UPDATE: As Patch.com has confirmed, the San Gabriel Complex Fire has been designated a local emergency and FEMA has accepted a request to assist local authorities. FEMA will now be able to provide funding for up to 75 percent of eligible firefighting costs. The Red Cross has established an evacuation center at the Duarte Community Center at 1600 Huntington Drive.
Even after months of warnings that, coming out of El Niño, our region would be set up for a particularly dangerous fire season, the intensity and number of large-scale fires that have sparked in recent days is extremely alarming.
The dry conditions coupled with a record-breaking heat wave have made our area something of a tinder box. That creates an environment where, for example, a car accident north of Azuza is enough to set off a major fire—which, as NBC Los Angeles reports, has grown large enough to combine with another fire burning nearby to create a massive “complex fire,” currently covering more than 5,400 acres. That San Gabriel Complex Fire, as it is now known, led to evacuation orders and recommendations for many area residents on Monday and more residents have been put on alert for possible evacuations today, including those of Monrovia and Bradbury.
In addition to those directly impacted by the fires, the smoke billowing from Santa Barbra to San Diego has contributed to creating air quality conditions that may be dangerous for sensitive individuals. The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued an advisory today labelling the air, particularly in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, as “unhealthy.”
To stay abreast of the conditions, follow the LA County Fire Department on Twitter, where they are releasing the newest information as they have it. Currently, CAL FIRE is tracking 12 active and contained fires burning up and down the state, including the San Gabriel Complex Fire, the Border Fire near San Diego and the Sherpa Fire near Santa Barbara, among others. The map below, created by CAL FIRE, shows the areas of known blazes.