Category: 2018 Fire Season

No campfires in Los Padres National Forest effective immediately!

Just in time for 4th of July! Thank you LPNF!

Los Padres officials raise fire restrictions

GOLETA, Calif. – In response to the increasing potential for a wildland fire start, Los Padres National Forest officials announced that fire restrictions have been raised throughout the Forest effective immediately. These restrictions will affect the use of campfires, stoves, smoking materials and internal combustion engines, and will remain in effect until the end of fire season in late autumn.

Effective immediately, the following restrictions will be in effect:

  • No open fires, campfires or charcoal fires will be permitted outside of developed recreation sites or designated Campfire Use Sites (list attached), even with a valid California Campfire Permit. Lanterns and portable stoves using gas, jellied petroleum or pressurized liquid fuel will be permitted, but only with a valid California Campfire Permit, which are available free-of-charge on the Forest website and at any Forest Service office. Forest visitors must clear all flammable material for five feet in all directions from their camp stove, have a shovel available, and ensure that a responsible person attends the stove at all times during use.
  • Smoking is prohibited, except within an enclosed vehicle, building, or a designated Campfire Use Site, or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable material.
  • Internal combustion engines may be operated only on roads or designated trails. This restriction is in effect year-round. Please make sure your engine is tuned, operating properly, and has an approved spark arrester.

“The moisture levels are approaching a critical threshold. Combine that with warm temperatures and high winds and we have all the ingredients for fire starts,” Los Padres Deputy Forest Fire Management Officer Jim Harris said. “The most important thing is for forest visitors to be aware of their surroundings and exercise caution when conditions are ripe for a wildfire.”

For a list of Developed Recreation Sites and Campfire Use Sites in Los Padres National Forest, or further information regarding Fire-Safe Camping, visit www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf or contact the Forest Service district office nearest you.

 

USFS

These signs are not on the LPNF, they are on Shasta, I think it was. This is from VWA by way of Anneliese Agren. I think she is working on convincing USFS to put these up here. (Feel free to correct me if I am wrong) If you need any help, Anni, let us know! I know if they just give me permission to put these up on Plaskett, I’ll make ALL the arrangements, including payment. I imagine others feel the same.

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Highway Closure Update, 6/20/18

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Photos of Mud Creek: 1) Installing north drainage pipe. 2) North fill.

HIGHWAY 1 UPDATE – Tuesday, June 19

State Route 1 in Monterey County remains closed from north of Salmon Creek, just south of the Ranger Station (PM 3) to just south of Gorda (PM 10) due to the Mud Creek slide. State Route 1 south of Salmon Creek is accessible via State Route 1 in San Luis Obispo County near Ragged Point.

REMINDER: Travelers still CANNOT access the entire length of Highway 1 from Carmel to Cambria but local businesses are open on both sides of Mud Creek. This is the last closure point along Big Sur. When it opens by the end of July, Hwy. 1 from Cambria to Carmel will be open to through traffic.

 Mud Creek (PM 8.9)

Mud Creek had a major slide on Saturday, May 20, 2017, losing over 5 million cubic yards of material. Caltrans continues with its plan to realign the existing terrain. Caltrans will continuously evaluate the opening date as work progresses so we anticipate providing an update in July. It’s expected that even after the highway is re-open, intermittent lane closures and roadwork may continue. The updated current cost is at $54 million.

There is currently no public/local access through the Mud Creek area since this remains an active, emergency construction zone.

This week: installed 42″ drainage pipes and repaired south approach slip out. Next week—Continuing work on North fill. 

Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6)

 

Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6)

Crews will be doing a scaling operation at Paul’s on Friday, June 22 from 7 am to 4 pm with up to ½-hour delays for traffic.  The scaling at Paul’s is part of future roadwork in preparation for next winter

 ADDITIONAL WORK—CALPORTLAND PAVING BETWEEN LUCIA (PM 23) AND JUST SOUTH OF PCB (45.52)

Final items continue taking place. Post Ranch rockery repair was completed last week. No work scheduled for this week. Project is near completion.

Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway work zones.

The next update will be on Monday, June 25.

(Well, 10 years in, and I finally learned how to make the color of the type red? Or did wordpress add this function, and I just now noticed?)

Highway One Road Work next weeki

Today’s Date: Thursday, June 14, 2018

District:           05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa     Cruz Counties

Contact:          Susana Z Cruz (bilingual) or Colin Jones

Phone:            (805) 549-3138 or 549-3189

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CALTRANS TO PERFORM MAINTENANCE PAVIG ON STATE ROUTE 1 SOUTH OF CARMEL HIGHLANDS STARTING MONDAY

MONTEREY COUNTY – Caltrans will perform highway pavement maintenance on State Route 1 south of Carmel Highlands for four days beginning Monday, June 18. Motorists can expect one-way reversing traffic control from 8 am until 2 pm in the following locations:

There will be electronic message boards alerting the public of these lane closures and traffic control.  The California Highway Patrol (CHP) will be present to ensure a safe environment for everyone.  Motorists can expect delays not to exceed 10 minutes.

This work will be performed by the Caltrans Monterey Maintenance team resulting in a Smooth ride for all travelers.

Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway work zones.

For more information on this project and for traffic updates on other Caltrans projects in

Monterey County, residents can call the District 5 toll free number at 1-831-372-0862 or

Can visit our website at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/paffairs/release.htm#mon

Susana Z. Cruz

Caltrans District 5

Public Information Officer

RX Burn at FHL on Weds

FHL Police were stopping people at the intersection of Nacimiento and Mission and not allowing west bound traffic, at least as of 11:30 am, per reports and what we witnessed as we passed by. Many were turn around and forced to go all the way around to get home – that is a long a$$ way!!

We were stopped around 11:30 on the West side of Stoney Valley for this burn out. We were held up for about 20 minutes or so – in the sun – in 96º temps. These are some of the photos I took. I can see why it was closed. The fire was right up to the road and the firefighters were IN the road. We were escorted.

I’ve tried to upload the sequence, but my blog goes into cardiac arrest when I try to upload 18 photos. So here are a couple. More later, I have to convert some “live” shots to regular photos, first.

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Beaver Fire, San Benito Co, 6/12/18

UPDATE 8:00 pm from Cal Fire BEU:

“Update #BeaverFire as of 7:50pm 6/12/18 the fire is being held at 250 Acres and 25% containment No structures lost or threatened. Crews continue to make positive gains.”

UPDATE 5:10 – Beaver fire up to 200 acres.

UPDATE 4:20 pm – fire is now 150 acres.

East of Lockwood: @CAL_FIRE at scene 20-acre fire Coalinga Rd, Bitterwater (San Benito Co) #BeaverFire. There is a Cal Fire Station there. SLO has sent a dozer, and T74 and T75 are flying out of Paso Robles. These hills are extremely dry. Lots of grass.

Tourist Tuesday, 6/12/18

I am taking today off, so that I can seek balance, get grounded, enjoy this beautiful place I am blessed to live in, and search for my objectivity, which seems to have departed. I will still be checking on things, so make sure a fire doesn’t start, but otherwise, I will be doing things that bring me joy. Look for the joy in your life today, too. Embrace it.