7:45 pm signing off early. And that will do it for my reports today, unless something really unusual happens. The winds are calm, and today firefighters made great progress. I have every confidence this fire will be short-lived.
Monterey County Emergency Operations Center Colorado Fire Information Wrap Up January 22, 2022
Fire Status/Resources
’CAL FIRE has created an incident page for the Colorado Fire:
https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2022/1/21/colorado-fire/
The Monterey County Office of Emergency Services has created a 2022 Wildfire page which includes Colorado Fire, evacuation maps and fire notifications:
Evacuations:
https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/departments-a-h/administrative-office/office-of-
emergency-services/2022-wildfires#!/
On Friday, January 21st at 9:30 p.m., the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office issued a mandatory
Evacuation Order for all areas West of 3800 Palo Colorado Rd. to Highway 1 and South to
Bixby Creek. Approximately 75 homes were given evacuation notices. Although notified, many
who were contacted have decided not to leave and remain in evacuation zones.
Highway 1
Highway 1 is closed in both directions from Andrew Molera Park/Coast Road to Granite Canyon
Bridge. Stay up to date on road closures using Caltrans Quickmap http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/
Emergency Shelter:
The American Red Cross set up an evacuation center Friday, January 21 at 11:30 at Carmel Middle School, 4380 Carmel Valley Road and provided assistance to two evacuees overnight. Current shelter count is 0.
The SPCA of Monterey County is providing pet sheltering for evacuees and currently housing 6 cats and 1 dog.
Carmel hotels are offering discounts to fire evacuees. Those needing to leave the fire area should check in at the Red Cross Shelter or call 211 for how to access this information. A valid ID with an address from the evacuation zone will be required.
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An interactive map of Colorado Fire evacuation zones can be found at:
https://montereyco.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=905a9458324b4868804 d96b5593eb978
New source for inifo:
https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2022/1/21/colorado-fire/
9 am – Tanker inbound over FHL. Also tankers 73 and 86 out of Hemet on their way…whew.
From John Chesnut: Satellite overflight was at 2:50 AM LOCAL.
8:45 – one Cal Fire member reported unofficially that the fire is 5000 acres.
8:00 am — I have been searching for a size up, but the latest I have is from before midnight last night at 1500 acres. Fortunately,, the wind has died down. I am gathering info and will be back. In the mean time, here is a photo taken by the SJ Merc at dawn.
Kate,
From what I understand, no structures lost. It has appeared to burn through our property. CBS news had a picture looking north from Rocky Creek Bridge, the entire area in the background was on fire. Hopefully they will be able to save the house on top of the hill from the picture you sent.
Richard
Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the impacted and our fire fighters.
Praying again or more pertinent still!
Looking at the picture from Bixby it appears to be better than I thought. From last night’s pictures I thought the entire mountain was on fire. The road to the house goes along the ridge line. Hopefully they can make a stand there.
I am not sure why I feel shocked at this news, but I do. Prayers to all! And gratitude to you Kate.
🥴😡🙏
Thank you for all your updates Kate! My girlfriend and I were staying in the 3700 block of Palo Colorado Rd and were lucky enough to get our stuff out in time. I was able to upload my dashcam footage recorded at 9:12-9:17pm. You can see in the video fire on both sides of Highway 1 and underneath Bixby Bridge. Thoughts and prayers to everyone. https://youtu.be/cyx2qPY8oTI
Tyler,
Great Footage, Thank You!!!!
perhaps a very naive question: what is the fuel feeding this fire?
thank you
Weeds are the tinder. Leaves and stems smaller than a half an inch feed the flame front, and glowing embers from dead wood like wood chips (from mastication, logging, and landscaping) and stems killed by previous fires light enough to be blown by the winds and fire twisters start spot fires past the “firebreaks” that move the fire even faster than the wind sometimes. Of course, it’s mainly the increased oxygen supply being rapidly replaced by the wind, just like rocket fuel. Fuel moisture is flashed away by the radiant heat from the flame front, so there is no moisture left in the pre-heated vegetation and litter. That’s the short answer off the top of my head. The heavier fuels left burning after flame-front passage can continue to cast embers adrift as long as the wind blows, but most of them land on already burned ground and are thus impotent.
Based on today’s 17:00 Chews Ridge Web Cam footage, fire activity looks to have “laid down” compared to last night. Hopefully suppression efforts and weather conditions will prevail. Thanks to my fellow brothers and sisters for your hard work.
Does anyone if the fire has reached Bixby Canyon and up the Old coast Road near what used to be Brazil Ranch, now federal property?