Peak Fire forces evacuations in Azusa

Water source is basically an evaporation pond. Not sure if it's part of the Santa Fe Dam area, but definitely very convenient. You've got two Colsons out here. These are massive helicopters, and they carry a lot of water. And then we see one. I hope that's going to be the fire hawk right there. Yes, it is. It's the fire hawk. We see one of those actually working with them right now. And they've been doing the bucket brigade since this fire started. So they are doing a lot of work right now. As far as boots on the ground, we do see fire trucks. We also see some of those green ones. That means that's going to be Forest Service. So L.A. County, they do have people on the ground out there. But are they upright against those big flames? I don't know for a fact. And it would be very difficult for Sky Fox to get there. So right now we're just looking at a distance. but definitely an active firefight out here. Red flag conditions. Winds are definitely a problem. And look at all that water that Colson is throwing down right there. That is quite a bit. And also look at the effectiveness. We were just talking about those huge flames. Yeah, out like that. We love it. It's a sight to see and we're so glad to see that. We can confirm, I mean, your shot confirms it for us, but we are going to nonetheless report this, that Angeles National Forest, they are assisting. They're on the ground. Those are the green trucks assisting L.A. County Fire for this brush fire. San Gabriel Canyon Road near Ranch Road, that's one of the major intersections there. And we're seeing another water drop. We've seen several in just the last couple of minutes, and that can certainly help. And if, to your point, Stu, if you are one of those homeowners, even though an official evacuation order has not been enacted by L.A. County Fire, if you are that homeowner you are watching this you are doing your part to get out that is the best thing that you can do and we're seeing in your shot there those boots on the ground are literally right behind those homes and it looks like the vegetation right up against those homes burned i i i don't see any damage to the homes which is fantastic you know and marla what i'm trying to show right there is an okay so it's it's the it's the it's a hose line i was wondering if they were uh if they actually had a water drop from a helicopter to help put that out because there's a large area out there that has been uh it's just been scorched but you see the firefighters and that one firefighter definitely dumping a lot just got his hose line on that house just kind of cooling it down probably making sure that there's no embers in any of those eaves uh it's been so long since we said that but boy it's like fire fire season is all the time but right now you can see a couple of like very very active spots out here in that riverbed that is very mature brush out there so it's going to be difficult to get to that's going to be one and then of course you're going to have to get out there and basically hunt out all those hot spots they're going to be here well into the evening i can guarantee you that that water source that's so close by. This is a blessing indeed for the firefighters and, of course, the assets here, the helicopters. As far as the super scoopers, again, I am not the official fire person to talk to, but we've seen enough of these. We understand the mechanics of how they work, these fires and the airspace. The reason why they didn't just come here and start dropping water is because these three helicopters are here and they are being efficient with their water drops with their water source so close by so they would have to tell these guys hey look you guys got to stop fighting the fire go outside the you know basically where the media is that that is almost the truth and then let the fire the super scoopers come in and do their drops so somebody's making that decision right now who's more effective let's let's just let these helicopters do their magic right now personally i love all aircraft and watching those uh watching the super scoopers pick up the water and doing the drops it really is fantastic but right now helicopters they got the show and you got the one firehawk the two Coulsons out there which are contract ships also amazing technology in those helicopters they're privately owned and on contract go ahead yeah we do have this breaking news we're just getting word from LA County Fire that there is in fact an evacuation order that is now in place. This is a second alarm fire, Angeles National Forest assisting L.A. County fire. In terms of this evacuation zone, it's a very tactical bit of information that we have. AZU MC01. This is connected to a watch duty app and the zone is obviously right where these flames are. So although that is a very tactical way of announcing this evacuation order. I just wanted to make sure I hopped on here to communicate that as quickly as possible. And let me just, I can pop this in. In fact, let me just show the folks at home. There we go. This is the peak fire, 15 acres, they're calling it. And the zone that is in the red, light pink, that is that area that is under evacuation. And there we're seeing another. Let me just pop that up and I can, in fact, let me just do this split screen if I could bear with me as we're looking at this map, the evacuation zone. This is a better look, the evacuation zone and then live pictures from our skybox. And those water drops continue to happen. So, Stu, I'm so happy to be able to get that on the air just as soon as we we got that information from L.A. County fire so that doesn't surprise you it doesn't surprise me not at all with these homes so close by to where those those flames are and you can actually see another it again it's not that we don't want to get over there it's literally we cannot that's a fight that that area is kind of it's temporary flight restriction we're not allowed to get in there because that's where the firefighting aircraft are but you can definitely see uh some more lines in through that smoke if you're really kind of peeking through there so they definitely have boots on the ground on the other side of that river that riverbed and i have to be clear about that too when you say riverbeds it is the riverbed i don't think there's any water making its way through there right now it is just an area that was you know had water in it the vegetation grew and clearly it's been there for a while and now it is on fire you know the little bit of wind and And those numbers as well, we were talking about that when we made our way over here. The initial report that we got from the L.A. County, the original tweet or message that Melissa passed along, they were talking about half an acre. And before we even started moving to get over here, it was already at 15. They're starting to hit these hot spots on the hillsides. That also is good news. When we're seeing that, that means their fire department is looking at those hot spots and saying, you know what, we can stop with the heavy load down in this area and start working on a little bit about what's going on in this hillside. Some people might say, well, the fire on the hillside is going to spread the fastest. It could, but you can see that even though we're on a red flag, even though we're on a high wind warning, take a look at that smoke. That's going to tell you the story right there in the picture. That smoke's not laying flat. That smoke, the flames aren't ripping across there. It's kind of lazy and working its way up. So that means light winds, also a huge plus. That's a huge plus. And our meteorologist, Adam Kruger, is going to be joining the coverage in just a moment. In fact, I'm going to hand it off to my colleague, Coco McElroy. She's going to step in now that we've made it to the 2 o'clock hour. Stu, so give the very latest while we do the switch out, okay? Giving you the latest and waiting to talk to Coco and Matt. So if you guys are just joining us right now, we've got a fire out here. This is going to be out in the Azusa area, and it's called the Peak Fire. I'm not sure where they came up with that name, but that's definitely what it is called. It's very close to San Gabriel Canyon. That's the road that you can see those fire trucks on right there. And it's going to be L.A. County Fire, and the green ones clearly are going to be the Forest Service. We actually saw the smoke earlier on. Our assignment desk said, hey, there might be something happening in Azusa. We put the camera on it. We did see a light, wispy smoke, but we were talking about something in the Hollywood area, another fire. That was a structure. By the time we had been at the fire down there for five minutes, we put the camera back over here, completely different. We made our way over here very quickly. When we arrived, we had two Coulson helicopters. That's one of them right there picking up water. That water source, very, very close by part of the San Gabriel, the Santa Fe Dam, I believe, or part of the San Gabriel River. That's an evaporation pond, and thank goodness we had those rains because it's got plenty of water in it. Helicopters, two of them from Coulson and one of them from L.A. County. That's going to be one of their Firehawks picking up water and dropping it on this area right here. They have boots on the ground in that riverbed as well, but they're still doing those water drops, and as far as open flames go, yes, there's still smoke, but if you were watching earlier on, we had huge plumes of orange glow of fire. Now there's a spot right there. The one thing that is new, there are evacuation orders for some of these homes out here in the area. Can't tell you the names of the streets because I don't want to scare anybody, so that's the reason why I'm going to stay away. But that is one of the neighborhoods that they are definitely concerned about. You can see a lot of heavy scorching right there on the other side of the riverbed, but they also have L.A. County firefighters out there. We've been watching them put water on these areas. There's another hose line going over there, and they were actually hosing down that house that you see in the center of the screen just moments ago was it on fire no but they were just going to make sure that there was nothing in the eaves and no embers or any possibility of that house igniting here comes the LA County Fire department with their Firehawk dropping on that one heavy fire load that is in that riverbed and this is what i'm talking about i just love watching aerial resources work take a look at that a little bit of water well actually it's a lot of water and that fire yep it's pretty much gonna you got a little bit of blossom back again but the amount of water that they drop in it they'll be able to do another one and another one they're going to keep that in check again this is under red flag conditions out here we're in the San Gabriel area this is off of Azusa i also love the Azusa and we've been watching as these uh aerial these helicopters are picking up water right here in this evaporation pond doing an amazing job out here they just come in hover drop their line in there fill that up that firehawk can take up to 1600 gallons in about a minute sometimes less depending upon the pump and these guys are working super quick i don't have the stats on the on the Colson ship this one actually can pick up more water of course it's going to take a little longer but they both have the ability to kind of not drop all their water in one spot. We saw the Colson ship doing that just moments ago. There's two of them out here dropping water. He actually dropped on the low side, and then he made his way up to that top portion right there and dropped the second portion up there. Amazing work from these guys, but definitely the guys on the ground, guys and gals, L.A. County Fire, Forest Service, those are the ones that are carrying the heavy load this afternoon. It isn't crazy hot, but it's hot enough, believe me. They're out there with their gear and their chainsaws, and they are walking around in that area, in those spots where the fire is, and basically doing the heavy work, cutting line. And those are actually the numbers we're going to hear later on when we talk about containment. Those are the guys and gals that are going to make those numbers. We haven't seen a dozer out here as of yet. Wouldn't be surprised if one does show up. But right now, though, mostly the aerial stuff is what we're watching. embers being blown around that's going to be LA County Fire Department keeping an eye on it evacuation orders some of those homes in that in that shot definitely going to be part of it and take a look at that beautiful drop by the Colson ship i'm going to stay on it see if maybe he's going to do a second portion of the drop maybe that was the whole thing but again very active firefight in the Azusa area very active firefight indeed and Stu just letting you know it's Coco McAvoy now here taking over the coverage for the peak fire we so appreciate your thorough reporting and i do want to ask you before we continue how you're doing on fuel i know you've been up for a while now let me find out from Dylan and uh we'll get that one out to you right away what do we got for fuel Dylan we have about we've got about 30 minutes still on scene 30 minutes still on scene you might not have us and believe me i wish we you know when when it's breaking news and it's stuff that's happening believe me i want to stay here with everybody and do the reporting and watch the firefight but uh you i'm sure we'll get you we'll somehow get you aerials but we're probably not going to be doing the reporting but right now we still have about 30 minutes and you know a lot can change in 30 minutes Coco and hopefully when we're when we're done you're going to be saying well you know what this is kind of done out here but right now still very active those water drops very close to homes now that smoke's kind of waning you can get an idea how close a lot of these houses are to the active fire area even in the distance right there you can make out the firefighters they are clearly here on scene uh just moments ago Coco before yeah there they are they definitely have structure protection at least inside that neighborhood right there so if something should pop or they see embers moving around or the situation changes they are going to be out there super quick and hopefully they were not going to hear about any structure damage but right now the side picture I'm hopeful that they're going to get this under control before those heavy winds really start kicking in.