Seven hurt in Rowland Heights fire

Seven people, including three who jumped from a second floor, were injured when fire broke out at an apartment building late Tuesday night.

Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Rick Flores said the cause of the fire was someone cooking in a first-floor unit of the apartment in the 1700 block of South Otterbein Avenue. He said three units were affected and estimated damages to the structure at $300,000 and $70,000 to the contents.

The fire department got a call about the blaze at 11:25 p.m. Twenty three firefighters put out the first alarm fire at 12:02 a.m.

Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Roland Sprewell said the three people who jumped from the second floor were a woman in her late 40s, who suffered hip and leg injuries; a woman in her early 20s, who suffered a shoulder injury; and a man in his 20s, who suffered an arm injury.

Four people from the first floor also were injured, Sprewell said. A 9- year-old girl suffered second-degree burns; a man in his 40s, possibly the girl’s father, suffered first-degree burns; a man described as a grandfather suffered first-degree burns; and a woman described as a grandmother suffered smoke inhalation.

All seven were taken to hospital for treatment, Sprewell said.

Fire officials warn of an intense fire season at Diamond Bar Center

The Los Angeles County Fire Department met with other local and federal agencies in Diamond Bar to discuss and warn the public that the upcoming fire season will be “intense,” due to ongoing drought conditions in the state.

“The last fire season never really ended,” said Shawna Legarza, director of Fire and Aviation Management for the U.S. Forest Service. “We fought fires in mid-December and the middle of January. We’ve never had that before.”

The Forest Service director noted that California hasn’t had significant rainfall since 2010. Legarza said the ongoing drought means fire conditions are running two months ahead of what you would normally find.

Which means Southern California is dry as you would expect to find it in September. To cope, fire officials are preparing for wild fires much earlier than usual.

“We could have fires start all over the state in these conditions. So we started adding staff in January, that’s unprecedented,” explained Ken Pimlott, Director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Cal Fire has spent $242 million in the fiscal year ending last night on wildland fires.

The conference was held one year to the day from when 19 firefighters were killed in the Yarnell Hills fire in Arizona. The firemen were remembered in several ceremonies Monday as well as by fire officials in Diamond Bar.

“I was a hotshot for 20 years and many of Granite Mountain Hotshots were my friends,” Legarza said. “I think about these people, as well as another 14 firefighters who died almost 20 years.”

That group of firefighters died July 6, 1994, on Storm King Mountain in Colorado’s South Canyon Fire. Though the investigations continue, shifting winds, steep canyons and a lack of situational awareness were all factors in the deaths.

Read more in Rich Irwin’s story WILDFIRE.

Fire officials will discuss the 2014 fire season in Diamond Bar Center on Monday

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby will join Forest Service, CAL FIRE, and other agencies to discuss the upcoming fire season on Monday at the Diamond Bar Center.

Fire officials will discuss the outlook for the 2014 season, as well as the impact the drought is having on firefighting. A display of regional firefighting resources will be on hand, including specialty wildland equipment.

We’ll share what we learn online Monday and in Tuesday’s San Gabriel Valley Tribune.