Chantry Flat Fire - Day 4

Seems like good news this morning. Yesterday, we awoke to the strong smell of smoke and ash. This morning, clear and quiet.

I hiked up to the Sierra Madre Debris Basin staging area this morning. This photo, taken a little before 7 am, is looking east from the dam. That's part of Upper Hastings on the ridge with the debris basin and dam in the foreground. And the sun streaming through. We'll hope for news that the fire is over.

Chantry Flat Fire Day 2 -- Staging Area

One of the helicopter staging areas is at the Sierra Madre Villa Debris Basin west of upper Hastings and north of the golf course. The top picture shows the whole operation with fire hose leading out to the dam above the basin, helicopters, a fuel truck on the right and LA County fire trucks in the foreground. The second and third photos show helicopters on the approach and landing. The last shot shows the water source being used to fill the helicopters. Hundreds of yards of hose runs from the dam, over the road, around a house, and across another road to tie into a hydrant on Old House Rd.

Watching the fire fighters work has been amazing. They've got four or five helicopters going today and they've been going straight since about 6 this morning. I've never seen helicopters maneuver like these do. The pilots land near the fuel truck if they need fuel, then lift off slightly and move down the dam to where the water hose is to get filled with water. Then they take off and return minutes later for more. All of this somehow coordinated with four or five helicopters working at the same time. I was talking to one of the crew and he said these pilots are so skilled they can pull their helicopters up sharply to actually throw their load of water forward. The whole operation is very impressive.

At about 1 pm, the fire seemed just behind the ridge that is visible in the third picture. I saw a plane dropping red fire retardant along the top of the ridge. Hopefully the fire can be stopped there.

Chantry Flat Fire

Smoke over rooftops is a scary site in southern California foothills. This smoke is from the fire that broke out about 2 pm today at Chantry Flat north of Arcadia. News reports are saying about 25 acres have burned and they expect containment by this evening.

An LA County firefighting crew set up a staging area at the heliport just west of upper Hastings Ranch and behind the golf course. I hiked up to watch the crew run hoses out to the heliport where two helicopters landed to get filled with water, took off to drop on the fire and then returned minutes later to get refilled.

Update: We heard the helicopters working from about 2 pm right up to nightfall. They ran nonstop trying to put this fire out. But, it is 10 pm now and the fire has spread westward. From our east Pasadena neighborhood, we can now smell the smoke and see flames on the ridge above Sierra Madre.

High today was 94 degrees, far above the average of 76 for this date. Still a little off of the record high which was 100 set in 2004, but the heat has to be making it harder to stop this fire. It is supposed to be hotter tomorrow. I've read where helicopter water drops will resume at daybreak.

Garden Shots on a Sunny Day

With the warm weather, we've had some great times building a garden this year. These are some of the things our five year old daughter noticed while wandering the yard. The top photo is an apple blossom on a young tree we planted this year. In the middle is Matty prowling near the hose. And the bottom shot is my favorite photographer. Great stuff.

Alligator Lizard

My son caught this alligator lizard in our backyard. These lizards are reportedly common to our area, but not often seen. They get their name because they look kind of like alligators, are good swimmers and have notoriously bad dispositions. They like to bite and often twist their body like an alligator when they do. They also have really long tails which causes them to slither as they run.

Eaton Canyon Area Development - 1967 Plan

The vision for an "eastern arroyo" of park and open space space resurfaced in the 60's. This plan was recommended by landscape architect David Wedgwood and approved in 1967 by Pasadena's Director of Parks, Robert Townsend. It is a wonderful piece of work. I encourage you to click on the map and then use your zoom feature to see the plan's detail. I think you'll be surprised.

The plan projected many new recreational features and trails from New York Drive all the way to the city's southern border. Let's take a section-by-section look:

Eaton Wash Reservoir and Dam. The plan shows the Eaton Canyon stream running under New York Drive and emptying into the reservoir area as it does today. However, the plan for the reservoir is dramatically different. It calls for five separate, but interconnected, bodies of water that would be part of a migratory wild bird preserve.

South of the Dam to Sierra Madre Blvd. Under the plan, the wild bird preserve continues south of the dam to four more separate but interconnected ponds. The plan shows an unchanneled stream running down to Sierra Madre Blvd.

Trail System. The plan calls for an extensive trial system over the entire plan area. Trails extend south from Eaton Canyon Park and nature center, and under New York Dr. into the reservoir area. Trails curve around the reservoir and ponds between New York and Sierra Madre Blvd. and then had south under Sierra Madre Blvd. The trails then run alongside the wash or the Edison right of way all the way to San Pasqual St. As planned, the trail system would accommodate hikers and bikers. A bridal path is also shown.

Edison Right of Way. The plan suggests a lease of the Edison right of way for "landscaped open space, trails, play areas and extension of proposed facilities."

South of Sierra Madre Blvd. to below Orange Grove Blvd. The plan calls for a three par golf course in this area.

South of Orange Grove to the 210. The plan calls for an assemblage of new recreational venues including an ice rink, outdoor skating rink, amphitheater, and pet farm. It also proposed to relocate the Gerrish Swim Club to this area.
210 south to Colorado. The bridle trail, hiking and biking trail continues under the freeway and down past Colorado Blvd. following the Eaton Wash channel.

Colorado south to San Pasqual. The trails continue south along the Eaton Wash channel to the city's southern border. The Edison right of way is landscaped open space. An area around Ability First is shown devoted to Senior Citizen use with shuffleboard, horseshoes and a putting green. The area around what is now the Eaton Blanche park is shown as an active park. An overnight group camp is shown on the east side of the wash from Eaton Blanche park. The hiking and biking trail is shown extending south beyond the city limits following the wash and Edison right of way.

Like the1932 plan, this plan never caught on. Since 1967, some of the planned area has been set aside for parks. Other parts of the plan area have been developed into housing and office use. A large area east of Washington is in use by Los Angeles County DPW, which controls the Eaton Wash Dam.

Eaton Canyon Park -- 1932 Plan

After a really long time, 1932 and 1967 plans for an Eaton Canyon/Wash park are getting some well deserved attention. This is the 1932 plan reprinted from Pasadena's park master plan the council approved last year. You may not recognize many of the streets and proposed streets on the plan. To get oriented, it helps to find Orange Grove Blvd. or the then-planned Eaton Wash Reservoir and work out from there.


The gist of the 1932 plan was simple -- to reserve the areas around the reservoir, the Eaton Wash and Edison right of way as open space and to build a scenic roadway starting at the dam and running south to San Pasqual. However, the plan never caught on.

The following gives some background to the '32 and '67 plans and is from the city's Green Space, Recreation and Park Element and Master Plan:

“A system of channels, roads, dams, recharge basins and other flood control infrastructure bisects the eastern area of the city. In 1932 the potential use of these areas for recreation was documented in a plan entitled "Eaton Canyon Park". This plan proposed a system of park areas extending from the mouth of the canyon to the southern City limit. These areas were to form a continuous band of open space areas, similar to the Arroyo Seco, albeit on a much smaller scale.

In December 1967, Ronald B. Townsend, the City’s Director of Parks, approved a plan entitled "Eaton Canyon Area Development". This plan also proposed an interconnected system of parks and open space areas along the Eaton Canyon drainage. The proposed improvements were laid out in great detail and connections with the city’s existing park facilities, such as Victory Park and Eaton-Blanche Park, were included. This Master Plan revisits this concept and offers recommendations for implementation measures that would fulfill a portion of the vision that was expressed in the 1932 and 1967 plans.”