Tonight’s Lookout Livestream covered today’s Ponderosa Fire, in Yuba County, taking a detailed look at the incredible fuel loading and fire hazards found across large portions of the Yuba County Foothills. The fire had a very aggressive aerial attack, this afternoon, which knocked the fire down, substantially, and held it to under 100 acres by dark. There is some potential for the fire to grow overnight, with downslope winds, but much of the fire’s momentum was taken by the initial attack.
The second segment of the livestream looks at current fire behavior on the Gifford Fire, near Santa Maria, on the California Central Coast. This fire is likely to see a major 10k+ firing operation in the coming days to try to corral the northern end of the fire. We discuss potential tactics, and possible challenges the operations might face.
In the final segment, we use Google Street View to show best practices for fuels reduction around structures, using Yuba County, Paradise, and Shingletown for examples.