5:30 pm – Front Fire holding at 875 acres with 30% containment. There are 600 personnel assigned. SoCal Incident Management Team 2 (IC Johnny) will take command at 6 am tomorrow.
1 pm – UPDATE: #FrontFire drops down to 875 acres as a result of better mapping, according to Los Padres National Forest officials. Fire is 5% contained.
8 am – As of this morning, this fire is up to 1000 acres, and highway 166 remains closed.
And from last night, photo by CHP, Santa Maria:
8:30 pm – 800 acres and 0% containment. Highway 166 to be closed for 24 hours…
6 pm – #FrontFire is starting off a lot like the 1997 #LoganFire and 2009 #LaBreaFire both of which burned in the same area and burned > 50,000 acres in similar weather conditions. It is currently over 600 acres. It is close to the SB/SLO Co line.
As of 5:30 pm – Just had SLO get a ST (strike team) together for the Front incident…..ST9241C…..3465, 3462, 3467, 3470, an 3472
Per CHP:
| 2:02 PM | 12 | [31] 1039 SLOSO W/1124 JEEP/POSS PTY ON FOOT INFO | |||||
| 1:59 PM | 11 | [29] 1039 USFS W/LINE 22 | |||||
| 1:56 PM | 10 | [28] 14-S2 REQ CALTRANS RESPOND TO SR166 AT US101 / SR166 AT TEP / SR166 AT NEW CUYAMA FOR POTENTIAL CLOSURE | |||||
| 1:54 PM | 9 | [26] B14-021 INQ W/14-S2 FOR POSS CLOSURE SR166 AT TEP // 14-S2 COPIES ROLL CALTRANS | |||||
| 1:53 PM | 8 | [24] 1039 USFS – WILL HAVE FIRE SUPRESSION AIRCRAFT IN THE AREA WHICH MAY BE IN CONFLICT – THEY WILL BE SURVEYING THE FIRE AND MAY BE ABLE TO LOOK FOR PTYS IN PERIL // H70 COPIES WILL BE PATROLLING SOUTH AND AVAIL IF NEEDED | |||||
| 1:51 PM | 7 | [22] A14-063 FIRE MOVING IN SE DIRECTION – APPEARS TO BE 20 ACRES IN SIZE | |||||
| 1:49 PM | 6 | [21] PER CALFIRE, FIRE BEING MANAGED BY USFS LOS PADRES | |||||
| 1:47 PM | 5 | [16] A14-063 FIRE IS MOVING TOWARD HIGHWAY | |||||
| 1:43 PM | 4 | [13] A14-063 FIRE IS NORTHE OF THE HWY APPROX 1/2 MI – RIGHT AT ROCK FRONT RANCH | |||||
| 1:37 PM | 3 | [8] A14-063 VIS OF SMOKE PLUME GO AHEAD AND START FIRE | |||||
| 1:34 PM | 2 | [2] TOT CAL FIRE | |||||
| 1:34 PM | 1 | [1] BRUSH FIRE ON. | |||||
Per WildCAD LPF: (sorry about the formatting)
| 08/19/2018 13:37 | LPF-2334 | Front | Wildfire | ROCKFRONT RANCH SL | . | CRW1LPF CRW8LPF DIV3LPF DIV7LPF E337LPF E346LPF E41LPF E74LPF HEL528LPF PAT34LPF Q | . | Grass /Brush | 40 | 35 6.846, -120 5.526 |
1 pm – #creekfire. [Update] Crew are arriving at scene making great progress. Currently 3acres
12:30 pm – no details, yet, and even though it is right next to road, hasn’t closed it yet. Per a friend near the Paso airport, they have a tanker and the sky crane helicopter on it. This is what is on CHP:
| Detail Information | |||||||
| 12:16 PM | 6 | [9] [Appended, 12:17:05] [3] RIGHT ALONG SIDE OF RDWY | |||||
| 12:16 PM | 5 | [6] TOT CAL FIRE | |||||
| 12:16 PM | 4 | [5] NOT AFFECTING RDWY | |||||
| 12:16 PM | 3 | [3] [Appended, 12:16:37] [1] BRUSH FIRE | |||||
| 12:13 PM | 2 | [2] TOT CAL FIRE | |||||
| 12:13 PM | 1 | [1] SMOKE ON PP | |||||
I apologize for the quality, but these are photos of original prints, as I was not digitalizing back then, and the negatives are buried somewhere…
All of these were taken at my place in the first days of this fire.
And the news article – note, page 12, not very big, but 3 homes had been lost by then, but, you know, its the South Coast.
I was going through some records and photos in preparation for a video interview I am doing, and ran across my journal from the Wild Fire of 1996. I will reproduce bits and pieces here in bits and pieces.
Wednesday, October 9, 1996 at 12:30 pm –
At 10:30 pm on Monday, 10/7, an arsonist threw a flare up Wild Cattle Canyon from Highway One. Rock Knocker was asleep and I was watching a movie. I heard it on the CB and woke him up. We listened to the CB and to the scanner, and then around midnight decided to drive over to the launch point to see what was happening.
Mary lost her place, as did Helga and Gael. Peter lost his barn. The Withrows are threatened, as are the structures down at Mill Creek. Rocky & Geri are fine for the moment, as are we.
I collided with a fire truck on a blind curve on my property in my Range Rover. My Range Rover won. The firefighter was pissed, as it meant a whole lot of paper work. (To be continued… a few photos tomorrow.)
August 17, 2018
Highway 1 Climbing Lane Project Update for Week of August 20th
The current phase of work on the Highway 1 Climbing Lane Project was completed on the morning of August 17th in advance of Car Week event traffic. Construction will resume regular work hours the week of August 27th.
Here is what to expect for the week of August 20th.
Looking ahead to the week of August 27th, crews will be working on both Rio Road between Highway 1 and the Crossroads Shopping Center and on Carmel Valley Road between Highway 1 and Carmel Rancho Boulevard in preparation for final paving, which is currently planned for the week of September 4. There will be additional details on this next week.
Sign up to receive text message alerts about the project by texting Climbinglane to 888777.
For more information, or to sign up for project updates, contact Christine Poe atPoeC@co.monterey.ca.us or (831) 755-5025 or Grant Leo
6:30 pm – UPDATE: #GabardaFire fire is holding at approx 10 acres and is now 50% contained. Rocky Canyon road is now open to traffic. Fire equipment is still in the area please be cautious. 15 engines, 2 bull dozers, 2 handcrews, 1 water tender responded from multiple Slo county agencies. Also used was helicopter, H793, the Sky Crane, recently based in Paso for the rest of the fire season. (YAY!)
Near 41 and Rocky Canyon Rd, may be in Riverbed. SLOSO called to close Roads in Area. Evacuations in progress.
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
District: 05
Contact: Susana Z. Cruz (bilingual) or Colin Jones
Phone: (805) 549-3138 or (805) 549-318
Caltrans Accelerates Repairs on State Route 1 in Monterey County Due to SB 1 Funds
Repairs to Eight Aging Bridges on State Route 1 Will Improve Safety
MONTEREY COUNTY — Caltrans continues repair work to eight bridges on State Route 1 from Willow Creek to Garrapata Creek due to funds from Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.
“This route hugs the scenic coastline, serving the tourists and local residents along the Big Sur Coast who depend on this busy north-south road,” said Caltrans Director Laurie Berman. “Safety improvements to Highway 1 now are key for motorists to be able to enjoy safer and smoother travel for years to come.”
Four to five million people visit the Big Sur area each year, with most traveling down the iconic Pacific Coast Highway, also known as State Route 1.
“We are continuing to make great progress on delivering projects under Senate Bill 1 (SB 1),” said Caltrans District 5 Director Tim Gubbins. “The public will benefit greatly from this eight-bridge project that makes much-needed repairs to these deteriorating structures.”
This $4.4 million bridge repair project has been awarded to American Civil Constructors West Coast LLC of Benicia, California, and is unrelated to work to repair the roads that were affected by massive area rockslides. Crews will fill potholes and repave all eight bridges. Work began in early July and motorists will continue to encounter up to 20-minute, one-way traffic controls overnight Monday through Thursday from 7:00 p.m. to 6 a.m., and Friday morning from midnight to 6 a.m. Daytime hours Monday through Thursday are 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.Motorists are encouraged to plan ahead and Be Work Zone Alert.
The work schedule is subject to change due to traffic incidents, weather, availability of equipment and/or materials and/or construction-related issues. More information and updates on projects can be found at http://www.dot.ca.gov/d5/ or on Twitter via@CaltransD5.
SB 1 provides an ongoing funding increase of about $1.8 billion annually for the maintenance and rehabilitation of the state highway system. SB 1 funds will enable Caltrans to fix more than 17,000 lane miles of pavement, 500 bridges and 55,000 culverts by 2027.
Caltrans is committed to conducting its business in a fully transparent manner and detailing its progress to the public. For complete details on SB 1, visithttp://www.rebuildingca.ca.gov/.
# # #
Garrapata and Limekiln Bridges on State Route 1 in Monterey.
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Jim Shivers
Caltrans District 5
Public Information Office
We welcome your feedback:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RNBZG55
Now: Speak out against fracking on public lands in California today!
Bakersfield, Calif. – The Trump Administration today (actually 8/8/18) launched a 30-day public comment period on the environmental and public health impacts of hydraulic fracking in central California. The move is the first step in a process that will decide whether to allow the controversial oil extraction technique across 1.6 million acres of federal public land and mineral rights in Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Kern, and neighboring counties.
Last Week’s announcement – published in the Federal Register – was prompted by a 2015 lawsuit filed by Los Padres ForestWatch and the Center for Biological Diversity, represented by Earthjustice. The lawsuit alleged that the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) failed to consider the impacts of fracking as part of the BLM’s update of its Resource Management Plan for federal lands within the jurisdiction of the agency’s Bakersfield Field Office.
The groups prevailed in 2016 when a judge concluded that BLM failed to adequately analyze the impacts of fracking across vast swaths of public land in the region. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, based in Los Angeles, ordered the agency to evaluate those impacts in a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. In a settlement agreement with ForestWatch and the Center, the BLM agreed to not issue any new leases for oil drilling in the region until the supplemental report is complete.
You can find the rest of this article at: https://lpfw.org/trump-administration-begins-process-to-reopen-1-6-million-acres-in-california-to-oil-drilling-and-fracking/
The BLM’s comment deadline closes on September 7, 2018. To submit comments, visit LPFW.org/fracking. You can also send your comments directly to the BLM.
