Yikes! Ash + wind = pseudo-smoke

THIS MORNING, from my place in Lambrose Canyon (in Live Oak Canyon), I noticed lots of ash on my car. Uh-oh!

I looked toward nearby Hamilton Trail—one of the areas hit by the great Santiago fire—and I saw something that looked like smoke.

But wait. Is there anything over there left to burn? Not much. (Check out my pictures from yesterday: Visiting Hamilton Trail.)


It soon became clear to me (I think) that I was looking, not at smoke, but at the result of winds picking up ash. That's all.

I hope.

MEANWHILE, the Santiago fire is "contained but not controlled," which means, I think, that there's no fuel around the remaining fire, but that not all flames are out. (The Orange County Fire Authority issued its last update three days ago, when it announced that the Santiago fire was fully "contained." OCFA did not mention that the fire was not yet "controlled." See OCFA. Near as I can tell, that announcement is the OCFA's "final" announcement.)



(All pictures taken this morning, about 11:00 a.m.)

UPDATE:


Since my post (above), the OC Reg reported as follows: Santiago fire smolders in forest: No flames, but hot spots remain, officials say:

Four days after the Santiago fire was contained by firefighters the blaze continues to smolder in an area away from homes and residents.

Dark clouds today looked as if smoke were visible in the direction of the 28,400-acre blaze, but officials said it was the result of increasing winds that picked up ash and dust particles left behind by the fire.

The remaining fire continues to be confined to a steep 300-acre area inside the Cleveland National Forest which currently is monitored by about 150 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, said Frank Romero, of the U.S. Fire Services' fire prevention patrol.

Two fire engines remain on the scene to monitor remnants of the fire, and a helicopter is on standby to keep the fire in check, Romero said.

Firefighters set blazes in a 300-acre area close to the eastern containment lines as the Santiago fire was losing strength but before full containment was reached. The area was burned in a controlled setting in order to keep the fire from regaining strength by the thick vegetation.

Today, that area continues to slowly burn.

Fire officials continue to monitor the area and allow the fire to burn itself out, Romero said. The steep area prevents crews from climbing deep inside because they could be surrounded if the flames are fed by thick brush and wind. The steep terrain would prevent a speedy retreat, officials said.

Because of increasing winds, firefighters have been monitoring the area during the day and night in case the fire picks up.

Officials also are using heat sensors to spot burning areas. Hand crews follow up by going through and looking for hot spots, some of which are hidden underground in the roots of vegetation, Romero said.

Engaging and retaining community college students

From this morning’s Inside Higher Ed: Rules of (Community College) Engagement:

It’s no great secret that community college students spend much of their time away from campus. As this year’s report on an annual survey of the academic experiences of students at two-year institutions puts it: “Most students simply are not on campus enough for engagement to occur spontaneously. They rarely bump into instructors on campus and have serendipitous informal conversations.”

Thus, the report argues, community college faculty need to take advantage of their limited classroom time, and administrators need to think about ways to create opportunities for students — and particularly part-timers — to engage with instructors and their peers while on campus.

The Community College Survey of Student Engagement, released Monday, reached that conclusion after tracking data compiled over the past five years (700,000 students, 548 institutions) on how students spend their time and interact with people at their institutions.

In addition to the wide-angle view, the survey provides its usual look at a three-year cohort — those who responded from 2005 to 2007, a group that includes more than 310,000 students from 525 institutions.

The students responded to survey questions in the spring after having several months’ worth of experiences from which to draw. Those who are included in the report are the “survivors,” as the report says. But, as CCSSE notes, many more students don’t stay past the first semester — and researchers want to know what factors into a student’s level of engagement and satisfaction at the start of college.

That’s why, in the “special focus” survey section, questions this year asked students to think back to their first four weeks of college. (Questions asked to beginning students this fall about their first month will be released as part of a separate report in the spring.) The results from this year’s focus section show that:

• Fewer than half of students met with an adviser to discuss academic plans in the first four weeks.
• Slightly more than half completed an assessment test for course placement.
• Thirty-two percent didn’t attend an orientation program, and only one in three who did said they were “very satisfied” with the experience.

Kay McClenney, director of the survey, said that some of the engagement results are alarming, given that the first few weeks of college are essential in capturing students’ attention…. (My emphases.)