Forest Service Temporarily Closes Southern California National Forests,

Adds Prohibitions in Others

VALLEJO, Calif., September 7, 2020 – Most of California remains under the threat of unprecedented and dangerous fire conditions with a combination of extreme heat, significant wind events, dry conditions, and firefighting resources that are stretched to the limit. Due to these conditions, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region is announcing the following temporary closures and fire restrictions to provide for public safety and reduce the potential for human caused fire starts. They will go into effect at 5:00 pm Pacific Standard Time on Monday, September 7, 2020, and will be re-evaluated daily as conditions change.

1.       Closure of the following National Forests: Stanislaus National Forest, Sierra National Forest, Sequoia National Forest, Inyo National Forest, Los Padres National Forest, Angeles National Forest, San Bernardino National Forest, and Cleveland National Forest.

2.       Prohibition of the use of any ignition source on all National Forest System lands (campfires, gas stoves, etc.) throughout California.

3.       Closure of all developed campgrounds and day-use sites on National Forests in California.

“The wildfire situation throughout California is dangerous and must be taken seriously. Existing fires are displaying extreme fire behavior, new fire starts are likely, weather conditions are worsening, and we simply do not have enough resources to fully fight and contain every fire,” said Randy Moore, Regional Forester for the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region. “We are bringing every resource to bear nationally and internationally to fight these fires, but until conditions improve, and we are confident that National Forest visitors can recreate safely, the priority is always to protect the public and our firefighters. With these extreme conditions, these temporary actions will help us do both.”

An example of extreme fire behavior is the Creek Fire on the Sierra National Forest which began on Friday Sep. 4th and grew rapidly on Saturday, Sep. 5th. The fire made a 15-mile run in a single day and burned 36,000 acres, prompting evacuations and life saving measures. The California National Guard evacuated at least 200 people from Wagner Mammoth Pool Campground and assessed them for medical needs.

The Forest Service thanks our partners and the public for their cooperation and understanding of this monumental fire threat. It is critical that all Californians and national forest visitors follow these important closures and restrictions for their own safety and the safety of our firefighters.

The Forest Service manages 18 National Forests in the Pacific Southwest Region, which encompasses over 20 million acres across California, and assists forest landowners in California, Hawaii and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands. National forests supply 50 percent of the water in California and form the watershed of most major aqueducts and more than 2,400 reservoirs throughout the state. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/R5.

Last Photos of the daylight hours:

And from the other side at Nepenthe by Sander Koning

John Chesnut Evening map:

From MoCo OES:

Effective immediately for the Dolan Fire an evacuation warning is in place for the ZONE 24. Access is permitted only for residents due to fire equipment and emergency personnel in the area. The evacuation warning area for ZONE 24 is as follows: Areas west of Reliz Canyon Road to the intersection of Arroyo Seco Road. South of Arroyo Seco Road to the intersection of Santa Lucia Trail. East of Santa Lucia Trail to the intersection of Bear Mtn. Trail (21S02). North of Bear Mtn Trail (21S02) to the intersection of Reliz Canyon Road.   

Here are a couple of photos just taken at 4:25 pm

Firefighters of the #DolanFire plan to begin firing operations this morning on a section of fireline that runs from the near Hermitage to US Highway 1. That means you can expect to see more smoke being produced in that area today. “Burnouts“ as they are called, strengthen the fireline by removing fuel between the line and the advancing wildfire. This creates how much wider a buffer than just a bulldozer line or hand line. Burnouts our carefully planned and executed. This is being done to prevent the Dolan Fire from spreading further south in that area and to protect the structures in that area.

In this video, Operation section chief Reggie Bray talks about fire growth overnight and some of the other activities around the different parts of the fire.

For more information visit: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7018/

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Monterey County Sheriff’s Office
Monterey County Office of Emergency Services

Information: 831-272-0222                  Email: 2020.Dolan@firenet.gov 

Media Information: 831-272-0221             Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7018 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lospadresnationalforest 

Size: 36,237 acres     Containment: 40%      Personnel: 883     Start Date: August 18, 2020       Cause: Under Investigation 

YESTERDAY’S ACTIVITIES: As expected fire activity increased on the eastern and southern edges with Cone Peak seeing the most aggressive spread. Record heat and dry conditions continued to play a major role in fire spread. Occasional uphill runs were observed at higher elevations throughout the evening. Structure and asset protection remain priority one for firefighters.  

Overnight firefighters monitored HWY 1 for any potential hotspots and rollouts with CalTrans support on cleanup of any fallen debris. Overnight lows were in the high 80’s to lower 90’s with poor relative humidity recovery.  

TODAY’S ACTIVITIES: Record breaking temperatures will continue throughout the day and into the evening increasing fire activity. Firefighters along with support from a dozer team continue line construction in the Arroyo Seco drainage and Avila Ranch area reinforcing structure protection. Crews continue improvement of containment lines along McWay Ridge and within the Lucia and Hermitage areas. Several teams are completing the primary containment line north of the Nacimiento-Ferguson Road and along the road to Cone Peak. This indirect line will serve as the primary containment line intended to keep the fire from spreading south toward nearby structures. If conditions allow a planned burnout operation will be used in the next few days to tie containment lines into the fire’s edge. Dozers, hand crews and masticators are also working on additional contingency lines farther south. Helicopters will be available to support ground crews but will be limited due to weather conditions. Structure protection all along HWY 1, in the Partington area north, and in the Lucia and Hermitage areas to the south continues. 

Currently in the fire there are: 6 Type 1 Hotshot crews, 10 Type 2 hand crews, 49 engines, 6 dozers, 13 helicopters, 19 water tenders, 4 masticators and a variety of other equipment to support firefighting efforts. 

EVACUATIONS: The Monterey County Sherriff’s office has an Evacuation Order in effect for Zone B (Lucia) and Zone J (Prewitt Ridge). Warning are in effect for Zone C (Partington) and Zones K-S (Coast Ridge Road). Yesterday, Zone A was downgraded to a warning. View the interactive map for Monterey County evacuations. 

ROAD CLOSURE:  HWY 1 is closed from north of Vista Point south to Pacific Valley.  Visit https://roads.dot.ca.gov/ 

FOREST CLOSURE:  Forest Order Number 05-07-51-20-19 remains in effect on the Forest in the vicinity of the fire. 

WEATHER: Record breaking temperatures continue into the next few days with little relief in sight. Temperatures are in the 90’s along the coast and may reach record breaking degrees again inland. Lower relative humidity across the area are expected throughout the day. Winds are forecast to remain mild.  

SAFETY:  Firefighters are still actively using HWY 1 as a major access point to the fire. Caution is stressed as emergency vehicles are entering and exiting the highway at all times of the day. Falling rocks and debris continues to be a hazard. Most notably in the area of MP 35 on HWY 1. 

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Dolan Fire 

Los Padres National Forest

Public Information Phone: 831-272-0222 

Media Information Phone: 831-272-0221 

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

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

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Here are John Chesnut’s heat maps, and potential contingency line:

Proposed new contingency line on the east side of the fire.

And here is a photo I took late last night; on the south side of Cone Peak to be visible from my place.