Los Angeles Times: Weather aids firefighters, but some flanks of fire have lethal potential

[marmar]

Weather aids firefighters, but some flanks of fire have lethal potential
Higher humidity and a bit lower temperatures help crews battling the Station fire in the Angeles National Forest. But the northern and southeastern fronts could re-erupt, officials said.

September 2, 2009


Higher humidity and slightly lower temperatures helped firefighters inch closer to subduing the monstrous fire that has lashed about the San Gabriel Mountains for a week, but they were scrambling late Tuesday in gusty winds to keep it from overrunning Mt. Wilson.

The reprieve from extremely dry weather had fire crews feverishly setting back fires and cutting fire lines throughout the day, raising the blaze's containment to 22% in the evening, up from 5% the night before. Southwest winds largely pushed the fire deeper into the forest.

Evacuation orders were lifted in much of La Cañada Flintridge and La Crescenta. But fire officials still worried about the northern flank of the fire, from Agua Dulce to Littlerock, and said the blaze could reemerge as a threat to homes in the foothills of Sierra Madre and points east.

"It's still a very treacherous situation," said U.S. Forest Service Incident Cmdr. Mike Dietrich. "The fire has a lot of potential, and it's still a big animal." ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fire2-2009sep02,0,2348792.story