Saddleridge Fire Sparks Mystery Flames At Valley Nat Gas Storage Area
Written by 991KBU on October 16, 2019
Although the majority of flames are long out … the Saddleridge Fire continues to burn in the foothills east of Newhall and north of Sylmar.
The fire is only 46 percent contained.
19 structures destroyed.
And yesterday … a small flame was spotted emerging from a hillside … near the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility.
L A fire crews noticed active flames in the soil Monday.
The Saddleridge Fire burned across the mountain ridge that sits above a huge underground natural has storage area … the Southern California Gas Company’s Aliso Canyon facility.
The Gas Company has assured the public that its underground gas storage caverns were not harmed by the fire.
They said its underground cameras have determined that natural gas was not the cause for the flames shooting from the steep hillside.
Southern California Gas says there have been no new gas leaks and there was no damage to the facility.
Aliso Canyon was the site of a massive gas leak in 2015.
Many residents in the Porter Ranch area were impacted by the hidden gas leak … which was the largest spill of petroleum products into the atmosphere in L A hisotry.
Dozens of cases of illness were claimed.
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Santa Ana winds will return to the area this weekend … but not awfully strong.
We may get high wind warnings for the Santa Monica Mountains Friday.
Stronger desert and mountain winds are more likely on Sunday and into Monday … but again … not as strong as the winds we had earlier this week.
This comes as researchers are warning that Santa Ana wind storms are now turning into wintertime events …. not just during autumn.
A researcher at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography has published measurements of current Santa Ana winds … and predictions that take into effect global warming impacts,
The results … Santa Anas can happen as early as September or as late as May.
The strongest winds usually happen in winter months … December and January.
The researcher says December months may see the most back-to-back Santa Ana winds.
And that provides opportunities for wildfires to burn longer and bigger, in winter months.
