Aerial Pix: Thomas Fire 12/19

[SBitz]

This afternoon (Tues. 12/19, 1:45-2:45pm) I flew over the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) created by the FAA to maintain safe separation of fire suppression aircraft over the Thomas Fire, from other aircraft (me, for example). While I was doing this aerial photographic survey to share pix with the public, there was a fire survey aircraft in the region so it was nice having the ability to "see" it on my display and for ATC to see us both on radar. Anyway, I'm posting this intro so that anyone with limited internet access will know before looking at my subsequent posts in this Topic, that these will be large files.

NOTE: The following messages will contain attachments with larger file sizes than most posts related to the Thomas Fire.

I stayed over SB County but have a few slightly telephoto shots of Ventura County. Most of the pix are from 2-3 miles away, but with telephoto I have some detail. The originals are 5472 × 3648 pixel size, and some are shot with a polarizing filter to cut the haze. I didn't shoot any at max zoom (600mm) because they'd be much more likely to have motion blur, but I probably have quite a few at 300mm or so. Distance to subject was typically 2-3 miles. If anyone would like max zoom and larger resolution shots of a specific area, please post a request in this Topic.

[SBitz]

I posted two wide shots, and a medium zoom one of the Gibraltar Mountain area in the main Topic for today. Here's a sample of a closer look at the Thomas Fire's perimeter on the southwestern edge from a few miles offshore during the climb to 2 miles above sea level. Those higher shots are a little clearer due to being above the smoke and more straight down through it. This is a closer look at the area from the "climbing rock" on Gibraltar Road (bottom-right) up to Camino Cielo where they stopped the fire except for a few places where it jumped the line.


I'm going to pause now and take a break, but will start posting more in a few hours.

[topix]

Thanks, SBitz.  This photo is an especially nice composition.  And wow, those phos-chek pilots are amazingly accurate when you see how their drops are e_x_a_c_t_l_y on the ridgeline. 

[SBitz]

There doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in these pix, but I'll post a few more because to me they're some combo of fascinating and scary. Looking back toward SB as I began turning toward the North over Carp, our hills looked so bare. The amount of smoke still clinging, made visible by the light and height, explains my nagging cough from not wearing a mask indoors.

Across the ridge our denuded watershed clear past Jameson Lake (bottom-left) to the West and North made me ponder what damage a hard rain would do to that moonscape.

Many pix later turning back toward the South, I noticed a helicopter passing the staging area where they stopped the fire at Camino Cielo.

[Pork Rind]

Plenty of interest for my part, but this is the point of the fire timeline where I realize I’m about a week and a half behind at work. I'm now hoping the fire jumps the lines and burns up my desk.

I’m filing the photos away to reference when all is said and done and the forest is open. I want to hike some of these firebreaks out of curiosity and to get to areas previously covered with impenetrable chapparal.

[Minnie Mouse]

Also having time to realize how much time has been lost/spent on Thomas. That 3rd pic of the phos-check on the dozer line makes me wonder if it's also being sprayed by trucks there, not all being dropped by plane, notwithstanding the amazing accuracy of the drops they are doing of both phos-check & water!!

On Wed, Dec 20, 2017 at 7:10 AM, Pork Rind <andy...@gmail.com> wrote:

Plenty of interest for my part, but this is the point of the fire timeline where I realize I’m about a week and a half behind at work. I'm now hoping the fire jumps the lines and burns up my desk.

I’m filing the photos away to reference when all is said and done and the forest is open. I want to hike some of these firebreaks out of curiosity and to get to areas previously covered with impenetrable chapparal.

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[SBitz]

Pork Rind wrote:

hoping the fire jumps the lines and burns up my desk.

Still chuckling at that, though I did feel a twinge of concern. Maybe a single lonely ember could survive the sharp eyes of the fire crews, alight on your desk, and erase every trace of your work before they put it out with minimal collateral smoke and fire damage in your office. :)
 

get to areas previously covered with impenetrable chapparal.

Yes, it's going to be a bushwhacker's dream once the ash is integrated into the soil. I've seen some cool rock formations in past flights, and there are probably some artifacts up there. I just hope there's no heavy rain before they manage to reseed and get some cover growing. The devastation is vast, and our watershed is at risk along with vulnerability to mudslides and flash floods on and below everywhere it burned.

[SBitz]

Thanks to seeing more views on this Topic and reading that some of our Members and Edhatters are finding them useful, here comes another batch of pix. Mostly of the horrible damage to the watersheds in both Counties. Later if there's continued interest (and the fire doesn't soon run amok again), I'll start posting some moderate zoom pix of the South slope fire line where they saved most of the structures. Some that appear burned to me in the full-res pix may ruins remaining from prior fires, but there do seem to be some Thomas casualties visible. Anyway, here's a look from a little Northeast of Jameson Reservoir out to the vast NE burned area where some spots were still smoking yesterday about 2:20pm.

The brightness and color in these pix are tweaked to reduce the haze and better distinguish the few unburned areas.

[ladooee]

I definitely enjoy the pictures, thanks for taking and posting them!

[SBitz]

Turning more toward Ojai Valley (at right), you can begin to see how severely impacted Ventura County cities and watersheds are. I sure hope rain comes in distinct moderate waves until life can take root again in both Counties.

Continuing this clockwise turn over the area just East of Jameson, Santa Paula comes into view in the distance (short mountain range, upper middle).

Still turning you see the burnt landscape around Lake Casitas and Ventura, with Point Mugu in the distance (upper-middle).

[SBitz]

Coming out of that turn (prior post), I zoomed in some to show the ridge above Carp looking toward the South. Nearer pix have less haze of course, so they've needed less tweaking. Burned across Camino Cielo, this part of the Thomas Fire in SB County is going to impact watersheds on both sides.

Here's a wider shot showing the wasteland around Jameson Reservoir with Carp greenhouses in the smoky distance (top).

Further to the West looking back we can see how they managed to stop it on the North slope of the Santa Ynez range, though it kept moving West on the North side of the riverbed.

Turning South across the ridge, another wide view shows a fraction of this massive burned area. It might not be possible even on a clear day, to see the whole thing except from the edge of space. Again, this is a wide shot from "only" two miles up.

[SBitz]

Two more in this batch, both looking back toward the North, annotated to show a few landmarks for orientation. First this wide shot showing how much of the watershed near Gibraltar Reservoir was saved by firefighters and a lucky easing of wind toward the West.
That fire line cut along the ridge top and painted with PhosChek from the hairpin turn on Gibraltar Road down toward the bottom-right managed to stop the Western spread. Also helpful was the lighter fuel load regrown from the Tea Fire, as this closer view illustrates.

The beautiful Tangerine Falls will be vulnerable to mud flows and absent the lush vegetation around it for a few years. Well, now the wind is kicking up so I'm going to start monitoring for any flare ups. Hope we can get through this wind event!

[SBitz]

Here's a start on pix of the South edge starting below Gibraltar and moving toward the East. I've tried to choose pix that overlap a little so you can pick out landmarks near the right edge and match them up with the same spot on the left edge of the next pic.

[SBitz]

Continuing on with another batch. I've varied the widths based on the scene and somewhat on the relative zoom ratio.

[SBitz]

Yet more. The fire line zigs a bit North and South here and there, so that also affects the width and aspect ratio to show mainly the fire edge.

[SBitz]

Yet more. Want a few more after this?

[SBitz]

Last batch. The keen eyed may have noticed that these aren't all in numerical sequence by camera file number. That's because sometimes I shot at an angle ahead, sometimes straight out and a few times slightly back toward the area already passed. It had to do with what caught my eye, and mostly keeping airplane parts (wings, etc.) out of the pix. Most of the specific locations and buildings are in more than one pic and of course at higher resolution, so let me know if there's something you'd like more detail on.

[Section Make8R]

Yes there is lots of interest!!!  These are great!!  Its not often that folks get to see pictures like these almost as soon as they are shot!  The lines of where the fire stopped, as compared to how far it really burnt, pretty impressive work by the fire fighters.

 Like you said, fascinating and (scary) kinda depressing actually.  Large scale events like this might make people realize its probably better to have regular controlled burns, than let things build up to a point like this recent event.  Easier said than done, I suppose, maybe this years fires might change that.

edit to add: it would be great to know when you fly again, over Montecito.  I could try the old camera through the binoculars, unless of course you buzzed the Hedgerows... (a twin engine small plane came over today at dusk, was that you?)  

[SBitz]

> impressive work by the fire fighters.

Indeed!  Many large homes in our hills that are surrounded by trees were even saved by the excellent and tireless work of firefighters.
 

> twin engine small plane came over today at dusk, was that you?

No, nor will it be. First because I always fly at least 1/4 mile up over populated areas. Almost always over other areas too. Second because there's an FAA Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over our area from the surface up to 9,500 feet. So while I'm honored you'd like to snap us in flight, it's unlikely even after the TFR's removed. It's very rare that anyone on the ground even notices us go by. My ears are highly attuned to even the far distant sound of aircraft and planes I've seen flying lower than we do, are rarely noticed by people standing next to me even though my head snaps around to look. The twin you saw was almost certainly on an official fire-related mission (or the pilot's very busy explaining to the FAA). In case you're interested, here's what the outline of that TFR looks like. As you can see, it extends well offshore and beyond Ventura. On an unrelated note, I've included the newer TFR off Point Conception that's probably related to a planned rocket launch.

[Pork Rind]

>On an unrelated note, I've included the newer TFR off Point Conception that's probably related to a planned rocket launch.

Yup, there's a Falcon 9 launch scheduled for 5:27pm today. 10 more Iridium NEXT satellites to be delivered to orbit. I thought about going to watch but just can't get excited about another drive this week. We should all keep an eye out for it here as I think it should be dark enough to see well.

...[edit]

This discussion is moving to the Topic named Miscellany. -ed

[SBitz]

I'm going to try putting a "Lock" on this Topic for today, in case that helps us remember to send replies that aren't about this Aerial Pix discussion, to the Miscellany discussion where I've just moved a bunch of posts.