Dolan Fire, Day 5, 8/22/20

8 pm — Dolan Incident Report:

6:30 pm — I am posting this at 6:30 pm, my first available opportunity today, but not sure when released. Note the fire has increased to 14,000 acres, but 10% containment.

Incident Overview

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August 22, 2020:      |     Maps     |     Update     |     Video     |      Photos     |      Facebook       |     Twitter    | 

  
Current Situation: 

Overnight point protection continued to be the focus of operations. Point protection refers to the preparation and defense of structures or other values in the fire’s path of spread. The three priorities for point protection are Hermitage, Partington Ridge and Anderson Peak communications infrastructure. As the threat diminishes and fire passes, these priorities will shift. As more resources arrive the operation will expand to include additional perimeter control operations.

Hot Shot crews are working on perimeter control on the north end of the fire off North Coast Ridge Road, where the fire had burned over the road, these firefighters are building fire line directly on the fire’s edge to prevent the possibility of further spread. Containment along the west side of the fire (10% so far) is expected to increase over the next few days as firefighters assure that the line is secure. 

The fire remained active in the areas Hermitage and Lucia, along Highway 1, overnight. The fire spread slowly as fire backed down slope. 

Today, operations will continue to focus on point protection and scouting for locations to build direct and indirect fire line. Fire spread will be mainly to the south, laterally along the coast ridge. Smoke from other fires in the area is shading the Dolan Fire. Though the smoke makes it difficult to locate the exact perimeter of the fire, it has the benefit of decreasing the direct sunlight and dampening fire behavior. In areas above the layer of smoke, or when the smoke lifts, fire behavior will become more active. As Tropical Depression Genevieve moves into the area, unstable air will likely lift the smoke layer and result in more active fire behavior. 

The fire is threatening the communities of Hermitage, Partington Ridge, and Lucia. Multiple businesses, communications sites, parks and recreational sites are also threatened. Among natural resources threatened are the Ventana Wilderness and coastal watershed and habitat for threatened and endangered species, including the California condor. 

Fire activity in the western United States has caused a high demand for fire personnel and equipment. The nation is in Preparedness Level 5 (PL5), the highest level. In PL5 over 80% of the nation’s incident management teams and wildland firefighting personnel are committed to incidents. Resource orders are being prioritized to fires across California and the west. Aircraft that can map a fire using infrared imagery used to determine acreage have not yet flown the fire. Acreage reported here is an estimate and will be updated when IR images are available.

Carmel Fire Info: https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/18/carmel-fire/

River Fire Info: https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/16/river-fire/ 

Updates and Meetings: Fire Information is producing two daily written updates. To request an update, email 2020.dolan@firenet.gov and provide your email address. A daily video update will be posted to the Los Padres National Forest Facebook page and Inciweb (See links in header). Additionally, a live online community meeting will be held on the Los Padres National Forest Facebook page today at 2:00 p.m. 

Weather: Moisture from Tropical Depression Genevieve will bring mostly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures to the area today. A Fire Weather Watch has been issued from Sunday at 11:00 a.m. through Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. due to a potential for Thunderstorms.

Evacuations / Closures: Click here for an interactive map of Monterey County evacuations. 

The closure of Highway 1 has changed. The highway is now closed near mile marker 38/Troy (Torre) Canyon on the north and Hermitage on the south.

Smoke: The Monterey Bay Air Resources District has issued a Wildfire Air Quality Advisory. When the concentration of smoke has reached UNHEALTHY levels of the AQI, residents should limit their activity by staying indoors with the doors and windows closed to avoid breathing smoke.  Updates on the current air quality forecast and Air Monitoring data can be found at http://air.mbard.org/.

Alert Monterey County: To receive emergency notifications regarding evacuations and critical events in Monterey County please sign up for A!ert Monterey County at the following website.

https://member.everbridge.net/453003085611217/login

Safety Message: Area residents are encouraged to prepare for the approach of fire in advance. Go to https://www.ready.gov/wildfires to learn how to prepare. 

Incident Information

Basic Information

Current as of	8/22/2020, 10:34:29 AM
Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Unknown
Date of Origin	Tuesday August 18th, 2020 approx. 08:15 PM
Location	Highway 1(MM 32.20) North of Limekiln State Park, 10 miles South of Big Sur
Incident Commander	Mike Minton, CA IMT Team 2 in unified command with Big Sur Fire
Incident Description	Wildfire
Coordinates	36.123 latitude, -121.602 longitude

Current Situation

Total Personnel	400
Size	14,000 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained	10%
Estimated Containment Date	Wednesday September 02nd, 2020 approx. 12:00 AM
Fuels Involved	Chaparral (6 feet)Brush (2 feet)Timber (Grass and Understory)
Significant Events	ActiveFlankingGroup Torching

Outlook

Planned Actions

Crews in all divisions will continue to verify location, scout for opportunities to construct direct/indirect control lines, and evaluate need for point protection and structure defense.

Projected Incident Activity

Fire will continue to burn in the Ventana Wilderness. Fire is taking advantage of slope driven runs and dry fuel, moving up and down canyons, spotting and making erratic runs, fire movement in all directions, ie. west, south, north, and east. Area tends to burn actively in the evening hours driven by mid slope thermal weather activity. Concern that the smoke inversion will lift and the fire activity will increase.

Current Weather

Weather Concerns

Moisture from Tropical Depression Genevieve will bring mostly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures to the area today. A Fire Weather Watch has been issued from Sunday at 11:00 a.m. through Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. due to a potential for Thunderstorms.

Recent Articles

Dolan Fire Emergency Area ClosureClosure – 3 hrs. agoDolan Fire Morning Update, August 22, 2020News – 8 hrs. agoCentral Coast Fires Smoke Outlook, August 22 and 23News – 10 hrs. agoDolan Fire Evening Update, August 21, 2020News – 21 hrs. ago

Related Links

• National Fire Situational Awareness (NFSA) Tool
• National Weather Service
• California Highway Patrol
• Monterey Country Sheriff’s Office
• Big Sur Land Trust
• Cal Trans Road Information
• California State Parks
• California Governors Office of Emergency Services
• Ventana Wilderness Alliance
• California Smoke Information Blog
• Monterey County Alerts
• Ready Set Go – Ready for Wildfire
• FAA Temporary Flight Restrictions
• Monterey County Evacuation Map

Incident Cooperators

• USDA Forest Service
• Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade
• California Department of Parks & Recreation
• California Department Of Transportation
• California Highway Patrol
• California State Office of Emergency Services
• Monterey County Sherriff
• National Weather Service
• USDA Forest Service, Los Padres National Forest
• Ventana Wilderness Alliance

5 PM — I know things have been scattered here today, because I was trying to take the day off, to get away from the heat and smoke, and the stress. So I went to town. Most of you understand. I posted a couple things I thought were important, but because I was on my tiny iPhone, I couldn’t explain what I was doing. I will be back within the hour to bring things up to date and organize as best I can, but I have to put the groceries away, feed the dogs, water the plants, and other wise take care of life. Going down the mountain to do a supply run allowed me first hand views of what is going on here on the south end of the fire. Be patient.

BAD NEWS

GOOD NEWS —

`12:45 — Good inews the National Guard is being mobilized to come to help CA as of 10 AM. The NIFC — National Interagency Fire Center is mobilizing.

Recent Incidents (Prepared 08/22/2020 12:45)

Date

Inc #

Name

Type

Location

WebComment

Resources

IC

Fuels

Acres

Lat/Lon

TRS

Status

08/22/2020 09:59

LPF-2461

2020 NIFC Military Mobilization

Resource Order

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First, breathe a sigh of relief for the Hermitage, it is fine, things are quite good there, and they have a hot shot crew imbedded for the duration.

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7:30 AM — *Please check back throughout the day for update, or refresh your browser window if you are keeping it open.

DOLAN PUBLIC FIRE INFORMATION SOURCES:
Public Information Phone: (831) 272-0222

Incident E-mail: 2020.Dolan@firenet.gov

Incident Website: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7018

For Carmel/River Fire, see Here   

This is the link for the county created interactive evacuations map for all three fires. You can enter an address and find out the status. Nice job MoCo! Thank you. https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/departments-a-h/administrative-office/office-of-emergency-services/response/2020-fires

On a personal note, I am taking a day to cool off and breathe some hopefully cleaner air today, so I will be on and off as signal and circumstances provide.

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First up, John Chesnut’s map for you:

I will remind people that the way John does his maps is that each day is outlined. Day 1 is a small octogon shape in white barely visible anymore, Day 2 is in green, Day 3 is in red, day 4 is yellow and today has just begun.

From the deck of the Redwood School last night by David Halterman