10 am – It is 230,500 acres and 15% contained. The smoke up here is pretty bad. Barely see Willow Creek Ridge and Prewitt Ridge, everything else is blocked out. Here is the latest map:
Month: December 2017
Fire behind Ventana, 12/11/17
7:15 am – As of 12:34 am, a fire back behind Ventana was reported at about 3 acres. It was reported to me that evacuations were issued. 4 LPF responded. I am sure BSVFB, also, but have no collorboration. At 2:11 am, Ryan Webster was made IC, but at 3:29 am, Peter Harris was made IC, both of the LPNF, and the acreage was reduced to 1.6 acres.
Thomas Fire Smoke Drift
6 pm – just got a notice that this fire is now up to 230,000 acres and containment has dropped to 10%. Oh, lord.
2 pm – The pyrocumulus plume is flattening, which means the winds are changing and it is the most dangerous time for fire fighters. Note the one on the top is 1:29 pm the second is is 12:19. That one reached 30K feet into the atmosphere.
Most recent MODIS – taking aim at Carpenteria and Montecito. Reminder of the Tea Fire:
I watched a smoke cloud come over Willow Creek before noon today, and now it is quite smokey up here. This is Gorda Mtn around noon, by Inga:
Below is the smoke taken from Oxnard, earlier this am:
Around noon, it was reported to me that the fire was headed to Montecito and Carpenteria.
Photo Sunday, 12/10/17
Photos by Rock Knocker
Lost Dog – Willow Creek, 12/9/17
This is Oz (thank you, Jasmine)
From Lisa & Kenny Comello:
Do you think you could post at your earliest convenience that Jesse Comello’s friendly 6 year old dog, OZ (Ozzie) ran away from our home on Willow Crk Rd (Los Burros Rd) this morning (Sat.) around 4:30 or so? He’s around 80 lbs, mostly black with brown & white markings – a Big Sur Spottweiler (Rottie & Aussie), collared but not tagged or chipped.
He’s prone to seizures and comes out of them but tired and a little disoriented. He’s a sweetie but is missing Jesse who left him with us to dog sit!
Fire North of Buelton Closes 101
Incident: 00098 Type: Report of Fire Location: US101 Loc Desc: NB AT WOODCHOPPER Lat/Lon: 34.701118 -120.167408
Detail Information
12:42 PM 19 [71] B14-063 97 W/ROUND ROBBINS BTWN CAT CYN AND CLOSURE
12:39 PM 18 [69] A3-004 BREAK STARTED FRM JON PARK RD
12:31 PM 17 [65] 1039 DOT
12:23 PM 16 [61] B3-004B NEG CLEARANCE // 3-S2 CPYS HAVE UNIT UNITS STOP TRFC FRM 101 X 154// CZP 2 CPYS TRFC STOPPED// 14-1 CPYS// 14-S1 CPYS TRFC STOPPED SB JNO FIRE
12:21 PM 15 [60] B3-004B FIRE ON RDWY NB JNO COMMAND POST
12:16 PM 14 [57] 3-S2 ALL SMA AND BUE UNITS RESPOND TO FIRE RUNNING ESCORT BREAKS THROUGH FIRE
12:12 PM 13 [53] A3-055 FIRE GOING 97
12:12 PM 12 [52] LN 51 IN WRONG LOG
12:12 PM 11 [51] 3-4 ADVSD SBA HAD MZP UNITS// WERE 1022 FOR MZP AND PRIVIDING 1184 AT CLOSURE
12:05 PM 10 [44] 1039 DOT
12:00 PM 9 [6] 8-S3 OUT OF VEH AVAIL VIA CELL
11:59 AM 8 [5] 8-S3 START SMA UNIT BURNING TOWARDS FWY //MAY NEED TO CLOSE AT 101 SHORTLY
11:54 AM 7 [29] [Appended, 12:03:14] [31] [Appended, 11:54:21] [1] SEES SMOKE
11:48 AM 6 [28] [Appended, 12:03:14] [29] [Appended, 11:49:10] [1] FEELS LIKE SHES IS REPORTING A NEW FIRE – TOT SBSO
11:47 AM 5 [27] [Appended, 12:03:14] [25] [Appended, 11:47:46] [1] SEES A FIRE FROM BALLARD CANYON
11:38 AM 4 [24] [Appended, 12:03:14] [17] [Appended, 11:38:38] [1] PLUME OF SMOKE
11:36 AM 3 [19] [Appended, 12:03:14] [13] [Appended, 11:36:48] [1] RP LIVES ON ALISO CYN / STATES FIRE APPEARS TO BE NORTH AND IN THE AREA OF THE 101 // TOT SBSO
11:27 AM 2 [9] [Appended, 12:03:14] [3] RP ADVSD 101 A FEW MILES NORTH OF ZACA STATION ROAD
11:27 AM 1 [8] [Appended, 12:03:14] [2] FIRE / IN A FIELD
Thomas Fire
Local Update, 8:45 am many smelling smoke down on the South Coast on Gorda Mountain and Willow Creek. The spread of smoke from this fire is HUGE. You can see it here:
(Thanks Anni Agren for the above link.)
Updated: December 07, 2017 7:46 am
County: Ventura County
Location: Hwy 150 and Hwy 126, north of Santa Paula
Acres Burned – Containment: 96,000 acres – 5% contained
Evacuation Info: Evacuation Map
Effective immediately the following areas are under Mandatory Evacuations:
• West of Hwy 33, North of West El Roblar Dr
•The following areas east of the city of Santa Paula and north of Hwy 126
o Timber Canyon Rd @ Hwy 126
o Toland Rd @ Hwy 126
o Hall Rd @ Hwy 126
• All areas within the City of Ojai east of Hwy 33 and north of Hwy 150 with the exception of Ojai Valley Community Hospital and the evacuation center at Nordhoff High School
o Ojai Valley Community Hospital – Shelter in Place o Nordhoff High School – Shelter in Place
MANDATORY EVACUATIONS:
• City of Santa Paula – Boundary of Say Road north to Thomas Aquinas, Dickenson Ranch Road east to Santa Paula Creek
• City of Santa Paula – Boundary of Monte Vista Street north to city limits, Foothill Road from Steckel to Peck Road to north of city limits
• Santa Paula unincorporated area towards Ventura- North of Foothill Road from Peck Road to Wells Road including: Wheeler Canyon, Aliso Canyon and Rancho Vista
• City of Ventura – Teloma east to Brent Street, Telegraph Road north to north of Foothill Road
• City of Ventura – Victoria Road east to Hill Road, Telegraph Road north to Foothill Road
• City of Ventura – North Ashwood Avenue east to Hill Road, Telegraph Road north to Foothill Road
• City of Ventura – North of Foothill Road from Wells Road to Poli Street
• City of Ventura – North of Main Street from Seward Avenue to Hwy 33 (includes entire Ventura Avenue area)
• Oak View – Boundary of Hwy 33, Creek Road and Hermosa Road
• Entire Community of Casitas Springs – Evacuate to Ventura County Fairgrounds – 10 West Harbor Blvd., Ventura
• East Ojai Valley – Carne Road east to McAndrew Road, Reeves Road north to Thacher Road
• Upper Ojai Valley – Hwy 150 from Dennison Grade east to Osborne Road and all residences north
• Ventura County North Coast Area – Boundary of Hwy 33 on the north to Casitas Vista Road, northwest to Hwy 150, Hwy 150 (Casitas Pass Road) west to US 101 and south on US 101 (including Pacific Coast Highway) to Emma Wood State Beach
VOLUNTARY EVACUATIONS:
• Residents in the City of Ventura, south of Loma Vista, east of Day Road, West of Victoria Avenue and north of Telegraph Road
• Residents in the City of Ventura, east of Victoria north of Loma Vista South of Foothill west of Wells Road
• All residents of the Ojai Valley not currently covered under the current mandatory evacuation
• City of Fillmore – Boundary of 2nd Street north to 4th Street & Island View Street east to Pole Creek
• City of Fillmore – Boundary of 4th Street on the south to Pole Canyon Road, Pole Canyon Road northeast to Goodenough Road, Goodenough Road south to 5th Street and 5th Street southeast to 4th Street
• City of Fillmore – Boundary of Hwy 23 & the Santa Clara River south to Guiberson Road, Guiberson Road east to Torrey Road and Torrey Road north to the Santa Clara River
EVACUATION SHELTERS: City of Ventura – Ventura County Fairgrounds at Miners Building (Red Cross – Includes an Animal Shelter for all types of animals) – 10 W Harbor Blvd, Ventura, CA 93001
City of Ojai – Nordhoff High School (Red Cross) -1401 Maricopa Hwy, Ojai, CA 93023
City of Oxnard – Oxnard College Gymnasium (Red Cross)- Open 12/5/17, 0700
City of Santa Paula – Santa Paula Community Center (City of SP run shelter) – Open 0800
City of Fillmore – Veteran’s Memorial Bldg (City of Fillmore run shelter), 511 2nd Street – Will be open 12/6/17, 0800 hrs
UC Santa Barbara – Santa Barbara Multi Activity Center, 552 University Road, Santa Barbara, CA
Tourist Tuesday, 12/5/17: Silicon Valley coming to the South Coast of Big Sur
A nude group therapy session in 1968 at Esalen, which was once a storied hippie hotel where nudity was the norm.
RALPH CRANE / THE LIFE PICTURE COLLECTION, VIA GETTY IMAGES
From the Nwew York Times:
”And so Silicon Valley has come to the Esalen Institute, a storied hippie hotel here on the Pacific coast south of Carmel, Calif. After storm damage in the spring and a skeleton crew in the summer, the institute was fully reopened in October with a new director and a new mission: It will be a home for technologists to reckon with what they have built.”
…
With the focus on the emotional life of executives, Esalen plans to close Gazebo, its preschool of 40 years.
“It was the soul of the institution of Esalen — all those little babies and what they’re going to be,” said Zoe Garcia, a guest and nearby resident, who has been going to Esalen for 30 years.
The closing is partly a sign of the region’s changing demographics. As more of Big Sur’s homes are bought by tech executives as second homes, there are not as many young children, so the class of 30 had dwindled to 15 before the floods shut it down.
“It’s incredibly sad,” said Cortlan Robertson, whose daughter attended Gazebo and who said the Big Sur community had offered to pay for the preschool to continue. “Ben is always saying it’s just child care. But it was so much more.”
Closing Gazebo was also a sign of a shifting culture and new rules.
For the rest of the article, see https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/04/technology/silicon-valley-esalen-institute.html
I will refrain from making editorial comments, other than to say this is a travesty. It isn’t just STRs that are changing our community, but 2nd homes, and institutional changes like this. I have heard about Ventana, but haven’t seen the changes, yet. Please feel free to share and comment.
Highway One Closure Update, 12/4/17
HIGHWAY 1 UPDATE – Monday, Dec. 4
State Route 1 in Monterey County remains closed from north of Salmon Creek, just south of the Ranger Station (PM 3) to just south of Gorda (PM 10) due to the Mud Creek slide. State Route 1 south of Salmon Creek is accessible via State Route 1 in San Luis Obispo County near Ragged Point
REMINDER: Travelers still CANNOT access the entire length of Highway 1 from Carmel to Cambria but local businesses are open on both sides of Mud Creek.
Mud Creek (PM 8.9)
Mud Creek had a major slide on Saturday, May 20, 2017, losing over 5 million cubic yards of material. Caltrans continues with its plan to realign the existing terrain with the projected timeline to safely open to public traffic is late-summer 2018 at an estimated cost of $40 million.
Last week the contractor continued placing rock revetment, working from the north going south, continued constructing the south fill embankment and also constructing the middle portion of the fill. These same operations will continue this week.
the contractor continued placing rock revetment, working from the north going south and will place rock revetment across the entire toe. Also, construction continues of the south fill embankment. These same operations will this week.
There is currently no public/local access through the Mud Creek area since this remains an active, emergency construction zone.
Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6)
Paul’s Slide is still active but the 24/7 traffic signal remains in place and temporary guardrail (k-rail) in the centerline.
Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge [PCB] (PM 45.52)
Final work continues for several weeks. Roadwork at Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge consists of alternating lane closures from 7 am to 4 pm Mondays through Thursdays and 7 am to 2 pm on Fridays until work is complete. The contractor continues reshaping the canyon.
Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway work zones.
Photo Sunday, 12/3/17
Photo by bigsurkate
