Welcome to Friday morning.  If this is your first time here (or you haven’t been here in awhile) we strongly encourage you to take a moment to read The Ground Rules page.  It will tell you how things run here, how to make comments, how to return to this page AND protect yourself from viruses, and how to support the work we’re doing.  Thank you!

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Scott Flodin contributes a photo of his daughter, Isabella, in front of the banner at Lake & Loma Alta.

Posts will start Friday morning, but nightowls are free to comment!

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  UPDATE 11 AM   

The Tourinator: Governor Schwarzenegger tours a neighborhood damaged by the Station fire Thursday. From left to right: U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Angeles National Forest Supervisor Jody Noiron, California Emergency Management Agency Acting Secretary Matthew Bettenhausen and California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

Also, from a press release issued by the governor’s office:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today joined Secretary of Service and Volunteering Karen Baker to visit the Station fire in Los Angeles County. Together they encouraged Californians to visit, www.CaliforniaVolunteers.org, where individuals, businesses and groups interested in helping the victims of these devastating fires can go to find volunteer and donation opportunities. The Governor and Secretary Baker also received a briefing on the Station fire and on the status of firefighting efforts statewide. The Station fire started on August 26 and has burned 140,150 acres and is 22 percent contained.

“I am committed to directing every possible resource to help firefighters successfully fight these fires and help fire victims throughout the state get their lives back together as quickly as possible,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “My Administration will work with our local and federal partners at every level to help all fire victims and their communities recover.”

The Governor’s CaliforniaVolunteers Office is coordinating volunteers and monetary donations to help Californians cope with the effects of the wildfires. There are currently 81 volunteers registered to help in Los Angeles County and approximately 100 trained volunteers on site. These volunteers, which consist of Community Emergency Response Team and Volunteers in Police Service, are on rotation helping at the command center and in other roles in an effort to assist the response effort. 

Additional resources to help with the recovery effort can be found at www.rebuildyourlife.ca.gov. The Web site and Consumer Protection Hotline, 1-800-952-5210, were established by the State and Consumer Services Agency to reduce fraud and provide easy access to information for victims of these devastating fires. Victims of the 49 fire and fires throughout the state can access the hotline and Web site for help in replacing important documents and checking contractor’s license numbers to avoid fraud and tips to avoid scams.

Through the hotline, callers can speak to a live operator and receive assistance in several languages. They will be provided with contact information for vital resources like housing assistance programs and receive guidance on the services that are available for disaster recovery efforts. The hotline and Web site will also direct victims to other federal, state and local government agencies that can directly assist with their needs.

The bullet from the Incident Command this morning:
> Altadena. Chaney Trail north of the Forestry gate going into the forest remains closed
> There are no other mandatory evacuation areas in Altadena.
> Morris Fire is 100% contained
> Station Fire is 42%

New and better maps: the latest here.

  UPDATE 7:30 AM   

We got pictures: Several folks have pointed out Dan Finnerty’s collection of fire pictures, including a time lapse that got picked up by a local TV station (in between breaking stories about Jon & Kate and Michael Jackson’s funeral)

  UPDATE 6 AM   

They like us: Shoutout to Pasadena Weekly’s Andre Coleman and Jake Armstrong for a good wrapup of the week’s fire.  Even a couple of quotes from the A-blog panjandrum!

And Tracy Record, co-pub of the legendary West Seattle Blog, also takes time to pat us on the head as she faces down local blog doubters!