UPDATE: NEENACH, FAIRMONT and THREE POINTS, CA (Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 5:04 a.m.)—Evacuations have been lifted for residents of the Fairmont area of the Western Antelope Valley. Ridge Route Road remains closed at Lake Hughes Road. Pine Canyon Road also remains closed from Three Points to Lake Hughes Road. The following roads remain open to residents only; Spunky Canyon Road at Bouquet Canyon, Munz Ranch Road at Lancaster Road, San Francisquito Canyon Road at Dry Gulch Motorway, 110th Street West Avenue at Avenue K, Elizabeth Canyon Road at 90th Street West, 205th Street West at Lancaster Road.

As of June 4 at 8:15 p.m., 16 commercial and residential structures had been destroyed and 275 were threatened. The Powerhouse fire had burned 32,032 acres through Angeles National Forest, Lake Hughes, Elizabeth Lake, Green Valley and the Neenach-Fairmont area of the Western Antelope Valley, according to officials. The fire was 65% contained at an estimated cost of  $11,400,000. At times, 2,114 firefighting and logistic personnel, were assigned, along with 12 fixed wing planes and 11 helicopters.

Incident command personnel say that  crews continue to make good progress toward slowing and containing the fire. Some equipment and personnel have been released as fire lines held. Assessment teams continue to determine the impact of the fire. Fire spread is expected to be minimal. The threat of fire spotting across Elizabeth Lake Canyon and near Cottonwood Campground remains; so, a potential for extreme fire spread still exists. Fire spread is likely to be minimal if the fire does not spot across Elizabeth Lake Canyon. Fire activity will persist along the perimeter of a large interior island of unburned fuel in the area of Pine Canyon north of Lake Hughes as the vegetation is consumed. Smoke will be visible during this fire activity.

UPDATE: NEENACH, FAIRMONT and THREE POINTS, CA (Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at 3:30 p.m.)—The L.A. County Board of Supervisors unanimously ratified a local state of emergency proclamation resulting from the Powerhouse fire. Started on May 30, the fire has burned approximately 32,032 acres and is 60% contained.  A total of 15 structures have been damaged, 6 destroyed, and 275 structures are still threatened.

A press release from the office of Supervisor Michael Antonovich said: “As the extent of the damage is assessed and thresholds are met, this declaration will waive regulations which may hinder response and recovery efforts, make recovery assistance available under the California Disaster Assistance Act and enable access to applicable federal, state and local resources and disaster relief assistance.”

UPDATE: NEENACH, FAIRMONT and THREE POINTS, CA (Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at 10:30 a.m.)—”We are still watching the fire in the forest areas west of Lake Hughes Road continuing to burn toward our community,” said Susan Zahnter, vice president of the Three Points Mt. Liebre Town Council, this morning. Pine Canyon and Lake Hughes Road are still closed. “According to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, the U.S. Forest Service will attack this flank of the fire today,” Zahnter added.

UPDATE: NEENACH, FAIRMONT and THREE POINTS, CA (Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at 8:50 a.m.)—Susan Zahnter of Three Points-Liebre Mountain Town Council sends this update on the Powerhouse fire from the Powerhouse Fire Unified Command (USFS and CalFire), LA County Fire Department and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.

Containment of the Powerhouse fire has reached 60%. Many areas have been reopened to residents and no additional evacuations are expected. As of Tuesday, battling the fire is estimated to have cost $7,897,391. The cause of the fire’s start is still being investigated. It began near the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power pump house in San Francisquito Canyon on Thursday, May 30 at about 3:28 p.m.

The Powerhouse fire is being fought in the Angeles National Forest, Hughes Lake, Elizabeth Lake, Green Valley and the Neenach-Fairmont area of the Western Antelope Valley. It has now reached over 32,000 acres in size.  Six residences have been destroyed and nine were damaged, 275 structures are threatened. Three injuries have been reported.

There are 11 helicopters, 8 air tankers and 2,154 personnel assigned to the fire, with 29 fire engines, 28 fire tenders, 50 fire crews and 32 bulldozers.

Fire spread was moderated yesterday. The majority of active fire is along Elizabeth Canyon and Hughes Lake Road northwest to Sawtooth Mountain continuing over Shake Canyon. Fire north of Elizabeth Lake Canyon will burn upslope towards Sawmill Mountain. Fire is currently threatening 275 structures.

Crews will build direct attack firefighting lines and look for opportunities to strengthen existing lines, with crews engaging the fire in the area of Hughes Mountain, Abrams Canyon and Deer Canyon; air resources will support these crews.

Evacuation Center: The Red Cross Shelter is at Marie Kerr Park (Palmdale). Lancaster and Antelope Valley fairgrounds are being used to shelter animals.

Powerhouse Fire Threatens First Solar Facility as Evacuations Spread to Fairmont Area

UPDATE: NEENACH and FAIRMONT, CA (Monday, June 3, 2013 at 8:50 a.m.)—Overnight, containment of the Powerhouse fire is reported to have increased to 40%. The fire has burned 40 square miles of  terrain from Green Valley, Elizabeth Lake and Lake Hughes into the Western Antelope Valley near the First Solar AVSR1 facility. See earlier reports below.

A Red Cross evacuation shelter has been set up at Marie Kerr Park in Palmdale, at 30th Street West and Rancho Vista Boulevard.

Powerhouse Fire Threatens First Solar Facility as Evacuations Spread to Fairmont Area
UPDATE: NEENACH and FAIRMONT, CA (Sunday, June 2, 2013 at 11:50 p.m.)—By 4 p.m. today the Powerhouse fire had come across the mountains from Lake Hughes to within a mile of First Solar’s Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One (AVSR1). Evacuations have been called between 170th to 190th Street West.About 1,000 homes have been evacuated throughout the region since the fire started.Six structures have been destroyed and 10 have been damaged. Lancaster Road in the Fairmont area was closed Sunday.

The fire has expanded from 5,000 to 25,000 acres in the past 24 hours. Winds in the desert area were15-20 mph, with gusting, on Sunday night.  Intense firefighting efforts have kept containment at 20% despite the five-fold increase in the fire’s size. There are now 2,100 firefighters on the Powerhouse fire, with 12 helicopters and 8 tankers, including a DC-10.

L.A. County Fire Department Inspector Anthony Akins said some wooden power poles have gone down. Southern California Edison crews “were there quickly; they’ve been there since the second day,” he said. Power had to be cut in high voltage lines for awhile when heavy smoke (filled with particulates) posed a hazard of arcing sparks, “like a bug zapper with firetrucks under it,” Akins said. He added that “if the weather cooperates” and “if we get all the hazards removed,” evacuated homeowners will be escorted back in to look over their properties tomorrow. No time has been specified yet.

There is little likelihood of major damage to AVSR1, Akins said. “The fuels are sparse, and that property was [graded] down to  bare mineral soil; the fire is not a profound threat to that facility.”

Evacuation notices extend to Lake Hughes
UPDATE: LAKE HUGHES,  ELIZABETH LAKE, CA (Sunday, June 2, 2013 at 11:50 a.m.)—The Powerhouse fire covered 19,500 acres by 11 a.m. Sunday morning. It started about 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 30. It is burning through heavy brush and chapperal in 95 degree heat and 6-10% humidity. The critically dry fuels and rugged terrain make this a fire resistant to containment efforts.

Los Angeles County Fire Department and U.S. Forest Service firefighters are on the Powerhouse fire, with contributions from Kern County and other sources. This morning there were  93 engines, 7 dozers, 8 helicopters, 8 air tankers (including a DC10) and 12 water tenders. About 1,000 personnel were based at a staging area in Palmdale.

Forest service sources say residents from over 1000 homes have been evacuated, including two youth probation camps and Cottonwood campground. Lake Hughes is under mandatory evacuations and Elizabeth Lake is under voluntary evacuation orders by L.A. County Sheriffs (661-272-2400).

LAKE HUGHES,  ELIZABETH LAKE, CA (Sunday, June 2, 2013 at 7 a.m.)—Smoke from the Powerhouse fire loomed over Lebec and Frazier Park on Saturday, June 1. To the southeast, the Powerhouse fire is burning through steep and inaccessible terrain, less than 20% controlled. From 6-8 p.m. on Saturday about 200 homes were evacuated from Lake Hughes Road, east. Voluntary evacuations began from Elizabeth Lake after 11 p.m. A church camp called The Oaks on Pine Canyon Road (a mile west of Lake Huges Road) was evacuated.

A string of traffic was heading out of the area in one direction, while firefighters, Los Angeles County sheriffs, animal control officers, and search & rescue personnel flowed into the area in the other direction. The fire was burning from east to west on the south side of Pine Canyon Road in the Angeles National Forest.

Seven miles to the west of Elizabeth Lake, Three Points resident  Susan Zahnter said thick smoke turned the daylight into dusk Saturday and that the roar of the fire and aircraft was deafening as the sky rained ashes.  “It is horrible,” she said. At 10:15 p.m. her family was packing to be prepared to leave. Earlier that day they were in Lake Hughes.  “The flames are coming over into town, traveling north toward Pine Canyon Road and Lake Hughes Road, then across Pine Canyon to Portal Ridge toward Lake Hughes,” Zahnter reported. “Right now it is burning toward us. It still is out of control. It is a desperate situation.”

Zahnter, vice president of the Three Points Rural Town Council, spoke while packing: “We’re not in a dire panic, but I’ve warned my neighbors to move their livestock. One neighbor has 4 horses, another neighbor  has 15 cows. Another friend is taking her horses down near Highway 138.” Over in Lake Hughes, Los Angeles County Animal Control brought in pickup trucks with cages, to take pets to the Avenue I Animal Shelter near Lancaster.

“For a good part of the day we had a smoke cloud over our head and then it blew out into the Antelope Valley toward Lebec
It had that orange and black smoke…It seemed to be moving down  Pine Canyon along Three Points Road,” Zahnter said.

Structures in Lake Hughes are being protected but some have burned. The fire crossed the road behind the school, but as of midnight, the school was standing. Zahnter said water dropping helicopters were visible but seemed to be making little impact on the fire. “I didn’t see fixed win aircraft near Lake Hughes. It could be they were further south, and the smoke was so thick it was hard to see.”

A Red Cross evacuation shelter has been set up at Marie Kerr Park in Palmdale, at 30th Street West and Rancho Vista Boulevard.

Electricity and phone service was still intact in the area during the night. High voltage power lines were threatened near Green Valley. The fire appears to have started near a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power pumping station in San Francisquito Canyon.

“It is burning all of that area that was newly proposed national forest wilderness. Fish Canyon and Red Mountain have burned, it is really sad,” Zahnter said.

At 7:17 a.m. Sunday, Neenach resident and retired U.S. Forest Service firefighter Jeff Zimmerman reported the fire had burned to the south shore of Lake Hughes, turned east to Elizabeth Lake and appears to have surrounded a majority of the community on the south side of Elizabeth Lake Road. ”Structures and homes lost,” he reported. “The fire was burning around the Painted Turtle Camp, but appeared (as of 11:30 p.m.) that structures there were not yet involved. Fire crossed the road at Elizabeth Lake and burned around Hughes-Elizabeth Lake School. The school is okay,” he confirmed.

This is part of the May 31, 2013 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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