Today has been a busy day on the other side of the Santa Lucia Mountains. This afternoon there was a brush fire in Arroyo Seco, one at 101 and Bradley, kept to 1/4 acre, and a couple others I’ve forgotten the exact locations of, and now this one.

Campfires banned outside established campgrounds – Plaskett, Kirk, Ponderosa, etc. NO CAMPFIRES ON WILLOW CREEK/ LOS BURROS RD., PLASKETT, NACIMIENTO-FERGUSSON RD.

FROM USFS, MONEREY DISTRICT OF THE LOS PADRES NATIONAL FORREST:

“On June 3, firefighters on the Monterey Ranger District responded to an unattended campfire in the Sycamore Flat area of Los Burros Road on the 23S10 road spur in the Willow Creek drainage. The previous weekend, dispersed campers started a fire in the cat face hollow of a redwood tree and failed to properly extinguish the fire before leaving the area. The fire smoldered in the dense duff layer until rising temperatures and gentle breezes “woke” the fire up. Fortunately an alert hiker noticed and glow and smelled smoke, and took steps to put out the fire until Forest Service firefighters arrived. Were it not for the swift actions of the passing hiker this abandoned campfire could easily have grown into an uncontrolled wildfire in an area where suppression and control is very challenging. His valiant efforts are greatly appreciated by the Forest Service. High fire restrictions take effect today, and all campfires outside of established campgrounds are illegal.

Please help us spread the word!”

Dog Found!

About 4.30 PM today [yesterday] get a phone call from Jim Hunolt: Zeak has been sighted! (I am at a garage in Seaside getting my truck fixed).

Jim lives very close to where Zeak was lost 16 days ago (!). Zeak is our son Stefan’s dog. Stefan left him with us because he’s gone to sea with USCG Cutter Stratton for four months!
Zeak has been in Houston, Texas all his life…a city dog! He has been in the wild for 16 days, still alive and no one has seen him? It’s hard to believe. But hope springs eternal!

– What’s the color of the dog you saw?
– Light brown.

– His build?
– Stocky, strong looking.

It all checks out. It really sounds like Zeak – OMG!

I call Mary Lu, no answer. I suspect she’s probably just left for dog training with Bridget*, our other dog, and won’t be back until later tonight so…I am stuck waiting for my car to be finished until one of us can get there. The possibility of Zeak being alive is very exciting so it is frustrating to not be able to just go…my fingers are tapping on the formica table for over an hour! The truck is finally done and on my way I stop by Safeway to get a good piece of meat to lure Zeak out of his hiding place. I ask the meat cutter and he says “Get a piece of the ‘on-sale meat’ at the end of the counter, it’s older and will smell more (!).”

I get to Jim’s place as fast as I can. Walk north and south along the hillside by his house, calling, calling, no response. I go up behind the house, up the hill three hundred feet along the narrow trails leading to the upper water storage. As I get up behind the uppermost of the tanks I suddenly see a dog’s head sticking up out of the sagebrush! It looks like Zeak…almost. No collar, much thinner head…can it be another dog? No? Of course not. I see then that the collar is on him, it is just completely dirty and blending in with his coat. His head is looking different because he’s lost so much weight. I call him and he just sits there. Call him gently again. Then he disappears! Oh no! I can’t let him disappear again. I climb further up, calling him gently…good boy…Zeak…good boy…soon you’ll be home in your bed…stay!…maybe we’ll serve you pancakes tonight…good boy…come on Zeak…and so on…

I climb all the way up to him and ten feet away from him he finally responds. His rear end starts to wiggle. His tail is slapping the dry hillside creating little clouds of dust. I am able to reach him and tie a rope into his collar. He’s back.

Climbing down the hill there is Mary Lu for a happy reunion, she had received my phone message and come over from Partington.

At the time of writing this we’re all at home. Zeak has received a small piece of the meat I bought mixed with some of his favorite kibble – we’ve decided to serve him small portions to start with. Who knows what he ate during his two weeks in the wild! His stomach seems fine, he’s now curled up in a ball and sleeping calmly.

Thanks to all who kept a look-out for Zeak during this time and very special thanks to Jim Hunolt. Jim you’re a Good Neighbor!

Magnus and Mary Lu

*I know…

Sorry about the picture – the only camera we have access to is the Photo Booth in the computer!

There is a great article on how to prepare for wildfire. It begins with:

HARDENING YOUR HOME
Flying embers can destroy homes up to a mile from a wildfire. “Harden” your home now before a fire starts by using ember-resistant building materials.

Here are some things you can do to harden your home and make it more fire resistant.

For the rest of this article go to: Cal Fire’s Prepare for Wildfire

June 9, 2016 8:00 AM
Start Date: June 4, 2016 Size: 2,340 acres
Containment: 65% Injuries: 2
Estimated Containment Date: 6/13/2016 Total Personnel Assigned: 878
Cause: unknown Structures Destroyed: I (other minor)

Current Situation: Fire crews made good progress yesterday on containment lines on the west and north portions of the fire including areas in the Ventana Wilderness. These efforts increased the overall containment to 65 percent. Crews mopped-up and patrolled the fireline throughout the night on the east side of the fire.

The priority for today and the next several days will be securing and mopping-up the fireline constructed on the west side of the fire in the Ventana Wilderness. This area is very steep and remote and securing the line is slow and difficult. Mop-up and patrol will continue on the other portions of the fire. Air support from both air tankers and helicopters is available to assist ground crews.

The Coleman Fire will go out of Unified Command between Fort Hunter Liggett, CAL FIRE and the Los Padres National Forest today at 6:00 pm.

The plan is to turn the fire back over to be managed by the Monterey District Type 3 Team at 6:00 pm on Friday. Demobilization of resources will continue today.

Fire Weather: The low pressure system that moved into the fire area yesterday will continue to deepen today and could bring clouds but no rain to the fire area. Temperatures will be in the mid 80’s and winds out of the northwest. Relative humidity will be in the low 20’s. Tonight temperatures will be in the mid 50’s to 60’s with relative humidity reaching 80 percent in the lower elevations.

Evacuations & Closures: There are no evacuations or closure orders on the Coleman Fire.

Homeowners and communities can help firefighters by creating defensible space around homes and structures.
Taking individual responsibility to reduce flammable materials around homes and communities before a fire occurs can help keep the public and firefighters safer.
No human life is worth a home or structure; we will not risk firefighters’ lives to save indefensible homes.