Update by John Wiley
7:35 p.m., July 15, 2017
Here are aerial photos of the fire from offshore and over Gaviota Pass. We saw a steady stream of medium and large tanker planes dropping PhosChek on the high Western edge of the fire where it has joined the Sherpa Burn area. It was pretty hazy and to stay well clear of the fire suppression flights we needed long zoom to get these photos.
Reported by John Wiley
2:29 p.m., July 12, 2017
Pictured above is an aerial shot of the Whittier Fire, taken around 7pm.
The fire has flared up on the North slope. Below are two pictures from about 5:15pm of the helicopter staging area, active at the East end of the Salvar Bridge over 154 at Foothill.