So, at 6 pm, the super tanker flew over me. I could hear him coming. I scrambled to get my camera, which was still connected to my computer, downloading photos, I quickly disconnected it, ran outside, aimed, and he flew below the height of my trailer. I rapidly walked to the front, and shot off a quick one, only to have it focus on the pine trees, and not the plane. Damn. I missed it. Oh well, there is always tomorrow!!

I still have a few shots from my field trip today, that I would like to share, so I will upload a few more, before the sun sets. Netflix arrived via my ex who brought me cigarettes, gas, and milk, so I will be taking the evening off, I think, to watch movies. 😉

Buddies, helping one another out.

What bothers me about this shot is that this is toward the bottom of the Mill Creek drainage, and the fire is progressing downhill, apparently. I am far from an expert, a mere “C” student (if that) in fire behavior, but judging on the barren hillside ABOVE these flames, I would say it is moving downhill, toward the creek.

To all the worried mothers and fathers out there, whose sons and daughters are on the fire line (and I know there is at least one who is reading this blog) I think I can speak, gratefully, for the entire South Coast of Big Sur in thanking you for supporting their decision to enter this difficult and dangerous work. These young men and women are dedicated, hard-working, and service-oriented people who may never even know those whose property they defend; whose lives they have touched. But we do. And we honor you. We thank you for who you are and what you do.

I’m multi-tasking, watching a movie, while paying attention to fire info. Here’s tonight’s release from the USFS. I reproduced the entire public release here:

Fire Stats

Acres burned: 1708 acres
Fireline to build: approximately 9 miles
Date started: 9/27/08
Percent contained: 5%
Expected containment: None
Injuries: 1
Structures threatened: 12
Structures destroyed: 0

Resources

Crews: 31
Engines: 13
Helicopters: 9
Air Tankers: 8
Dozers: 9
Total Personnel Assigned: 830
Suppression cost to date: $1.2 mil

During the evening of Saturday, September 27, a fire was reported in the vicinity of Chalk Peak and the South Coast Ridge Road in the Monterey County portion of Los Padres National Forest. Initial response was by the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Department, Fort Hunter Liggett Fire Department, CalFire, and the U.S. Forest Service. On Sunday, a Type 2 Incident Management Team was ordered to manage the Chalk Fire; the team took command of the fire at 6:00 a.m. on Monday, September 29.

Current Status: The fire continued to be very active today with spotting and intense uphill runs. Crews and dozers worked through the day constructing control lines. The fire has high potential to move quickly and erratically tonight. Crews tonight will continue to construct hand line where possible. Fire fighter and public safety is the highest priority.

Evacuations: The Monterey County Sheriff’s Department has issued a Mandatory Evacuation Order for the immediate fire area south of Chalk Peak and South Coast Ridge Road. Approximately 7 homes, 1 commercial property and 4 outbuildings are within the evacuation area. An Evacuation Advisory is in place for Lucia, Mill Creek, Hare Creek and Limekiln State Park. The advisory warns residents to be prepared to evacuate should an order be issued.

SPCA for Monterey County Disaster Response Team is available to assist residents with emergency animal evacuations. Please contact The SPCA at 373-2631 or at 646-5534 (after hours) for information or assistance with evacuating pets and livestock. For disaster preparedness information and a listing of pet-friendly hotels and motels in the area, visit http://www.spcamc.org/disaster-preparations.htm.

Highway, Road and Area Closures: Highway 1 is open, but Nacimiento-Fergusson Road and South Coast Ridge Road are closed.

Weather: A cooling trend will continue through the first half of the week with a deeper marine layer. Temperature: 78-84 degrees; relative humidity: 15-25%; winds: southwest 4-8 mph; marine layer to
1500 ft.

Agencies: U.S. Forest Service and other cooperators under Incident Commander Jim Smith (USFS), of Central Coast Interagency Incident Management Team 7. The Incident Command Post is at Ft. Hunter Liggett. Media access to Fort Hunter Liggett is restricted. Contact the Goleta Fire Information Center for assistance.

NEWS FLASH!!! Kevin, of the H-L Fire Dept. just stopped to talk to me. He has three dozers coming in from the bottom of Plaskett to put in a line!! They’ll be running the dozer line down as they did in the Wild Fire of 1996 and the Plaskett II fire of 2000. Kevin is hiking the line. They are still hoping to stop it at Prewitt, but this is the back up. Kevin also informs me that they will punch all the way through to South Coast Ridge Rd., so my road will be graded!! As anyone who has driven it lately knows, THAT is good news!!

Chicago Kid came through to check on me around midnight. He had heard about the guys in the truck by my back gate, and someone had heard on the scanner that the truck was reported stolen, and he wanted to make sure I was okay. The jungle drums of rumor work better on the South Coast than anywhere else in Big Sur. I’ve got an email out to USFS law enforcement to confirm or deny that. Let you know if I hear back.

Anyway, I had parked in the middle of the road to prevent the truck from coming through here, but CK convinced me that confronting them, alone, in the middle of the night, if they DID decide to come through here, was probably NOT a good idea. Considering I left my 4 dogs and my gun inside when I came out to see who was trying to get through, I agreed with him, and moved my truck.

7:00 am – Initial visual report: Temps in the 60’s, no wind, fog bank quite high, and smoke is “laying down.” Looking g-o-o-d!! Mother Nature seems to be helping us out this morning.

7:30 am – report from Betty: “good morning, no action yet. Fire has moved to the south and downhill in the canyon, not yet to the creek. smoky”

Fifteen minutes later, I am hearing airplanes.

8:00 am – inciweb reports, in part: “Continue to hold and burn out the South Coast Ridge Road. Burn out dozer line constructed from Highway 1 from Prewitt Ridge west to Highway 1.”

9:00 am – no air support, so far today. The plane I heard earlier must have just been a spotter. Jim has a nice thermal posted at his site: http://www.surcoast.com/fire.html
Jim suggested I take another look at the topo on Chalk Fire, Night 2. The “X” in particular. Is that the estimated point of origin? If so, our initial reports that it started between Apple Camp and Chalk Peak were in error. No confirmation re what the “X” represents. Click on it to view it larger.

It has been SOOO peaceful this morning, without the air support, without all the neighbors coming through. I’m torn between enjoying it and missing all the action and on-the-ground reports. Almost eerie quiet.

10:00 am – traffic has started back up, again. More investigative phone calls re the truck I saw. Fire moving south (towards me) but slowly. Here is the current plume, which is more toward the east than the plumes yesterday. Haven’t heard anything re burn out operation.

10:30 am – Still quiet, only one truck passed through, so far.

Will the REAL Apple Camp, please stand up?? Turns out that the “Apple Camp” listed on the topo has had another name historically. It is by the pond, but the long-time historical Apple Camp is north of Chalk Peak, where an old homestead used to be. Got its name because one of the old apple trees from the homestead survived, even though the old homestead did not. That is the approximate location of the “X” on the topo map. So, if the fire originated between THIS Apple Camp and Chalk Peak, it started further north than I thought. Getting it straight takes some effort. Still don’t know that the “X” is the origin of the fire, though. **JUST GOT CONFIRMATION FROM USFS. “X” MARKS THE POTENTIAL START OF ORIGIN!! (Note added later. I meant to say “Chalk” Peak, I thought, “Chalk” Peak, for some reason, typed Cone Peak. Sorry, brain fart. Thanks Barbara for pointing it out.)

YAY, air support is definitely back!! At least one plane. There’s more! And see NEWS FLASH at the top.

11:00 am- recent update for USFS is posted on inciweb, so I only include the critical info, and I do think it is critical:

Current Status: The fire continued to be very active last night with spotting and intense uphill runs on the northeast side. Crews worked through the night constructing control lines. The fire has a high potential to move extremely quickly and erratically and the terrain is very steep. Today crews will continue to construct hand line to keep the fire north of Prewitt Ridge, west of Del Venturi Road, south of the San Vicente Trail to San Antonio Trail and east of Highway 1. Crews will be supported by helicopters and air tankers.

2:30 pm – just got back from my field trip to Alm’s Ridge to check out the fire’s progress. LOTS of work going on on South Coast Ridge Rd. Looks like a war zone, which, in a way, it is. LOTS of men and equipment. I lost count of the number of dozers working on the west side of South Coast Ridge Rd. I took LOTS of photos, so I’ll spend the afternoon uploading them, so you can see for yourself what is happening over there. Turns out, I had better than Press Credentials. Whenever I introduced myself to the “bosses” – they already had my name, location, and phone number on their clip board. Dozers aren’t up here, yet, still working the Home Ridge.

That is Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd. that cuts through the front of that ridge. The ridge top is painted red with retardant, which is only hinted at in this photo, but the fire is on both the west and east side of the ridge.

This is an example of the dozer work working on the west side of South Coast Ridge Rd. (I think it is actually a north west slope in this photo) All dozer work being done on the ocean side, and hand crews were cutting down all the standing dead trees on the east or H-L side of the road.

A spotter plane as it flew over Alm’s Ridge, almost performing aerobatics. These pilots are gutsy.

3:45 pm – YAY!! The first dozer just made it up Home Ridge, and is parked on my road!! I heard it before I could see it, so I was ready with my telephoto and Nikon D-70. God, I love these Nikons!! Here it is arriving. Oh, the dust!!

Not too many people can say they had a D6R XL stop in their front yard, have the operator step out, come over and shake my hand, introduce himself (Ron) and tell me he remembers being here on the Wild Fire of 1996 and doing all the dozer work around my place!!

5:00 pm – busy day. All three dozers are through, and went out the back, they’d been called to work back there. My guess is they will take care of the area between Plaskett and McKern Rd. where the others started their route north. Ron said a blade had been ordered today, so it should be here tomorrow.

Mystery Fire?? I took this photo from my property, from the road to the launch point, looking toward the east north east. I cannot identify this ridge any more specifically than that. When I took it, I thought I saw a spot of red. When I downloaded it, again, I saw the spot of red that I’d forgotten about, so I zeroed in, and blew it up. The quality is not that good, but the flames are clear. It is indeed flames on top of the ridge, in an area *completely* different from the main fire over in the Mill Creek drainage. These flames are south east of the Mill Creek incident. I have NOT heard anything official about my sighting. I am posting 2 photos, one the blown up one, and one the full shot, for reference.


Wait a minute…are those trucks on the right? They ARE, and one is a USFS truck. Looks like South Coast Ridge Rd? Anyone willing to help me with this one, I would appreciate it. With the two trucks there, and the road, I am betting on a burnout operation. Kimball suggests McKern Rd. But I really don’t think it could be that far. It’s only a 300 mm lens. OTOH, McKern makes sense, based on what I saw today.

Time to switch to Chalk Fire, Night 3.

As the glow of the last rays of the sunshine turned the plumes a pinkish hue, the wonderful air support we enjoyed all day, dropped their last loads, and went home.

Here are Betty’s words on that: “It is now quiet after a full day of the most radical air support ever! just at sunset the supertanker came flying in a line directly toward us and dropping red, in the red glow of the late afternoon, and the fire under its belly. so brave, and so overpowering to see such a display. it’s the sort of thing you never want to see again! however, probably more excitement than we thought, already. Please, let’s not get used to it…Well, that’s it. Need some rest and will report again in the morning.”

And here is my photograph, to go with her words. What a team, huh?

At the end of the day, a quiet settles in. The battle zone of airplanes overhead and many, many people coming through my front yard has ended. The end of the day, and its beginning, often offer the best photographic shots.

Here is one:

And can you say, “Almost eye level with a DC-10?”

10:00 pm-And here is tonight’s official word from the USFS:

Our information is still limited, but this is what we know:

The Chalk Fire started at approximately 7:30 p.m Saturday, September 27 in
the upper Mill Creek drainage area of Los Padres National Forest in
Monterey County. The fire is about 22 miles southwest of King City and
about 2 miles east of Highway 1. It is primarily south of Nacimiento
Fergusson Road which connects Fort Hunter Liggett to Highway 1.

The fire has burned approximately 800-900 acres in oak and brush in steep,
rugged terrain. There is very little to no wind on the fire and it is
primarily slope and fuel-driven.

Earlier this afternoon the fire reached and crossed to the north side of
Nacimiento Fergusson Road; it is also on both the west and east sides of
South Coast Ridge Road.

Residents of three parcels of private land within the national forest in
the Prewitt Ridge, Alms Ridge and Mill Creek areas, were advised to
evacuate earlier today. The fire is approximately 2 miles from the nearest
home.

All National Forest campgrounds along the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road, South
Coast Ridge Road and Prewitt Ridge, have been evacuated.

An Evacuation Advisory has been issued for residents along Highway 1 in the
Limekiln, Hermitage and Harlan Property areas. This advisory is a
precautionary notice that people in these areas should be prepared to
evacuate if an evacuation order is issued.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Road closures: Nacimiento Fergusson Road is closed at Highway 1 on the west
side and at the national forest boundary on the east side. South Coast
Ridge Road is closed at Nacimiento Fergusson Road and Highway 1 at Plaskett
Creek. Highway 1 is open.

Draft map, acreage approximate, use for general location purposes only:

More detailed information about the location and status of the fire and the
resources assigned will be available after 7:30 a.m. Monday. Inciweb
(www.inciweb.org) will be updated by 7:30a.m. Monday. The Goleta Fire
Information Center will open at 7:30 a.m. Monday.

The information flow from the field to the Goleta Information Center should
improve Monday with additional field PIO’s. Thanks for your patience.

Kathy Good
Public Affairs Officer
Los Padres National Forest
*************************************************************************************
10:30 pm – I have information from reliable sources that this fire is expected to last a couple weeks at a predicted cost of $20,000,000. Predictions are that they have 20 MILES of line to build!! Oh, my! In just over 24 hours, the costs thus far have been $750,000. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation. A burn-out is planned for sometime tomorrow.

I just went outside to check for glow. While there is some, it is much dimmer than last night, and primarily to the northeast, which is good for all of us.

Good night, everyone. I am aiming for about 6 hours of sleep tonight.

6:15 am-I just woke up, after a few hours sleep, looking for information. At this point, I can again see the plumes. The Chalk Fire is being reported on wildlandfire, initial attack. Have not found anything on inciweb, yet, and no new reports from my neighbors to the north.

As with last night, I am posting events and reports throughout the day, chronologically, so scroll down to see the most recent information.

Had Monte, and one other vehicle come through early, after 2 am, but quiet since.

Taken around 6:30 am from my back deck:

7:15 am – Call from Lee. He related that he spoke to MCSO and mandatory evac issued. Said Sarah and kids evacuating, but Ted staying. He is preparing to go over to help.

NOTE: Reports include source and time, and will continue to do so throughout the day, so that the reader can evaluate the accuracy of the information as it becomes available.

7:30 am – reports from Betty that at 3 am evacuation order issued, but Knock is staying. Weather reports for area from CDF Ret. Fire Capt Mike: “Looking at the wind and weather it is unfavorable if this decides to run, today at least. 97 degrees in Nacimiento today and wind from the S/E at least this am.” The good news is, no other fires, so we should be able to get the support we need. Heard, but have not seen, air support.

8:45 am – L&L just left, after watching from my deck for a while. Initial attack reported 4 minutes ago: “LPF WildCAD reporting;
15 Acres
10 Engines Committed
3 Chief Officers Committed

No information shown about commitment of Crews and Helicopters.”

8:45 am report from Betty: “some slowmoving aircraft heard recently, could not see. ridge road is blocked by fire, and crew working to open it so they can get here for anchor support. Fire still in north fork of mill creek, sounds like this watershed will burn and they want to use prewit for the fireline. it is not moving fast.”

9:00 am – Tom just came through. As we discussed, this “ain’t no 15 acre fire.” Estimate 100 acres. Low flying aircraft definitely here and flying.

9:30 am – initial attack reports LP hots spotted headed this way early this am. Also reports: “BEU sent 1 engine strike team, 2 single increment engines, 3 crews from Gabilan Camp, 1 chief officer, 2 air tankers, C-406. Good header showing from King City with drift smoke going to the north. Mid 90’s expected today. Fire is on the south side of Naciemento Ferguson Rd. off the South Coast Ridge Rd, both sides of the South Coast Ridge Rd. have fire on it. Last update I heard was 20-30 acres. Smoke column looks like it might be a little larger than that.”

10 am – lots of traffic going through this morning, all locals looking to help neighbors. I haven’t seen this many of my neighbors in one day since last year’s Jade Festival!! Grand Central, directing traffic.

Recent plumes

Modis map posted on Kelly O’Brien’s site, on blog roll at right. Modis is reporting two separate hot spots, confirmed by ff Jim 911, about 2 miles apart.

Airsupport:

Two reports from Frank Pinney: “FYI, we are standing by at this time on the South Coast with structures threatened by a 200-300 acre active fire near Pruitt Ridge, just about to South Coast Ridge Road. USFS has crews on it since about 9PM last night and incoming resources this morning.
Frank” and: “As of 1020 hours Sunday AM Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade has committed 2
water tenders on scene, Chief Martha Karstens on scene at the ICP, Engine
7834 and personnel are standing by ready to be assigned by IC (Mike Kremke). Numerous resources from USFS on scene or on the way. Frank”

10:30 am – Kimball notifies me that he has posted thermals and modis on his site, Coast Communications, link to the right.

11:00 am from Initial attack: “Jim Smith’s Type II Team has been activated. Camp be at Fort Hunter Liggett. Reports from flights this morning 200+ acres. I will get back to the group with other updates and info as I can.” And an eyewitness report from Betty states: “the air is full of planes. two dozers are going down Prewitt ridge opening the road for contingency firebreak. hearing reports that we will have engines here soon.”

I have decided to take a short trip over there, to see what I can see first hand and will report back, perhaps with photos.

1 pm — Back from a viewing from the top of Alm’s Ridge. I don’t see a lot of equipment, yet, other than plenty of air support. However, I am hearing we have plenty either on site, or coming, and as they are coming over N-F Rd, from the H-L side, they may be on the other side of the fire, as I understand it has cut off SC Ridge Rd. and they are trying to open it up. One or more dozers came up McKern road, as evidenced by their tracks. Went down Prewitt, while I went up top. Saw JC, Warren, and Tom of the BSVFB doing spotting, and witnessed a run up the ridge toward Chalk Peak. Quite a sight. Here are two photos.

I have been informed that Plaskett will become part of the “Big Box.” Not unusual, as I usually end up being a staging area, but so far, no equipment through this side.

This is a photo of what look like “spot” fires coming down the south slope, to the west of the “run” (and I am not using that in a technical sense, as I don’t the technical terms).

2:00 pm – as Z notes, inciweb has now posted the Chalk Fire. It states: “The Chalk Fire started at approximately 7:30 p.m last evening and has now burned 500-600 acres. The fire is located just to the north of Chalk Peak, approximately 22 miles south west of King City, in the Monterey County section of Los Padre National Forest. The fire is burning in oak and brush west of Chalk Peak and South Coast Ridge Road and is on both sides of South Coast ridge Road. By 1:00 p.m. this afternoon, the fire had crossed Nacimiento Ferguson Road and is currently burning on both sides of the road. The fire is currently very visible, as it is generating a large column of smoke.

Cause of the fire is under investigation.

Road closures: Nacimiento Ferguson Road is closed at Highway-1 on the west side and at the forest boundary on the east side. South Coast Ridge Road is closed at Nacimiento Ferguson Road and Highway-1 at Plaskett Creek.

Evacuations: As a precautionary measure, 3 national forest campgrounds southwest of the fire have been advised to evacute. Other rural residences and private inholdings may need to be evacuated.

Resources either on scene or ordered: 7 helicopters, 8 air tankers, 1 lead plane, 1 air attack aircraft and 10 engines.”

And this just in from the PO: “The Chalk Fire is now on Inciweb. Info from the field is sketchy at this
point, but should improved later this afternoon/early evening when the
arrival of the Type 2 Incident Management Team and additional PIO’s. We
have a field PIO (Rich Phelps) in the area right now, however cell phone
coverage is poor. We have only two phone lines open in the Goleta Information
Center so would prefer everyone check inciweb.org. As we receive new confirmed information we will post it on Inciweb….

Kathy Good
Public Affairs Officer

2:00 pm – just spoke w/ Kathy Good. Jim Smith and his Type II IC team is on the way, and additional information should be available once the situation is evaluated.

2:30 pm – Roberta, of the USFS is asking all children to leave the area, according to Alicia. Keith Harlan reports an evacuation for Lucia and the Hermitage.

2:45 pm – Bob & Joey just came through. Incident w/ suspicious squirrel hunters by my back gate and on my property. I’ve called 911 to report suspicious persons. Glad I have dogs!

4:00 pm – major air traffic. Frank Pinney came through about an hour ago. Fire has grown quite a bit, today, but resources on the ground, I understand. RH was reported at 18%, temps mid-90’s. This fire really took off today. Let’s hope it lays down and behaves tonight. Miss Sarah just evacuated with a pack of dogs bigger than mine!! Couldn’t see any kids, but they are probably with Embree.

Please note the comments below, also. For example, Ken reports that SO is stating the Chalk Fire is on BOTH sides of N-F Rd. as well as both sides of So Coast Ridge Rd. It ain’t getting any better, folks!

5:00 pm Luke of USFS and Crystal of the BSVFB report that the Hermitage and Lucia are on 48 hour notice, NOT mandatory evac. Both confirm fire is on both sides of N-F and S.C Ridge Rd. Confirmed fire at *800* acres. It is grand central to the max this afternoon. I have a party going on by my front gate. Should have popped the popcorn for this afternoon’s show!! Oh, and got some great shots of the jet super tanker I will try to put up!! Yay, the BIG, BIG BIG guys are here!!

Another photo:

A Ventana Wilderness guy (I with hold his name, in case he doesn’t want it posted) and his friend came through about 1/2 hour ago and disagrees with the “official” reports. He thinks the fire is much bigger than reported. He was over helping Bill, down by Peter & Katie. He reports it is almost 1/2 way up Cone Peak, on both sides of Cone Peak Rd. He also disagrees with the assessment that the single blade dozer cut down the Prewitt Ridge will hold anything back. He also reports that it has climbed the ridge from the north fork and is moving down into the middle fork.

I cannot seem to post any more photos here, so I will start a new post on Chalk Fire, Night 2.

Will post more as I learn more.

At 10 pm tonight, I had a report from Betty Withrow of a fire on the Mill Creek drainage area. Early reports are sketchy, and may not be accurate. One report is that it is at the 6 mile marker of N-F Rd. Another report is that it is closer to Apple Camp. Yet another report has it on both sides of the road. about 20-25 acres. USFS Fire Engines are on scene, per my local sources. Follow the chronology of reports below:

Alicia Lutz just came through on her way home, so we know Peter, Merritt, and Katie will be notified. Serge is on his way down from Monterey and will be coming through. Also my gates are open, and my Jeep out of the way. Kerri is on her way, also. Rocky and Geri know about the fire.

I can see the glow, but no flames.

11:15 report from keith harlan: “just got a call from warren and he reports that 30 min. ago the battalion chief was reporting 15 acres for the “Chalk Peak Fire” backing down Mill Creek Drainage and east from the ridge road.”

11:25 report from Big Sur, sirens going by in Valley.
11:25 report from Betty, “reports are that there are planes and dozers on the way.” (In the morning.)

12:00 – drove to front gate, quite a glow from that perspective. Going to be a long night.

12:30 am – This from Geri: “it is on So coast rdge between apple camp and chalk peak both sides of road can be seen from our house.”

12:45 am- Keith reports that he & Mary on their way up to help Rocky & Geri, Monte on his way from Paso.

1:00 am – Serge came through on his way to his mom’s and has two friends coming up to help tomorrow. Gotta love the way the South Coast mobilizes to help one another. I certainly do.

1:15 am- Kerri came through on her way to help Rocky & Geri.

1:45 am- Keith & Mary came through. I also just checked the glow from the perspective of my front gate, and it seems to have lessened. I’ll see what the morrow brings.

2:00 am- hopefully this is the last person to come through until dawn, so I can grab a couple hours before I begin a long day.

I will continue to add information as reports come in. For those of you not quite familiar with the area, Kimball has posted two topo maps on his website, Coast Communication, linked in my blogroll to the right.