Soberanes Fire, Day 25, 8/15/16 – Local Report

Midnight –

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7:45 pm dipping from Rancho Grande for the firing operation, by Marcus Foster:

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7:15 pm – I went back and looked at some of the operational maps from the Basin Fire and found an interesting one – interesting to those of us on the South Coast. With all the parks closed, the National Forest closed ONLY north of Nacimiento Road, the result is that the closures are sending all the hunters (hunting season opened Saturday) and campers up into our area. We are living on edge. This is what the USFS did a few days short of a month-long burn on the Basin Fire, which we approach on the Soberanes Fire this week. Can you understand why the South Coast is a tad on edge? We have been asking for a closure, down here, under these special circumstances, to no avail. I just sent this to GOLETA and King City, asking again.

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6:00 pm – as viewed from down here, this is a helluva burn out operation. (Sorry, no photo.)

4:30 pm – Reminder – The Highway One closure has been extended until midnight.

4:20 pm – from Jen Smith on Clear Ridge, showing the burn out operation behind Partington

 

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4:00 pm – Timber Top from Partington by Jeffrey Carmichael

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Also, sadly CHP reports one of our Condors was killed when a vehicle hit it.
4:26 PM 4 [5] 1039 CT
4:24 PM 3 [4] PER 14, MOVED TO RHS FOR CAL TRANS OR THE VENTANA SOCIETY
3:53 PM 2 [2] OTHER CONDORS FLYING OVERHEAD TRYING TO LAND AND MAY CAUSE ANOTHER TC
3:53 PM 1 [1] CONDOR WAS HIT BY VEH AND IT IS 1125

However, apparently it was a TURKEY BUZZARD not a condor. Cambria’s Air Force is one less.

3:25 pm – from Pfeiffer Ridge looking SE by Pearl Bryan (this appears to be the firing operation behind Partington)

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2:00 pm – Air support at Juan Higuera as seen from Clear Ridge, photos by Ed van Weijan

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2:00 pm – just got word the burn out operation has moved down to Partington. Okay, those of you  who have been through this incredibly difficult thing to watch, talk your neighbors through it!

11:30 am – I glanced out of my window earlier to note new smoke – and old smoke – up toward Big Sur and had no reaction. Smoke out my window, in my nostrils, and on my clothing has become the new norm after 25 days. Sad and a bit depressing.

From Barbara Ray in the comments section: (I was informed by a local that at least by 11, the northern border of the closure has been moved to Glen Oaks.)
“I just walked up to Fernwood where they would not let me pass beyond the driveway to the campground. The Caltrans worker whose truck was blocking Highway 1 there said there was a group of redwoods just North of the sewer treatment plant whose center had burned out. They were afraid the trees would fall and take out the power lines. There were two PG&E trucks in the Fernwood parking lot plus fire trucks. You could hear the chain saws. It was eerie to walk along Highway 1 with no traffic.”

7:15 am – Here is John Chestnut’s MODIS map of the Soberanes Fire:

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6:45 am – overslept today, and woke to find Highway One closed this am around 4 am or so and may remain closed all day. Smoke seems to be sitting on top of the inversion layer, making an eerie, unfamiliar landscape. Coffee, then check on both fires.

39 thoughts on “Soberanes Fire, Day 25, 8/15/16 – Local Report”

  2. Kate – Can you please tell me where one can download the daily “Fire Behavior Report” in higher resolution or as a PDF? The image in your most helpful, and greatly appreciated, blog each day is very hard for me to read when enlarged enough for my less than perfect vision. Thank you again for all that you do. I have tried to find a source by searching on the web, but have not found anything.

  4. Kate and johnsextonphoto — as I recall, Cal Fire had those reports.

  5. inciweb.nwcg.gov is a good site just FYI …thanks Kate for everything. So grateful for all you do. xoxo be safe out there…and all your amazing support system! We love you guys for keeping us posted and sending the awesomely scary but beautiful photos. xoxo
    Clare

  6. Here is the link for today:

    inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/4888/32498/

    I found this by Googling inciweb Soberanes Fire. From the listings, I chose the most current update. That took me to the inciweb page. There is a small brown menu across the page. On the far right of that menu is a clickable link labeled “maps”. That takes you to the PDF page. Click on the most current to get the most up to date map.

  7. I just walked up to Fernwood where they would not let me pass beyond the driveway to the campground. The Caltrans worker whose truck was blocking Highway 1 there said there was a group of redwoods just North of the sewer treatment plant whose center had burned out. They were afraid the trees would fall and take out the power lines. There were two PG&E trucks in the Fernwood parking lot plus fire trucks. You could hear the chain saws. It was eerie to walk along Highway 1 with no traffic.

  8. Thanks for the heads up and detail Barbara! Very thick marine layer on the coast by Ventana fyi everyone.

  10. The map shows a heat dot on the west side of Coast Ridge Road at the top of Grimes canyon. Isa talked to the Division Supervisor just now and confirmed that it has NOT burned over the containment line and everything is still east of CRR. The dot is just an inaccurate reading. Thanks for checking that out Isa.

  12. Big Sur Health Center closed today due to Hwy 1 closure.
    We anticipate opening on Tuesday as usual.
    Call 911 in case of emergency.

  13. John,
    The Fire Behavior Forcast in PDF format can be found by selecting the INCIDENT PLAN link at the bottom of the Maps, etc. post. Fire Behavior Forcast is on page 35 of today’s report.

  16. I sure wish CHP had left today’s highway 1 closure on their traffic web page…

  17. Awesome website. The best maps that allow those effected to follow the fire closely and make educated decisions on how to proceed with their property. – Thanks BS Kate

  18. We have found that after repeated fires in our Redwood canyon that once the fire has burned through the bark at the base of the tree that each successive fire burns it deeper leaving only a narrow rim supporting the tree. Many of our trees that we felt had survived one of our fires and the previous fires eating in to them succumbed to the winter storm winds that followed. The good news is our trees have vigorously sprouted from the old stumps and many from the 72 Molera fire are almost 100 feet tall. I am worried that to many fires to close together in time could disrupt this cycle of nature and that it is important to suppress these hot summer fires as quickly as possible, as unfortunately many are the result of man’s carelessness. I don’t know if Cal trans evaluation of the trees they’re cutting is correct, but no one wants a Redwood falling on a car in the middle of one of our winter storms.

  21. Caltrans workers in our area are NOT “yahoos”. They are dedicated hard working individuals who are part of our community. We are dependent on their efforts to keep the road open and they do an outstanding job of it. I appreciate their efforts.

  22. I took that comment down, as Cal Trans has nothing to do with these tree removals. They are being removed by PG&E at the request of Cal Fire. All Cal Trans was doing was guarding the northern boundary to make sure no one got hurt. I hope this clairifies the situation.

  23. Agreed, Micah. So many redwood trees come down in the winter… some fire damaged and some because of weakened roots or soil support. But, happily, some burnt out trees last onward, through the decades. It is sad that we have to make choices to cut down such magnificent trees, but once we see so many trees naturally fall in storms (the winter that wiped out River Inn and more recently when a giant one fall to within 6 feet of a tiny tent down at the river during a windy winter storm) I give the tree pros the benefit of the doubt.

  24. Jeff, I have removed your comment. While I certainly understand your frustration and your need to reach as broad an audience as possible, I don’t think my blog is the way to do it. You might post in one of the many Big Sur related groups.

  26. Sorry, Kate. Inconsiderate behavior from clueless locals impacts everyone, including emergency crews, and I thought it would be appropriate here.

  28. Thank you Micah for sharing your love and knowledge of our amazing Redwoods. My apologies Kate for the misinformation about Caltran. I was going off of Barbara’s comment. I know Caltran workers are very dedicated and have all of our safety in mind. The video I first saw of a tree being cut down was in a non-burned area on flat ground. Now seeing the USFS picture of the burned redwood on the slope, I understand why CalFire resorted this action. Luckily, yes, Redwoods are amazingly resilient and I know it will re-sprout. We still need to make sure that our beautiful giants are protected and especially the ones that have been influenced by the Native Americans. They are living proof that we can all get through this and that fire strengthens us as a community. Thanks for all the efforts and work being done to protect these treasures and our homes. May we all be educated with resiliency and learn to take action in Land Stewardship all the time, fire or not.

  31. Oh no, a condor’s been hit by a car on hwy 1! between lighthouse and Andrew Molera according to the lat/lon.

    Incident: 00299 Type: Traffic Hazard
    Location: 5300 Mm1 Loc Desc: NB AT MM 53
    Lat/Lon: 36.299161 -121.874288
    Detail Information
    3:53 PM 2 [2] OTHER CONDORS FLYING OVERHEAD TRYING TO LAND AND MAY CAUSE ANOTHER TC
    3:53 PM 1 [1] CONDOR WAS HIT BY VEH AND IT IS 1125

  36. The plume over Partington is still closer to Timber Top. And it is under control. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.

  38. Just spoke to the Branch 7 lead coming off the hills with the Division ZZ lead. Burn operations went great today. Report from a strike team lead says they got down to and “bent around” Timber Top today.

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