09/12/2020
City Manager's Update: Bobcat Fire - Day 6 | Update 1 Sept 12 9:59 am
September 12, 2020
Hello Monrovians,
As of this morning, the Bobcat Fire has burned approximately 29,245 acres and is 6% contained. There are 765 personnel assigned to the fire, including 69 engines, 17 handcrews, 5 helicopters, 2 aircrafts, 5 dozers and 5 water tenders.
Last night, the fire continued its way downhill and is now within Canyon Park and near the Trask Boy Scout Camp. They have begun engaging the fire near Trask. The approach to fighting this fire, and the same approach used across our foothill communities, is to build defensible spaces using hand crews, dozer lines and Phos-Chek drops as a perimeter, allowing the fire to slowly back into the perimeter. The analogy I like best is when a ball is caught in a baseball mitt. Now that the fire is nearing areas where firefighters will engage, additional crews are being assigned to help with engagement, including many from your Monrovia Fire Department. This is their community and they are proud to protect it.
Today, we are asking for your help--please conserve water! The firefighters and strike teams will begin engaging the fire at Canyon Park today. As the firefighting effort includes large, continuous amounts of water usage, they will draw down our City water supply IF we cannot refill. Here is a list of ways you can help us fight this fire today –
Please do NOT water your lawns, rooftops, or homes. This is not a wind-driven event and embers are not blowing downwind.
Conserve water. The City stores millions of gallons of water which is used during the day and replenished constantly. When adding firefighting consumption, the tanks will not replenish as fast. If residents conserve, we can replenish the tanks faster than without conservation.
Water movement. The City has planned ahead by designing our water system, a combination of many water storage tanks, pumps and pipe, to move water around where it is needed, including from the water plant up above Canyon Park! We have millions of gallons of water not in use and ready for firefighting efforts so we will begin pumping the water across town to locations closest to hydrants used for the fire. It is exciting that we had the foresight to design our water system this way. I do apologize...some of you may notice a reduction in water pressure or even, possibly, water quality as we pump across town. This is normal and ok but please just be aware.
If an Evacuation Order is issued or if you leave your home, please DO NOT leave your irrigation systems, faucets or water spigots on. We need to have water supply available for as long as the fire is present.
With the support of Incident Command, we continue to be cautiously optimistic about the progression of the fire and will continue to update you throughout the day. Thank you for doing your part and helping us conserve water!
Sincerely,
Dylan
