Crime & Safety

Gilman Fire Burned Area Estimate Increased to 1,026 Acres: Cal Fire

The fast-moving fire burned 'light, flashy fuels' on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011, in the Badlands south of the 60 Freeway, according to Cal Fire. Final mapped size of the burned area, announced Thursday, was 1,026 acres.

The estimated size of the burned area for the fast-moving Gilman Fire that charred the Badlands last weekend was increased to 1,026 acres, Cal Fire announced Thursday.

The Gilman Fire scorched 419 acres maintained by the Bureau of Land Management and 607 acres of private land, according to a fire perimeter map released by Cal Fire.

A pdf copy of the map is attached to this report.

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The blaze was reported just after 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, east of Gilman Springs Road and south of the 60 Freeway.

At one point Saturday, as many as 50 motorists were temporarily stranded on the 60 by smoke and ash. California Highway Patrol officers escorted the motorists out of danger.

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The fire was declared 100 percent contained by 6 p.m. Sunday. It was declared 100 percent controlled at midnight Sunday, according to Cal Fire.

A Cal Fire crew captain and three inmate firefighters from Oak Glen sustained minor injuries Saturday. The captain and one of the inmates were hospitalized, Cal Fire-Riverside County Chief John R. Hawkins said. All four have returned to work, Hawkins said.

"The fire behavior at the 'Gilman Fire' exhibited erratic spread in light flashy fuels characteristic of the Badlands," Hawkins said this week.

"CAL FIRE personnel take very seriously fires burning in light flashy fuels," Hawkins said. "More firefighters are killed or burned at fires burning in light flashy fuels."

The Badlands are replete with the three factors affecting fire spread: weather -primarily wind changes or wind velocity, topography -non descript terrain, and fuels - light flashy fuels, Hawkins said.

"As a result, fires can be very dangerous when they burn in the Badlands," Hawkins said.

The post-fire situation is also a concern, Hawkins said.

The next hard rain on the Gilman Fire burned area could unleash erosion more damaging than the blaze itself.

Most of the burned slopes face away from the 60 Freeway. Nearly all of the burned area is charged and aimed downhill towards Gilman Springs Road.

"It's all watershed," Hawkins said Tuesday afternoon, standing next to the eastbound 60 before he went into the burned area. "The dirt all runs downhill if it rains, if we have a heavy rain.

"Could be a summer thunderstorm," Hawkins said. "It could wait until wintertime, but there's always the fear of soil transport downhill during a heavy rainstorm. That's causes, if nothing else, erosion problems down below where it can block roads.

"Here, fortunately, there's no homes, so there's no risk there, but there's always the risk of downstream erosion, particularly in soils like this that are this fragile," Hawkins said.

Asked whether there is concern for erosion impacting the 60, Hawkins looked at the burned slopes facing the freeway and did not hesitate.

"Oh there's a risk here, there's a risk of dirt coming down off the hill here, absolutely there's a risk," Hawkins said. "Here the watershed is pretty short, where it can make its run and move dirt, but it can be very dangerous."

Hawkins went to the burned area Tuesday afternoon to see where the four firefighters from Oak Glen sustained minor injuries Saturday.

The cause of the Gilman Fire remained under investigation Thursday, a Cal Fire spokeswoman said.

Suppression costs for the blaze were determined to be $479,000, Cheri Patterson of Cal Fire-Riverside County said.


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