We are getting an IR flight tonight, so should have some much more accurate maps tomorrow, but in the mean time, I asked John Chesnut for an evening one, and he so kindly obliged me with two!

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S. Forest Service
Pacific Southwest Region
Los Padres National Forest 6750 Navigator Way Goleta, CA 93117
http://www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf

News Release

For Immediate Release

August 25, 2020

Media Contact: Andrew Madsen
(805) 895-0841
andrew.madsen@usda.gov
www.facebook.com/lpnf
Twitter: @LosPadresNF

Area closure order issued for Dolan Fire
GOLETA, Calif.— Los Padres National Forest officials issued a forest order closing the Dolan Fire area on the Monterey Ranger District to the public effective tomorrow, August 26. Forest Service law enforcement officers will strictly enforce the closure order, which carries a penalty of $5,000 and/or six months in jail.

The boundary of the Dolan Fire Closure Area begins near Timber Top following the North Coast Ridge Road (20S05) east to Cold Spring Camp and the Big Sur Trail. Continuing eastward, the closure boundary follows the South Fork Trail (3E09) to the Marble Peak Trail (4E07) where it intersects with the Arroyo Seco/Indians Road (19S09) and follows the road southeast to the National Forest boundary and then southwest along the boundary to Nacimiento-Fergusson Road (22S01) where it heads west along the northern edge of the road to Highway 1. The closure boundary then heads north along Highway 1 where it intersects the National Forest boundary near Limekiln State Parks and follows the boundary back to the beginning of the Closure Area, as shown on the attached map. (I tried for over 1/2 hour to upload the map, and could not. It is now almost 11 pm, so I am giving up for tonight)

The Dolan Fire started August 18 and has burned 20,213 acres and is 15 percent contained. Incident Management Team 2 is in Unified Command with the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade and the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office. Closure of the fire area is intended to help ensure that members of the public are not injured within the fire perimeter, to keep the area clear for fire equipment traffic, and to allow for the scorched landscape to begin the rehabilitation and regrowth process. This order will expire when the Dolan Fire is fully contained and controlled.

For additional information about the Dolan Fire, please visit the InciWeb incident page at  https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7018/ or call (831) 272-0222. Email inquiries can be sent to 2020.dolan@firenet.gov.  

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August 25, 2020:     

·Dolan Fire Afternoon Update: There is a second spot in the south east corner of the fire, south of the big one we’ve been reporting on. This one is west of the Coast Ridge which is desirable because the ridge is where we can ultimately stop it. On the south we are going direct with dozers and hand line then they will take the line over to Cone Peak. On the north they are prepping McVay Ridge with dozers and hand line. They are also working out the slopover on the north east.

Current Situation:

Fire behavior overnight was moderated due to the marine layer. Night operations focused on monitoring fire conditions and gathering information about the fire that will assist today’s fire operations.

Today crews will continue to focus on the Northern and Southern edges of the fire by constructing and enhancing contingency lines. These control lines will provide additional protection and management options for firefighters in the event that fire progresses towards the structures. Additional dozer lines are being scouted and constructed to provide point protection for communities. Crews will also be monitoring bridges that may serve as pathways for fire to cross into unburned areas. The hazards of rolling rocks and spot fires in the field, as well as driving and traffic conditions on the road continue to be safety concerns for crews.

Low intensity backing fires are expected again today in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and crews will be in the park providing structure protection. Firefighters will monitor the Eastern perimeter near the North Coast Ridge Road at the transition of the North Coast Ridge trail where the fire was active yesterday. Fire behavior and growth in that area is driven largely by fuels with no recent fire history.

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. Currently there are 93 large uncontained fires nationwide with nearly 28,000 firefighters. To date, fires have burned 2.1 million acres with 1.84 million acres burned in California alone. Resource orders are being prioritized to fires across California and the west. 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).

Weather: Tomorrow’s weather is expected to be typical for late summer days with a marine layer and inversion lifting to clear skies.

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

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/.

A!ert 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.

Cooperating and Assisting Organizations: National Weather Service, California Highway Patrol, Monterey County Sheriff’s Department, Big Sur Volunteers, Cal Trans, California State Parks, OES, Ventana Wilderness Alliance

Safety Message: This will be a long duration event. Residents in the affected area are encouraged to continue to prepare for the possibility of fire in their area in advance. Go to https://www.ready.gov/wildfires to learn how to prepare.

Incident Information

Basic Information

Current as of	8/25/2020, 7:52:02 PM
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	CAIIMT 2 Mike Minton ICT1 Big Sur FD Matt Harris UIC Monterey Co. SO Joseph Moses UIC
Incident Description	Wildfire
Coordinates	36.123 latitude, -121.602 longitude

Current Situation

Total Personnel	880
Size	20,397 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained	15%
Estimated Containment Date	Wednesday September 16th, 2020 approx. 12:00 AM
Fuels Involved	Chaparral (6 feet)Brush (2 feet)Timber (Grass and Understory)
Significant Events	Active Flanking Backing Isolated Torching

Outlook

Planned Actions

Crews in all divisions continue to construct direct/indirect control lines to prepare for burning out operations on the North and South ends of the fire. Crews will continue to evaluate need for point protection and structure defense.

Projected Incident Activity

Fire is burning on private land, the Los Padres National Forest Ventana wilderness. Fire is taking advantage of slope driven runs and dry fuel, moving up and down canyons, spotting and making runs, fire movement in all directions, ie. 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

Typical late-August conditions prevailed once again today. In the morning, there was some low clouds and fog along the coastal side of the fire. By late morning, the clouds and fog dissipated, leaving sunny and smoky skies. Afternoon temperatures were in the 70s and 80s with humidity dropping down to the 35-55% range. Ridgetop winds were southeasterly with typical diurnal winds at lower elevations.For tonight and Wednesday, the marine layer influence will continue along the coastal side of the fire with some low clouds and fog. Otherwise, clear and smoky skies are expected. Afternoon temperatures will be a few degrees warmer with an associated decrease in relative humidity. Typical diurnal winds are expected.

Recent Articles

Pronóstico de Humo para 25/08 – 26/08News – 8 hrs. agoCentral Coast Fires Smoke Outlook August 25 & 26News – 12 hrs. agoDolan Fire Morning Update, August 25, 2020News – 13 hrs. agoDolan Fire Evening Update, August 24, 2020News – 24 hrs. ago

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I will be updating this page throughout the day, so click the title to open in a separate window, and refresh this page as you need.Please be patient with USFS, BSF, and Monterey County Sheriff as they release information about the status of the fire and the evacuation orders. (And with me as I gather it and post it). Thank you.““““““

For Carmel/River Fire, see Here    

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Changes are being made to some of the fire evacuation shelters and centers due to re- entry for the Carmel and River fires. There is still help available and it is safe to go to evacuation locations, COVID-19 procedures are in place.

Here is the updated list of county evacuation shelters and centers.

Evacuation Shelters are open 24 hours for sleeping, meals, referrals for non-congregate housing assistance.

• Salinas Valley Fairgrounds, 625 Division Street, King City
• Carmel Middle School, 4380 Carmel Valley Rd, Carmel

Evacuation Centers are open 8 am to 8 pm and provide, water, snacks, housing referrals, RV camping vouchers.

• Monterey Conference Center, 1 Portola Plaza, Monterey
• King City Library, 402 Broadway, King City

http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/2020Fires

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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

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

************************************************************************John Chesnut’s daily map will go here when received. John says about this map:

“The high resolution VIIRS satellite has not updated overnight. … I am attaching the lower resolution MODIS (1km) return, with some trepidation (as it is coarsely inaccurate).”

John Chesnut put together another map showing the boundary from the first IR flight on 8/23 here. It is very close to the hand-drawn boundary John created.

************************************************************************USFS daily morning briefing will go here when it is posted.

August 25, 2020 8:00 AM
Public Information Phone: (831)272-0222	Los Padres National Forest: www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf
Media Information Phone: (831)272-0221	Facebook: facebook.com/lospadresnationalforest
Incident E-mail: 2020.Dolan@firenet.gov	Twitter: twitter.com/LosPadresNF
Incident Website: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7018	Big Sur FD: https://bigsurfire.org/

Incident Information: 

Start / Report Date: Aug. 18, 2020 Cause: Unknown 

Fuels Involved: Chaparral, Brush, Timber understory 

Resources: 

Hand Crews: 11 

Engines: 46 

Dozers: 7 

Size: 20,213 

Location: Hwy 1(MM32.20) N of Limekiln State Park, 10 miles S of Big Sur 

Helicopters: 4 

Fixed wing: 1 

Water Tenders: 7 

Containment: 15% 

Injuries: 0 

 Total Personnel: 662 

Current Situation: 

Fire behavior overnight was moderated due to the marine layer. Night operations focused on monitoring fire conditions and gathering information about the fire that will assist today’s fire operations.  

Today crews will continue to focus on the Northern and Southern edges of the fire by constructing and enhancing contingency lines. These control lines will provide additional protection and management options for firefighters in the event that fire progresses towards the structures. Additional dozer lines are being scouted and constructed to provide point protection for communities. Crews will also be monitoring bridges that may serve as pathways for fire to cross into unburned areas. The hazards of rolling rocks and spot fires in the field, as well as driving and traffic conditions on the road continue to be safety concerns for crews. 

Low intensity backing fires are expected again today in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and crews will be in the park providing structure protection. Firefighters will monitor the Eastern perimeter near the North Coast Ridge Road at the transition of the North Coast Ridge trail where the fire was active yesterday. Fire behavior and growth in that area is driven largely by fuels with no recent fire history.  

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. Currently there are 93 large uncontained fires nationwide with nearly 28,000 firefighters. To date, fires have burned 2.1 million acres with 1.84 million acres burned in California alone. Resource orders are being prioritized to fires across California and the west. 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).
Weather: Tomorrow’s weather is expected to be typical for late summer days with a marine layer and inversion lifting to clear skies.
Evacuations / Closures: Click here for an interactive map of Monterey County evacuations.
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/.
A!ert 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.
Cooperating and Assisting Organizations: National Weather Service, California Highway Patrol, Monterey County Sheriff’s Department, Big Sur Volunteers, Cal Trans, California State Parks, OES, Ventana Wilderness Alliance
Safety Message: This will be a long duration event. Residents in the affected area are encouraged to continue to prepare for the possibility of fire in their area in advance. Go to https://www.ready.gov/wildfires to learn

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Photos taken 8/25 at 7:30 am from my roost. Smoke coming up through the fog

For other information sources see:

• Office of Emergency Services response page here
• Quick reference of key resources to stay up-to-date here
• National interagency Fire Center Map can be found here
• Current Wind can be found here
• Alert Wildfire Camera here
• Scanner Fire & Sheriff
• Air Traffic here
• Road Closures here
• CalFire’s Ready, Set, Go! Checklist here (see page 9)