Category Archives: Wildfire

Route Fire – Updated 1730

From the Ridge Route Preservation Organization:

Another wildfire has started at the south end of the Ridge Route in Marple Canyon along the 5. This fire, known as the Route Fire, has so far burned 250 acres and is not contained. The fire has burned across the old Ridge Route at the Callahan Line Change location, about 2 miles north of Castaic. Evacuations are underway as far north as Templin Highway. The fire has burned as far north as Martin’s, south of Templin Highway. It is not known if the structure survived.

At this time, I-5 is closed from State 138 to Castaic. The Ridge Route is also closed to through travel from Castaic to State 138 as the gates are closed. Do not use any portion of the Ridge Route as a bypass for I-5 at any time as it is not built for heavy traffic. Big rigs have attempted this in the past and got stuck, blocking others in.

For further information regarding road closures and detours, we strongly recommend Caltrans Quickmap at https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/ which has detailed information and updated traffic conditions.

We will post updates, as needed, if the Ridge Route itself or historic structures are damaged or in danger. After the fire is out and things have settled down, we will assess any damage to the roadway and post a report.

Fire on the Ridge Route

There is currently a fire, #RouteFire, burning on the Ridge Route near Templin Highway. I-5 is closed both directions and the Old Ridge Route may be in danger. For information, follow the Twitter feed for the Ridge Route Preservation Organization – @ridgeroute99.

New Page – Fire Resources

With all the fires going on, it is important to get your information from the right sources. I’ve found that going to the agencies actively involved is the best option. A new page of resources for fire information regarding mapping and fire departments has been added to this site. The new page can be found under the Civic Information menu. If you know of other pages that should be added, please let me know!

Southern California Fire Resources

Fire near Lake Hughes – Updated 8/24/2020

Updated 8/24/2020. Map from USFS Inciweb.

It seems that our fire season is going strong this year, which is unfortunate considering everything else going on. This cause of this fire, known as the Lake Fire, is still unknown. It is burning some areas that haven’t seen a fire in over 100 years. The fire is was burning to the northeast, away from the Old Ridge Route. It has turned west along Sawmill Mountain and Liebre Mountain toward the Ridge Route and Sandberg. As of 8/24/2020, it looks like the fire’s progress toward the Ridge Route and Knapp Ranch has stopped. For updated information, here are a couple of good websites:

Angeles National Forest – Inciweb
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6953/

Los Angeles County Fire Department Twitter Feed
https://twitter.com/LACoFDPIO

I plan to travel up to that area soon after the fire is no longer a threat for another Ridge Route inspection. Hopefully there aren’t any more fires.

Power, Fire, and Rails

It has certainly been interesting in southern California lately. Between fires breaking out on a near daily basis, sometimes hourly, it has been a bit difficult to keep up with things. One of the fires, the Tick Fire, burned very close to where I used to live in Santa Clarita. My father still lives there and did have to evacuate. It was quite tense for a while as the fire was still out-of-control and heading directly for that area. Thankfully, there was no damage there, though some houses nearby did burn. The hills I used to hike as a kid where I studied the spectacular outcrops of the Mint Canyon Formation also burned. Seeing the images on the news and trying to figure out where exactly they were was truly a little too close to home.

The Saddleridge Fire burned the area around the Newhall Pass, closing it for a considerable amount of time. Fires still flare up in the burn area, keeping the crews busy. I haven’t had a chance to go up to the area to assess what burned and if any of the historic roadways in the area were affected. My twitter account has been a bit active lately regarding news about the fires and agencies to contact or follow for more information.

Power outages, resultant from a decision by the utilities to shut down the power in areas of high fire danger, known as Public Safety Power Shutdown, has also negatively affected our region. Really, our whole state. Sadly, many of the major fires seem to have been still caused by power lines. These outages have directly impacted hundreds of thousands in California. Hopefully, either through an agreement between the powers-that-be and the utility companies or something else, these outages can be dealt with in a far better manner. Check with you local power company for details if you may be affected.

Some good news though. Despite all else that has gone on, the Metro A Line (formerly the Metro Blue Line) is now back up and running. It has been mostly shut down over the last year to rehabilitate the track and do some other upgrades. So far the results are mixed, but things do indeed look better. I look forward to riding it soon and seeing what the changes looks like first hand. Construction also continues on the many other rail lines in Los Angeles with live testing finally underway on the new Crenshaw Line.

On a personal front, I’ve been a bit disabled of sorts lately. It would seem I have a sciatica problem which has been quite painful at times. As a result, I haven’t been able to be as mobile as usual, so trips to Los Angeles have been a bit delayed. I will recover and be back at it soon enough. I very much look forward to my next LA trip, as they are usually a lot of fun. So much to see, so much to do.

I also have a backlog of photos to post, including a lot of photos of the fault rupture and some building damage from the Mw7.1 Ridgecrest Earthquake. Those and more will be posted soon.

Thank you all for reading, following, and supporting this site.