" Hmm, I was at Meadowood yesterday, and saw some folks screwing around up in the hills on a UTV. I wonder if this could be the cause? "

" It's 1:30 in the afternoon. I was just in contact with CDF. There are presently 4 copters, 45 chief officers, 146 engines, 10 water tenders, 16 dozers, 47 hand crews, 1569 personnel fighting the fire. We are in good hands.

Deer Park Road between Four Corners and Upper Sanitarium Rd. is still closed. Old Howell Mt. Rd. is open for now. No more structures have been destroyed beyond the two from yesterday.

The fire is presently not a threat to Angwin. "

" I worked as a firefighter for 2 years with CalFire and I have to say that this seems like a ridiculous amount of resources to be called to this fire. We fought a 100+ acre fire with 15-20 engines, a couple water tenders, a couple inmate crews, 2 dozers, and air support. If the resources that vocal-de-local mentioned are true this is crazy for a 300 acre fire. The equivalent of almost 30 strike teams and 47 hand crews to go with that. Are the engines already on the fire or were they on their way? They should be called off if you ask me. I guess this is good for the firefighters to get a little extra overtime before being laid off. They're loving after this relatively slow fire season. I know people are going to rip me for this but come on. These engines could almost make a circle around the fire, drain there tanks on the vegetation, and call it a day. Honestly these 16 dozers should be able to rip out most of the vegetation and stop the fire themselves. "

" Good job inmate crews. I loved working along side you guys. You work hard and don't get enough credit. "

" I don't know if the number of personnel is an overkill or not, but let me tell you - when I stepped out of the house on Crestmont yesterday, the smoke was so thick, I couldn't tell how close the flames were - and the people across the road from us lost their home. The wind was shifting directions every few minutes, and I am so very thankful for the quick and huge response of firefighters. Deer Park Rd. is in a canyon, and it could have gotten really ugly, really fast. So, thank God that so many people were available to come and help - our homes are safe for now. "

" You may be a professional chunk. You may have experience. I have a healthy respect for dry grass and wind. I am very happy with the attention this fire is getting because if the wind switches direction or the fire gets out of control, we are going to be in a world of hurt. Thank you for the update, vocal! It was a lot more informative than the Napa Register article. "

" It's really too bad that people, Chunk, have to always find something negative to say. The firefighters, most of them volunteers, who receive minimal pay considering the amount of time and effort they give, should be commended. The potential loss of homes alone warrant what you call "overkill". So, instead of being negative, lets thank the men and women out their on the line working tirelessly to save the many homes that were in this fires path. "

" Vocal-de-local doesn't know what they're talking about. All those resources probably were dispatched to respond to the fire just in case it blew up. There is no way all of them were there fighting the fire. That would be way to chaotic to have that much equipment and people in such a little area. Most of the resources were most likely cancelled within two hours of being ordered. "

" Ok, I suppose I worded it wrongly. Replace "fighting the fire" with "on the scene".

Unless you live up here, you do not have a clue about how easily this fire could have gotten out of hand to burn an entire town down. If the fire had Jumped Old Howell Mt. Rd and the winds had shifted East, the dry canyons below would have created an inferno firestorm which could have made the Oakland Firestorm appear insignificant by comparison. Also recall how quickly a five acre fire got out of hand back then. So before anyone begins judging this situation, these firefighters are not just fighting an empty canyon with a bunch of brush to contend with. There are hundreds of homes on steep hillsides. If you drive Upvalley and look Eastward, you will see all kinds of homes on the hillside. They are fighting to protect those homes. They are also fighting to prevent this fire from engulfing the town of Angwin and the Deer Park area. We have an in session college and a hospital in the area as well. Angwin is somewhat densely populated for a rural area. This fire had the potential of becoming a firestorm in a fairly populated area and that is why it was taken so seriously. No one wanted an Oakland Hills repeat. "

" FYI the fire is presently 80% contained, and services have been reduced to:

Total Fire Personnel:

252 (245 CAL FIRE)

30 Engines
4 Crews
5 Watertenders
2 Helicopters

All road closures and evacuation orders have been lifted. "

" We were among many evacuated last evening when the flames were very close but we returned Sat. evening to our home intact.
Our sincere thanks and appreciation to the many dedicated fire fighters (volunteer and paid), to the inmates, the air and ground crews who worked through the days and nights in service to our community.
I and my husband live on Mund Road and rent from the Mund family. The Mund family are to be commended for the excellent way they have been clearing brush and dead trees in order to protect our's and other's homes in this area.
Walking in our area we often see the extreme fire hazards around this area. Environmentalist have made it difficult for many to clear their property both in river and forest areas and thus we experience fires like the Deer Park kind and local flooding in the rainy seasons. This environmental issue should be addressed by our local leaders. "

" No Vocal-de-local "on the scene" would not work either because not all those firefighters were not "on the scene". "

" We all need to write our senators and representatives to revoke the powers and/ or dismantle CARB. The California Air Resources Board has intimidated land owners and managers with tremendous fines for controlled burns and so forth. We need to make and maintain defensible space so that fires will not be such threats to people and property. I have had both fire departments AND the CDF tell me my controlled debris fires are OK with them, but "watch out" for CARB as "one neighbor can complain about the smoke and you're looking at a minimum $10,000 fine!" I thought ruling by fear has been "out" since Hitler... I guess not!
In summary, restore the power of the people to manage their property so we can avoid these scenarios!!! Write your leaders and demand change, not more regulations and fine- based beaurocrats. "

" Joe: Vocal is absolutely right. The stats quoted are taken straight from the Cal Fire website http://www.fire.ca.gov/index_incidents_deer.php. In fact, the Cal Fire press release issued at 7:00pm tonight states "Total personnel reached 1,569 at the peak of the firefighting battle." Not only were resources not "most likely cancelled", as you suggest, but two more strike teams were brought in around 6:00am this morning. "

" I've been clearing my Angwin property at least a hundred feet back from the house for the past few years. I use the county chipping program to deal with the vegetation. After they chip, I then redistribute the chips on the ground to keep weeds down.

If you're going to cut brush down to burn, you should seriously consider the chipping program first. Here's the website http://www.napafirewise.org/

There is also info about protecting your home on the Napa Firewise website. And if you live in Angwin, this fire was a wake up call. We are very lucky that we had such a high level of response and that our firefighters didn't have another fire to respond to.

Every one of us needs to clear back a hundred feet. I purposely landscaped my yard to have only a couple of small ornamental bushes near the border of the house. Be careful about wood fences too. Trim trees up. Try not to landscape with tall brush downhill from your house. If you can build a retaining wall downhill it will help to stop a fire moving briskly upward toward the house. Keep your gutters super cleaned out because an ember can land in them and ignite the pine needles inside. I know some people who turn a sprinkler on during the summer to water the weeds below their home, keeping the area green. They then mow them down once in awhile. The wet soil and green grass will slow a fire down.

We are not out of the woods yet because rains haven't arrived. I hope everyone in Angwin takes a good hard look at their property next week and starts making changes. "

" Those numbers aren't right. Fire information is always exagerated. 1,569 people might have been in route to the fire or been stageing nearby. "