San Gabriel Complex Fire
| San Gabriel Complex Fire | |
|---|---|
|
Smoke rising from the Fish Fire approximately 2 hours after it started. | |
| Location | Angeles National Forest, Los Angeles County, California |
| Coordinates | 34°10′05″N 117°54′00″W / 34.168°N 117.9°WCoordinates: 34°10′05″N 117°54′00″W / 34.168°N 117.9°W |
| Statistics[1] | |
| Date(s) | June 20, 2016 - July 23, 2016 |
| Burned area | 5,399 acres (22 km2) |
| Cause |
|
| Fatalities | 3 civilians |
| Map | |
  Location in Los Angeles | |
The San Gabriel Complex Fire was a wildfire that burned in the Angeles National Forest, Los Angeles County.[1] The fire was the combination of two separate fires, the Reservoir Fire and the Fish Fire.[1]
Events
Around 11 A.M. on June 20, the first fire was reported in the San Gabriel Mountains along Highway 39 near the Morris Reservoir.[2] As the flames quickly spread to over 1,500 acres (6.1 km2), the Azusa Police Department issued mandatory evacuations for the neighborhoods of Rainbow Ranch and Mountain Cove.[2]
Over an hour later, a second fire erupted in Fish Canyon.[2] Dubbed the Fish fire, the blaze would explode up and across the canyons above Duarte as it'd consume 400 acres to then 1,000 acres within just two hours of burning.[3] By 9 p.m. the Fish Fire had spread to over 3,000 acres (12 km2).[2]
By Tuesday Morning, June 21, authorities declared that the two fires would be run as a combined incident known as the San Gabriel Complex Fire.[4] Additionally, FEMA issued a statement that the fire posed enough of a threat to cause major destruction that it constituted a major disaster, thus qualifying the incident for federal assistance.[4]
Effects
The fire caused widespread power outages in Azusa Canyon which resulted in smaller water systems being placed under a precautionary “Boil Water” order by the Los Angeles County Public Health Department to prevent possible bacterial contamination.[5]
As a result of the fires, the communities of Mountain Cove in Azusa, Rainbow Ranch and portions of Duarte were put under a mandatory evacuation order that would last several days as the fires burned.[6]
Weeks after the fires broke out, two charred bodies were found in the burn area of the San Gabriel Complex incident. The bodies of both 31-year-old Carlos Perez and 16-year-old Jonathan Pardo are believed to have burn to death while hiking the foothills on the day the fires broke out.|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bodies-found-angeles-national-forest-burn-area-20160707-snap-story.html%7Caccessdate=8 July 2016|agency=Los Angeles Times|date=8 July 2016}}</ref>
Cause
On June 20, the deputy chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department stated that the Reservoir Fire had been caused by a fatal vehicle accident near the Morris Reservoir.[2] The fire had been ignited when a vehicle veered off Highway 39 and then colliding with the descending mountainside alongside the highway.[7] The driver, Michael Spengler, died at the scene as a result of multiple blunt force and thermal injures relating to the crash and subsequent fire, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner website.[7]
The cause of the Fish Fire remains under investigation.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 "San Gabriel Complex Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rocha, Veronica; Agrawal, Nina; Hamilton, Matt (20 June 2016). "Twin fires burn more than 4,500 acres and trigger evacuations in San Gabriel Valley". latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ↑ Nguyen, Alexander (21 June 2016). "Fish Fire Explodes to 3,000 Acres; One Firefighter Injured". Patch.
- 1 2 Sugarman, Maya (21 June 2016). "San Gabriel Complex: Firefighters brace to protect homes; Residents prep to evacuate". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ↑ Times, Los Angeles (25 June 2016). "San Gabriel Complex fire is nearly half-contained; Chantry Flats recreation area reopens". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
- ↑ "San Gabriel Complex: These are the Reservoir, Fish fire evacuations for Duarte, Azusa communities". San Gabriel Valley Tribune. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- 1 2 Castrejon, Aaron (1 July 2016). "Officials ID Man Killed In Crash That Sparked Reservoir Fire". Glendora City News.
