11:26 am — Just received:
Willow Fire: June 22, 2021 Update
Email: willowfirepio@gmail.com
Incident Information: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7549/
Social Media: Twitter: @LosPadresNF Facebook: @Los Padres National Forest
Los Padres National Forest: www.fs.usda.gov/pnf
Fire Information Phone: (831) 244-3205 Hours: 8am-9pm
INCIDENT INFORMATION
Command: Los Padres National Forest, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and CIIMT 11
Additional Cooperating and Assisting Organizations: CAL Fire, California Highway Patrol, Big Sur Fire Department Cachagua Fire Protection District, Bureau of Land Management, CalTrans, Monterey Office of Emergency Services (OES)
| Start Date: 06/17/2021Location: Los Padres National Forest,Monterey County, CAResidences Threatened: 100 Residences Damaged: 0Mixed Commercial/Residential threatened: 25 | Size: 2,848Percent containment: 0%Cause: Under InvestigationResidences Destroyed: 0Personnel on the Incident: 511 |
CURRENT CONDITIONS:
Moderating fire conditions across the fire area were experienced by firefighters yesterday under the influence of the marine layer’s higher relative humidity. Community, residential and recreation infrastructure protection and scouting of contingency lines were the highest priority work objectives for firefighters.
Today, firefighters will take advantage of the continued moderated fire behavior to construct direct control lines along the fire’s edge where it is safe to do so. Contingency lines will continue to be improved in front of the eastern edge of the fire to protect the Arroyo Seco area.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office remains in Unified Command with Los Padres National Forest and California Interagency Incident Management Team 11. The sheriff’s office has issued Evacuation Warnings and Orders for the fire area.
WEATHER
A low-pressure system off the coast will continue to provide favorable weather conditions over the fire area with south-westerly to south-east winds for the next day or so shifting to the northwest as the system moves onshore. Firefighters are going to take advantage of the resulting cooler temperatures and an increase in relative humidity. A general cooling trend is expected through Wednesday which could help slow the rate of spread as ground fuels will not be quite as hot and dry. Winds from the south and southwest will continue to influence the fire’s spread to the east and northwest toward Arroyo Seco.
EVACUATIONS AND CLOSURES:
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued an Evacuation Order for the following areas:
- Tassajara Road northwest to China Camp Campground in the Los Padres National Forest, including tributary Forest Routes and the Tassajara Zen Center.
- Upgraded the Evacuation Warning to an Order for Zone WF-3a. All areas of the Arroyo Seco Road west of Woodtick Canyon, to include the Arroyo Seco Campground, Rocky Creek Road, Camp Cawatre.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued an Evacuation Warning for the following area:
- Tassajara Road from China Camp Campground in the Los Padres National Forest northwest to Kincannon Canyon. The Warning stops at the Los Padres National Forest boundary. This does not include Kincannon Road or tributaries of Jamesburg or Cachagua Road.
11 am — I have been having unexplainable internet connectivity issues. I am hoping my current location will help them. Here is John Chesnut from this am: “Perimeter mapping from the IR overnight flight. Very minor expansion on the eastern corner above the south bank of Willow Creek. Larger vegetation shown in this area.”
8 am — I have yet to receive any intel yet this am. I will post as soon as anything is forthcoming.
At least there are no fresh heats overnight!
11:00 am Update from Fred’s camp, arroyo seco: sky is 100% clear today. Totally silent here, we’ve only heard one helicopter go by. They are not currently doing anything from the air. No wind overnight.
Last night at dusk our neighbors hiked up to the ridge north of Santa Lucia creek to look at the fire. It was three ridges back from the arroyo seco river (in the west-ish direction). It has not come close to crossing the arroyo seco river yet. They felt content, as did we, that for now we are not in danger.
Gratitude to TheFarmGirl for her bird’s eye view–so glad you feel safe for now. With fingers crossed: the morning report sounds encouraging! Thank-you, Kate, for this morning update.
Thank you so much f9or the update, FarmGirl! It is always a blessing to have local’s eyes on what is happening.
God Bless you all!
Evening: sky at Fred’s camp still 100% clear. Basically nothing in the air today- no water taken my helicopter from the lakes at all. Maybe 3 times a helicopter passed by today, but not carrying water.
Today, they were filling water trucks from the spillway on our private road. A good part of the day, 4 trucks in rotation with 4-5k gallons each. They would be back in short order to refill. I hate to speak about things I don’t know about, but got the gut feeling that the water trucks had something to do with today’s “practice drill”. Or maybe they were filling up temporary pools at the campground.
Also… I’m not one of those “eco” people, but the government just took over 50,000 gallons of water from our river today, and we saw the reprocussions downriver tonight- the river was very low already but his year and 6” lower after all the water they took for their drills. (The trees give back the water they take up in the evening, so the water was actually gone tonight). This river is the main water source for many many families, as well as agriculture as it gets closer to the Salinas valley to feed people across the whole country.
Do we yet know the source of this fire? Why is the news so sensational about how dangerous this fire is? It does not line up with what we are seeing.