Out of the 16 plus fires that are currently burning, at least one has been attributed to an act of arson.
I don't know that the actual cause of the others has been determined, but living on a hillside backing up into the mountains, we stay on the alert anytime the wind comes up.
It blew very, very hard here in Glendale on Saturday night and Sunday...but lessened considerably yesterday and today.
Unfortunately, other areas were not so lucky. The wind will take a single fire and multiply it numerous times as a results of blowing, burning embers.
It is difficult to understand how large an area is involved and how widely scattered these fires are in terms of location. That contributes to the problems in mounting a strong enough attack to knock them down with the available resources. Particularly when the wind is gusting upwards of 80 to 90 mph in some places. The high winds not only spread the fire very rapidly, they also can prevent the aircraft from flying. Those tanker planes and choppers are one of the best tools available...and winds can ground them.
It's a tough time.
MaC
