lake View Terrace to the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale, mirroring the fire's eastern March. Commanders say that it will take the firefighters who reside at the command post 45 minutes less to get to where they most need to be.

The U.S. Forest Service, the lead agency in fighting the blaze, said this morning that the size of the fire has risen to 160,357 acres, an increase of more than 3,000 acres since yesterday. But the area of containment also increased, from 56 to 60 percent.

But despite the postponement of backfire operations and the fire's expansion, La Verne fire Capt. Mike Dietrich, the Station Fire incident commander, said that firefighters had a "great day" Monday.

But he said a great deal of hard work remains. He also noted that, while cooler temperatures and higher humidity are being felt in the foothills, it continues to be hot and dry at higher elevations.

Fighting the blaze as of this morning has cost 57.6 million, according to the Forest Service.

Winds of between 30 and 40 miles per hour caused a flareup in the Pleasant View Ridge area of the San Gabriel Wilderness Monday, prompting the postponement of backfire operations above Pasadena.

"They didn't want to start backfire operations while they're using (water and retardant-dropping) aircraft for the flareup," Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesperson Darryl Jacobs said.

Residents in the foothills above the San Gabriel Valley had been told to expect heavy smoke and some flames because of the planned backfires near Mt. Wilson and Cogswell Reservoir in the upper reaches of the San Gabriel River's west fork, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

"The plan right now for the next several days is to continue to secure that southern perimeter," said La Verne fire Captain Mike Dietrich, the Station Fire incident commander. "Those foothill communities are a very high priority for me."

Fire commanders said they intend the backfires to destroy heavy vegetation in the steep slopes below Mount Wilson and thereby remove the final threat to the historic observatory and vital communications antennas on the peak.

On Monday, the fire moved into the Squaw Canyon drainage above Chilao and continued to stretch eastward, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The fire is burning north of Chilao around Alder Saddle.

Whaling said a number of cabins in the forest were evacuated Monday.

The fire is closing around the Chilao Flat area in a pincer movement from the north, west and south, although some cabins and the ranger station at that remote outpost on state Highway 2 were saved over the weekend.

Fire containment lines have been completed on the northeast side of the blaze, protecting thousands of houses, barns and corrals in the Juniper Hills section of the Antelope Valley, southeast of Palmdale.

But the San Gabriel Wilderness Area, between Mount Wilson and state Route 39, does not have containment lines. It is described in guidebooks as the steepest mountain range in California.

CHP officers said state Route 2 remained closed west of Wrightwood, despite several motorists getting through to look at cabins and other structures near Mount Waterman and along the Angeles Crest Highway.

Since it ignited off Angeles Crest Highway just north of La Canada Flintridge, the Station fire has:

-- claimed the lives of two firefighters whose truck plunged off a mountain road;

-- injured 10 people, including firefighters and civilians;

-- destroyed 78 homes, mostly cabins, two commercial properties and 86 outbuildings.

A public memorial at Dodger Stadium will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. for the two Los Angeles County firefighters who were killed in the blaze: Capt. Tedmund "Ted" Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County, and firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, 35, of Palmdale.

The truck the two slain fire fighters were driving when it plunged off a cliff was retrieved today and is being examined by the California Highway Patrol Major Accident Investigation Team.

Sheriff's homicide investigators are requesting anyone with information on the origin of the fire to call (323) 890-5500.