Category: Fire Season

Wild Fire, Hidden Valley Rd & Deerfield, near 46

Incident: 00149 Type: Report of Fire Location: Sr46 / Hidden Valley Rd Loc Desc: HIDDEN VALLEY RANCH ENTRANCE Lat/Lon: 35.551303 -120.774947

Started by downed power lines.

From a reader in Paso : “just had a response for a veg fire on Deerfield Rd. with a cross of Hidden Valley Rd. ……B3415, A/A504, T74 an 75, Heli Tanker 792, H527, Engs. 7185, 3462, 3460, 3477, E30, D3441, WT57, Ques. 2 crews “… Also Tanker 74 responding. Should have this one is no time, if winds aren’t bad out there.

Just called Rock Knocker who was in Templeton this afternoon, and he is currently over by Vineyard and 46, and can see the smoke and flames. Says it is a mess. Will call again when he gets thru.

Tassajara Fire Update #2, 9/20/15

2:30 pm update – “At last check, Cal Fire reports that over 600 personnel are currently working on the Tassajara Fire. It is a massive effort. Crews are working hard to ensure the fire does not cross Carmel Valley Road.” Cachagua Fire

Morning briefing

Update from duty officer chief Owens, Cal Fire’s onsite duty chief as of 8am.
Tassajara 1200+ acres, 10% containment, burning actively SE. 10 homes and numerous outbuildings destroyed. 1 civilian fatality, treating as crime scene. Mandatory evacuation for tassajara from cachagua rd to CVR. Evacuation advisory for Jamesburg and Cachagua communities. Evacuation site is Carmel Middle School. 100 degree temp with 10% humidity, NE winds expected today. 1 mile from Los padres forest. Currently not under unified command. 5 tankers, 3 helos, 2 dozers and 2 hand crews. Retardant is encircling fire but no hose or containment lines.

CAL FIRE BEU FACEBOOK reports: 5 tankers, 2 copters, 35 engines, 7 crews, 3 dozers, 7 water tenders, 260 firefighters.

Cal Fire official Tassajara Incident page

Laureles Fire- 85% contained, 95 acres, 1 structure partially damaged. Containment hopeful by midday.

Tassajara Fire Updates, 9/20/15

it is 3 am – my dogs decided to do a howling routine, my internet is unlimited between midnight and 5, so doing a bit of catch up on the five. Laureles is looking good, Tassajara is not.

11:00 PM Monterey County fire update, Cal Fire Command confirmed:

Tassajara Fire now at 1200+ acres continuing to burn actively towards the SE. 10% containment. Mandatory evacuation for Parrot Ranch. Evacuation advisory for Cachagua and Jamesburg areas. Hard closure for CVR near Cachagua.

Laureles Fire 60%+ contained. Possible full containment by midnight through early morning. Soft closure for Hwy 68 from San Benancio to Laureles Grade.

here is a photo by Dan Dambom of last night’s smoke filled sunset

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Fire in Big Basin State Park

Incident: 00558 Type: Report of Fire Location: 0 Lodge Rd Loc Desc: BIG BASIN STATE PARK 37�07’18.27N / 122�09’22.74W Lat/Lon: 37.178621 -122.189388
Detail Information
8:05 PM 3 [8] 1039 STATE PARKS, PARKS ENRT, CALFIRE ENRT
7:56 PM 2 [2] RP SEES DARK SMOKE, LRG AMT OF SMOKE GOING OVER EAGLE ROCK
7:55 PM 1 [1] RP SEES PLUME OF SMOKE NEAR IN BIG BASIN REDWOOD STATE PARK – ON EASTERN BOUNDARY NEAR LODGE RD

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.

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