Full Notification

UPDATE (6/24/2016, 2:12 a.m.): Earlier tonight, City personnel participated in an in-depth briefing regarding the San Gabriel Complex Fire, and we are happy to be able to report that the situation for Monrovia is looking positive. There is no immediate direct fire threat to Monrovia, and we are increasingly optimistic that the fire will not cause any impact to the City.

Importantly, most of the containment lines to box in the western flank of the fire (which is the portion of the blaze that poses the greatest threat to Monrovia) are complete. Fire officials utilized bulldozers and field crews to create containment barriers that has aided in preventing the fire from progressing towards Monrovia. In addition, as you may have noticed, the fire has burned most of the brush off of the top half of the impacted hillside areas, which has eliminated much of the fuel for the fire. Also, large red lines where fire retardant has been dropped by aircraft is visible on the hillsides, which has helped to keep the fire from advancing towards the City.

Fire officials have identified that there are still some hot spots in the hillsides just east of Monrovia, however, there is no significant fire activity remaining in the area. That factor, when combined with the completion of the containment lines, have allowed fire crews to engage in direct attacks on the fire to begin extinguishing the remaining flames.

It is important to note that you may be able to see fire burning throughout the evening and into tomorrow, however, fire officials have shared that the visibility of smoke and flames does not correlate to any increased risk for Monrovia.

We continue to enjoy favorable weather conditions, which should help fire officials as they continue to work on achieving full containment of the fire. As we move towards the weekend, we are expecting to see higher temperatures in the triple digits, but based on reports from the incident commanders, this increase in heat will not create any measurable increase in concern regarding containment of the blaze.

Based on current conditions, fire officials shared that they are continuing to assess their options for deescalating the response to the fire, as the situation and outlook continues to improve. However, it is important to note that while all of the reports that we have received indicate good news for Monrovia, we continue to urge those residents living in the northeastern section of the City to remain ready to evacuate in the event that fire conditions change. Weather patterns could change in an instant, and as the fire situation in Kern County illustrates, a change in weather patterns could quickly increase the fire risk for Monrovia exponentially.

To that end, all residents living in the northeastern part of Monrovia are encouraged to remain vigilant and ready to evacuate. Should an evacuation order be given, we will be coordinating evacuation procedures as follows:

* First Evacuation Phase – all residents living east of Norumbega (where it parallels Sawpit Wash) and north of Greystone Avenue

* Second Evacuation Phase – all residents living east of Myrtle Avenue and north of Greystone Avenue, and east of Shamrock and north of Foothill

Here at the City, we will continue to maintain additional Monrovia Fire Department fire assessment teams, and the City will continue to maintain the closure of Canyon Park, Trask Boy Scout Camp, and the Hillside Wilderness Preserve through the weekend. Furthermore, we have continued to ensure that all City reservoirs are filled at 100% capacity in the event that we need to access water for firefighting activities.

Again, it is important to emphasize that based on the current fire movement patterns, the situation is continuing to stabilize and there is no direct fire threat to Monrovia at this time. We will continue to assess the situation throughout the evening, and if the situation changes, we have City personnel that will be deployed to your home to notify you of pending fire threats.

With the current situation stabilizing, moving forward, the City will be providing one fire update each day in the evening to keep everyone apprised as to the overall situation. Of course, should the situation start deteriorating, in that scenario, we will begin sending more frequent updates.

And although the fire situation is improving, we once again urge everyone to remain vigilant and on alert. To stay up to date on the status of the overall situation here in Monrovia, we encourage everyone to check the City's website (www.cityofmonrovia.org). We will continue to post updates as the local fire conditions change.