Southern California Wildfire Status
Wildfires Involving National Forest Lands
Pacific Southwest Region, Forest Service USDA
FINAL UPDATE
November 4, 2003, 2 p.m.

General Information

• Cool weather is expected to continue for the rest of the week, with some precipitation. The forecast of additional rain near the end of the week is raising concerns of possible mudslides and debris flows in burned areas and downstream of burned areas.
• Firefighters continue to make excellent progress toward containing four major fires involving 271,000 acres of state, federal, and private land. Three of these fires involve national forest lands. Six other fires totaling an additional 473,778 acres have been contained. Three more are expected to be fully contained by the end of the week.
• The Forest Service wildfire cost to date is $45,000,000. Total cost of wildfires to date is $91,902,000 (this represents all fires both contained and active).
• Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) teams are in place and working on all four National Forests. BAER teams are working with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), who provide similar work on non-federal lands, to develop the most effective strategies and treatments for the burned areas. BAER teams are also providing information to the National Weather Service that helps the weather service assess the threat of flash floods.
• The Cleveland, San Bernardino, and Angeles national forests and parts of the Los Padres remain closed. The Los Padres National Forest lifted restrictions on target shooting and campfires, and reduced the size of the fire closure.

NOTE: Some fires may show increases in numbers of residences lost. This does not mean new structures have been destroyed. The increase in these numbers reflects the ability of personnel to enter previously inaccessible areas to conduct additional damage assessments.

Joint Information Center contact number for the Old and Grand Prix fires: 909 382-7601.
Information is also available on the internet, at www.fs.fed.us/r5  and at www.esri.com/jicfire/.

OLD, San Bernardino National Forest.

• Fire is a unified command between Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Forest Service Type I team assigned.
• Started October 25, 2003. The cause is human and under investigation.
• Currently 91,281 acres and 93 percent contained. Estimate full containment on 11/08/03.
• 993 residences and 10 commercial properties have been destroyed.
•  A BAER team is in place on the Forest and is developing an emergency rehabilitation strategy for the burned area.
• The Cedar Glen area at Lake Arrowhead remains under mandatory evacuation. All other areas are open, but some to residents only.
• Crews are completing line construction, reducing hazardous fuels, and felling hazard trees. Mop-up work continues along firelines.
• Dead and dying timber contributed to the intensity and difficulty of control of the fire. Even after this fire, roughly 85-90 percent of the area with beetle-killed dead and dying timber in the San Bernardino mountains remains intact and a threat for future fires and to communities.
• Six fatalities.
• 2,821 firefighters assigned.
• Estimated costs to date: $29,634,109.

CEDAR FIRE, Cleveland National Forest.

• Fire is a unified command between Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Forest Service Type I team is assigned.
• Started October 25, 2003, at 5:37 p.m. in the Cedar Creek falls area of the Cleveland National Forest. Fire origin was about thirty miles east of San Diego. Fire was human caused.
• Fire is 280,278 acres and 100 percent contained. Full containment is expected 11/4/2003.
• 2,232 residences and 22 commercial properties have been lost.
• A BAER team is in place and is developing an emergency rehabilitation strategy for the burned area.
• Mop-up work continues along fire lines.
• All evacuation orders lifted.
• 14 civilian fatalities, one firefighter fatality.
• 1,378 firefighters are assigned. The fire is demobilizing excess resources.
• Cost to date: $19,116,644.
• Fire Information: 619 590-3160. Fire information is available from 8 a.m to 5 p.m.

GRAND PRIX Fire, San Bernardino National Forest.

• Fire is a unified command between Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Forest Service Type I team assigned.
• Started October 21, 2003. Human-caused.
• 59,448 acres and 98 percent contained. Full containment expected 11/04/03.
• 135 residences, one commercial property, and 60 outbuildings destroyed. All structural loss happened during the first burning period of the fire.
• A BAER team is in place on the Forest and is developing an emergency rehabilitation strategy for the burned area.
• Fire size remained unchanged. Mop-up work along lines continues.
• 588 firefighters assigned.
• Cost to date: $11,533,442.

PIRU Fire, Los Padres National Forest.

• Fire started October 23, 2003, at 1:30 p.m. Cause is under investigation.
• The fire is 63,991 acres and 85 percent contained. Full containment estimated for 11/10/2003.
• One residence and one commercial property destroyed.
• A BAER team is in place on the Forest and is developing an emergency rehabilitation strategy for the burned area.
• 145 firefighters are assigned.
• Cost to date: $7,676,000.

Other active fires not fully contained (not involving NFS lands):

Paradise Fire – California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

• 56,700 acres, 
• 80 percent contained, expected containment 11/08/03
• 176 residences lost