Category: 2015 Fire Season

Last Night’s Wildfire – Nacimiento

From this morning:
Incident: 00063 Type: Provide Traffic Control Location: Nacimiento Fergusson Rd / Sr1 Loc Desc: Lat/Lon: 35.988672 -121.494108
Detail Information
6:59 AM 2 [3] 1039 CLTRNS FOR CHNGABLE MSG SIGN TO BE PLACED ON SR1
6:58 AM 1 [1] REQ CLOSE RDWY 2 MI JEO SR1
I can only speculate, but it may have been closed (and may still be, not sure) in order to conduct an investigation of last night’s fires. There are rumors it may have been intentional.

Good catch, firefighters! Kept to only .5 acres. It wasn’t posted to WildCAD until much later. Seeing Josh assigned to it today assures me that they are keeping an eye out for any flare ups. One of the odd things about CHPs dispatch is the fact that Nacimiento is county, not state, and Cone Peak is federal – also not state.

08/20/2015 19:02 LPF-2561
P5 J2DX (0507)
Nacimiento Wildfire NACIMIENTO RD/CONE PK RD M . 7EDW1 E18LPF E331BKF PAT17LPF Q PAT18LPF Q joshua Langston Effective 08/21/2015 mixed ever green 0.5 36.004 x 121.447

Strange CHP report

CHP says this:
Incident: 00373 Type: Report of Fire Location: 0 Nacimiento Fergusson Rd Loc Desc: NACAMIENTO-FERGUSSON AT SR1 Lat/Lon: 35.988756 -121.493973
Detail Information
7:28 PM 4 [6] RP RECALLED – TRANS TO LPF
7:24 PM 3 [4] PER CALFIRE ITS ON CONE PEAK X NACIMIENTO FERGUSON
7:23 PM 2 [2] 2 LGE FIRES, NR THE VENTANA FIRE DEPT
7:22 PM 1 [1] NR THE FIRE DEPT

im sitting here watching .. Nada… I’ll keep watching, but Ventana Fire Department? No such thing. Must be referring to the Nacimiento station at the summit. Nothing on WildCAD, either. Anyway, so far nothing to worry about, and I will keep my eyes out, but I must warn, I found a new vice … Hard apple cider from Sea Canyon … So yummy!

Cuesta Fire, Update 3

This was started yesterday, but technical difficulties prevented its posting.thisvam the Cuesta Fire is 2500 acres and 10% contained. Evacuation order still in effect.

Written yesterday:

First, closer to home:

08/18/2015 09:07 LPF-2530
New Wildfire GORDA @ HWY 1 . PAT17LPF Q . . . 35.881 x 121.449

No plume, no acreage given, so should be good.

as to Cuesta Fire … As of 7 am it was 2000 acres with 10% containment. There are 1000 personnel on the fire. Last night at 11pm there was a firing operation 1/4 mile from Santa Margarita in an effort to save the town. It was successful! YAY! The evacuation order remains in place, however, but is expected to be lifted in 48 hours. At dawn at the Santa Margarita Fire Stayion the temp was only 56F and 73% RH with no wind, so favorable conditions for today, although winds expected this afternoon.

Cuesta Fire Update #2

6:30 pm – I’ve variously heard south of the RR tracks, and south of 58. LPF tweeted at5:00 that it was 500 acres. Major issues with spotting per Air Attack – “this thing’s spotting all over the place.” From my view above the clouds, smoke drift into the canyons is becoming more and more pronounced. Nothing else seems to be going on, and since the Cuesta fire is moving in a northerly and easterly direction, and is wind driven, I suspect it is filling up the valley and then making its way here through the passes. Don’t quote me.

4:30 They are evacuating Santa Margarita, south of the RR tracks

Cuesta Fire has jumped containment lines and appears to be off and running.

imageO

Cuesta Fire Update

it is currently 100 acres and 10% contained. These are the weather condition predictions for today.

Here is what SLO’s KSBY says about the cause:

Here is an overview of those fires and their current status as of Monday morning:

“1) The Cuesta Fire — a name given to multiple fires along Cuesta Grade, has burned 100 acres and is 10% contained Monday morning. The fires broke out on the northbound side of the highway at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday. The Cuesta Fire is burning in steep terrain. It did threaten one structure, but crews were able to protect it. More than 250 personnel are currently assigned to the fire. Many worked throughout the night.

CAL FIRE said the flames were burning directly beneath power lines. They said they didn’t expect those flames to cause power issues, but a representative with the power company was called out to monitor the situation. CAL FIRE Chief Rob Lewin said his biggest concern Sunday night was offshore winds, which could cause the fire to move down the grade and jump containment lines Monday morning.

Caltrans crews shut down two lanes of northbound traffic for most of Sunday evening. All lanes are now re-opened and fire officials say they don’t expect the fire to jump the highway. No evacuations are in place at this time.

2) The Cholame Fire — a brush fire near Cottonwood Pass on Highway 41 — was fully contained by midnight Sunday at 12 acres.

The California Highway Patrol says the flames were west of mile marker 50 at the top of the summit known as Cottonwood Pass. That’s northeast of Cholame. This fire was caused by the same vehicle that caused the Cuesta Fire.

3) The Grade Fire — It broke out Sunday afternoon near Buellton and stopped traffic for some time on Highway 101 North. The fire sparked alongside the roadway at the top of the Nojoqui Grade. As of Sunday night, it had burned between four and six acres and was 80 percent contained. An update on containment was not immediately available.”

image

Cuesta Fire

imageCuesta Fire -Photo by SLOStringer

i have been trying to post about this since 7:30 last night, which is when this was taken.

7:30 Multiple starts from about an hour ago merged into one fire on Cuesta Grade. It was started by a dragging chain, and it is probably the same vehicle that started the fire in Santa Barbara County, as well. The fire has crested the ridge to the East of 101. One observer reports it is rugged territory with much fuel. He witnessed 100′ flames, and estimates over 25 acres currently I have a photo from SLOStringer I will try to post when I can. Aircraft were called off for the evening, but are in order for tomorrow. Currently, dozers are trying to put in fire breaks around it, and one structure has structure protection in place.

As of 9:30 last night, it was reported to be 75 acres with zero containment. I’ll try to get an update before going back to sleep – it’s 4 am.

Friday Morning in the Neighborhood

image

Noon: two more!

Recent Incidents (Prepared 08/14/2015 12:00)

Date Inc # Name Type Location WebComment Resources IC Fuels Acres Lat/Lon
08/14/2015 11:32 LPF-2462
New Wildfire Prewitt camp . . . . . 35.971 x 121.451

08/14/2015 10:50 LPF-2461
New Wildfire 3 miles s. of summit S. Coast ridge road . . . . . 36.011 x 121.452

I’m beginning to think there is a conspiracy of idiocy to set fire to the South Coast, no matter what it takes. Two and 1/2 months or so more of this? Lord help me. Saw a Toyota RJ with a ton of wood down at Cowabunga yesterday. Couldn’t find the guy/gal and gave some thought to stealing all the wood … Not worth the possible consequences.

08/14/2015 10:19 LPF-2458

Wildfire 1/2 mile s. of nacimiento summit . . . . . 36.008 x 121.451
08/14/2015 10:08 LPF-2457
New Wildfire Nacimiento summit . . . . . 36.011 x 121.452
08/14/2015 09:24 LPF-2456
. Smoke Check PREWITT CR/HWY 1 M . . . . . 35.933 x 121.467

At a loss for words…there is no limit to humanity’s stupidity

imageOld Fire, 2003

This photograph was [NOT – see correction] taken at the Lake Fire near Lakeport. It is pretty graphic. It was sent to a friend from a ff up there. He noted, “This could easily be Highway One, if people aren’t careful.” I wish I knew the photographer. If you do, please let me know.

CORRECTION: A friend, Jean LeBlanc, sent me a link to the REAL STORY behind this photo above. It was arson and caused 5 heart attack deaths. This photo shows The Old Fire jumping Highway 18 in Oct 2003 and was taken by Troy C. Whitman of Cypress, CA. Click on the link just below the photo for the rest of the story.

The stupidity I refer to is in reference to the fires mentioned below. The first was a campfire that Rock Knocker spotted on the way up yesterday. The people were out and about, but left their campfire burning, and their “stuff” was still there. He poured what water he had on it, and when he got up here, I called the USFS at PV Station. It was 2 miles up Plaskett.

08/11/2015 10:45 LPF-2408
New Wildfire PLASKETT RDG CG M . . . . . 35.932 x 121.431

then there was this one:

08/11/2015 17:35 FHL-2416
. Wildfire CONE PK LO M . . . light flashy fuel 5 [acres] 36.077 x 121.282

I do not know the source, but I’m willing to bet next month’s wages it was human caused.

Wildfire near Hearst Castle

4:00 pm – getting reports from people in the area of a fire north of Hearst Castle. Cal Fire has B 3419, B1, a/a on order, helio on order, T 74&75, Eng. 3482,3460,3480,3483, WT 57, D3442, and 2 crews. LPF sent the following:

07/28/2015 15:09 LPF-2224
Burnett Wildfire Burnett Peak, . AA07LPF BC11LPF E15LPF 4X4 HEL528LPF PAT18LPF Q . . . 35.757 x 121.161