Categories: Big Sur

Evacuation Orders & Warnings for the afternoon of Sun 8/23

This was from this morning s operation briefing: This is what they call their “big box.”

You will note from this that Tassajara is now under evacuation order.

bigsurkate

Appointed appellate counsel for indigent defendants (retired.) I have lived in Big Sur since 1984, first on the north coast, and on the South Coast since 1989.

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  • wow, those are some BIG changes to the Operational Objectives ! north of NF road ? that's a LOT of territory they're willing to let burn, and um, some of us live in that BTW. and south of CV rd ? there's a LOT of big-$$ homes inside that boundary, whew, re-calibration !

  • and no shade for any of the firefighting crew/organization for the changes, I understand the insane difficulty of fighting in such terrain ! please excuse my comment of 'willing to let burn', that was not fair at all because in truth much of a fire like this simply cannot be 'controlled' , it will do what it will do ( dragons are like that, eh ? ) in conditions like the Big Sur backcountry. safety and good luck to all involved

  • They will have contingency lines constructed well to the south of Carmel Valley preventing any fire from reaching the expensive homes. Blue Rock Ridge is the first and most southern contingency line, most likely there will be a back burn from this structure to the south. Should the fire jump over Blue Rock there will be additional contingency lines at San Clemente, Osborn, and Vasquez ridges; so hopefully that'll be enough to keep any fire away from CV. Tassajara is a different story, though they have lots of experience with fighting wildfires in their neck of the Ventana Wilderness.

  • Its ridiculous. They could have done some good work in the early days when it was backing down from Timber Top. Instead they allowed it to get established in the forest where it is known it is harder to control and will burn for months. Ennis is correct that they will work to save the expensive homes, but out in Tassajara, not so much. The fire has shown extreme behavior, spotting a third of a mile, burning hot and fast. In this time of climate change its harder to hold fires to containment lines once they get going. Does anyone know why the personnel numbers were cut by about 1K and are S L O W L Y climbing back up?

  • I agree with Felicia. I had hoped that the fire would be quickly contained to the west of the North Coast Ridge; alas, once the fire slopped over the ridge and started it's slow but steady downslope run towards the Big Sur River I knew we were in for a months-long fire event. I've lived in this area for 25 years and still remember Basin Complex, Soberanes, and Dolan fires of years past; this is regrettably the only way our firefighting agencies know how to fight fire in the Ventana -- the so-called "Big Box" approach. As of this morning it appears that CalFire has come to the realization that more resources (i.e., personnel and equipment) will be needed to prepare the eastern contingency lines for eventual back burn operations. I would expect to see more hand-line and dozer crews working the eastern front in the coming days/weeks.

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