Category: Fire Season

Lake (Nacimiento) Fire

8:30 pm – no additional information. Last word was 100 acres and 50% contained. I did not get up to look at it, was preparing a bunch of work that has to be mailed or overnighted tomorrow. Sorry. Work sometimes gets in the way of life, you know?

5 pm – New fire this afternoon by the lake, near the dam. Moderate to rapid ROS anticipated. These high temperatures cannot be helping. I will go out later to take a look, as my perch up here provides a view, although, I must go up to the top of the property. I will update this post later this evening as I obtain more information. For those not familiar with the area, while it is miles away from the South Coast of Big Sur, it is visible from here, and the terrain in between is unforgiving.

With the blazing hot temps (116 at the lake today) we’ve had for days, this one may well go beyond initial attack. So far, with all the fires starting across the state, Cal-Fire has been knocking them down in record time. Great job, guys and gals!!

I just heard that this one has been “picked up.” That appears to mean, under control, but I’ve never had official confirmation of the term. It is being reported at 100 acres and 50% contained at 5:15 pm. Good news. But I will continue to keep abreast of developments.

Here is a live feed: (caveat, I have not tried it, yet.)
Online feed is http://www.sloweather.com/firescanner.htm

Smoke on Horizon

The problem with living “On Top o’ the World,” is I see everything. There is smoke drift, particularly visible at sunset, although I saw it earlier this afternoon, too.

Last I heard, earlier this afternoon, the fire on the NV/CA border, up by Reno was about 7K acres. I also read about several new fires down in LA County, and of a new fire between Lookwood and San Ardo. (seems to have been contained in rapid fashion.)

I’ve purused all my usual sources, and find nothing to explain it. I am working late tonight so that I can attend the BSVFB Muster/BBQ/Retirement Party tomorrow.

Maybe the million acres that have burned in AK this month have finally made it down this far, or the Backbone in the Trinity Alps, or the Redrock/Trailer complex up by Reno. But I can’t smell smoke, so I will continue working, and see some of you tomorrow.

Tourists in the Wilds

Campgrounds are full. This was Plaskett Creek Campground, early on a Tuesday afternoon.

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Tourons enter the wilds.

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They leave footprints every where they go.

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And by next weekend, the sign will be run over again. And a few, rare people at the Ventana Wilderness Alliance wonder why I get bent out of shape.

Slight chance of thundershowers tonight

Most of us here on the Central Coast have noted the clouds overhead today. NOAA has a forecast discussion of interest to us.

“TRACE AMOUNTS OF PRECIP HAVE BEEN REPORTED AT THE MONTEREY CLIMATE STATION…NEAR HOLLISTER AND IN LIVERMORE SO FAR. NO LIGHTNING HAS BEEN DETECTED YET…BUT MAINLY DUE TO FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS A SLIGHT CHANCE WAS ADDED TO THE HILL ZONES FROM THE EAST BAY SOUTHWARD THROUGH MONTEREY/SAN BENITO COUNTY FOR THIS EVENING.

LATEST RADAR RETURNS AND EXAMINATION OF VISIBLE SATELLITE SUGGESTS THAT NEXT BAND OF MOISTURE CURRENTLY WEST OF BIG SUR COULD BE A LITTLE MORE UNSTABLE. FOR NOW HAVE LEFT ANY SHOWER/T-STORM CHANCES IN THE 15-20% RANGE FROM THE EAST BAY SOUTHWARD THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH ANY CHANCES ENDING BY ABOUT 12Z AS UPPER TROUGH AXIS PUSHES MOISTURE AXIS TO OUR EAST. SO WILL MONITOR PRECIP TRENDS THIS EVENING WITH DRY FORECAST FOR SUNDAY.”

And an 8:45 update:
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BROKEN OUT…A FEW NEAR THE DELTA LATE THIS AFTERNOON…AND ONE NEAR HALF MOON BAY EARLY THIS EVENING. GRIDS AND VARIOUS PUBLIC AND FIRE WEATHER TEXT
FORECASTS HAVE BEEN UPDATED THIS EVENING TO BETTER REFLECT CURRENT WEATHER CONDITIONS. ALSO…BASED ON RADAR AND SATELLITE DATA…IT APPEARS THAT ISOLATED SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY MAY LAST PAST MIDNIGHT AND SO HAVE EXTENDED RAINFALL CHANCES THROUGH THE NIGHT.

Unofficial Fire Watch

Soaring isn’t here any more. No “official” fire watchers exist. I am here and care. So, I watch.

I came up tonight to note a “huge” group at Hard Rocks driveway. Partying. Young kids need a place to party that is safe. As long as they have no campfire. So, I see about 8 to 12 vehicles parked at Hard Rocks.I must come out after dark and check. Is that a light or is it a fire? We luck out. No campfire, and I don’t need to call it in. I check Prewitt Ridge, Willow Creek, and all the areas I can see for campfires. None. Good Friday Night.

Tough, being on Top O’ the World.

BSCWPP Meeting

The meeting is tonight, 7/8/09 from 7-9 pm at the South Coast Community Center. A similar meeting is scheduled for the North Coast tomorrow night.

From Joyce, she writes:

Hi,
There is a meeting here tonight at PV school and one tomorrow night at the state park. I hope that many locals will attend.
My point of view on last year’s fires:
I know that on the second day of what became known as the Basin Complex Fire, Don Case’s house and his daughter’s house burned down on Stone Ridge, along with two other homes. A mandatory evacuation had been enforced.
No one, including the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Department, was allowed up the road. Don’s son and son-in-law got around the road-block and were able to save some photos, some tools, and some of Don’s paintings, before they were ordered off the hill. Everything else burned and melted.
I know that some of our neighbors and friends defied the law and stayed to fight the fire. They saved not just their own homes, but, as a result, the rest of Big Sur. Had they not made a stand and risked arrest and incarceration, the Fire would have won.
The Chalk Fire on the southcoast had different people in charge and they respected the will of the locals and allowed them to fight for their homes.
I urge you all to attend this meeting and have a voice in the way this community responds to disaster. Protect our rights to protect our property!
Joyce

July 4, 2008

July 4, 2008 – I cannot find my notes, and I did not write in my journal for much of July, as I was far too busy, but I started my blog one year ago tomorrow, so some of the story about last Independence Day was reported then. I am recreating the day, based primarily on a memory with holes in it – swiss cheese holes – a moth-eaten sweater. I also have no photographs taken that day, at least that I can find. The road was closed, as previously posted.

When I first got a copy of the 409.5 memo on 7/4, I called OES (Office of Emergency Services), and they had a Commander Teter of the MCSO call me back. When I got no satisfactory explanation about the issuance of the memo, other than it was to “educate” the Big Sur community about the power the MCSO had, I was furious. The MCSO was flexing its muscles and declaring a police-state in Big Sur, and fully intended on arresting who ever got in their way.

It was a holiday. Everything was closed. What could I do? The only places open were newsrooms. Having lived and worked in Monterey County, much of that in the justice system, I knew I needed to go outside of the county. I called the LA Times newsroom and the SF Chronicle newsroom. I posted something on surfire2008.org. Before my post was removed from surfire2008, Deborah Schoch, a staff reporter from the LA Times called. After speaking with her for some time, I got her phone numbers, and said I’d pass it on to a member of the Curtis family who was not in Big Sur, and if they wanted, they could pass it on to Micah and Ross. This resulted in more phone calls, and more long conversations with Curtis family members and LA Times reporter, Eric Bailey. Only a few days later, he and Deborah Schoch published a 3-page article about the police state in Big Sur. It is still accessible at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-backfire7-2008jul07,0,3314737.story

This was the start of the battle between Big Sur Locals and the Mike Kanalakis, Sheriff of Monterey County. Kanalakis also made the mistake of taking on Cachagua in Carmel Valley. Both were big mistakes.

Thanks to Jim Kimball for archiving posts from surfire2008 and other sources, we have an excellent record of all that happened on this day last year. It was a busy day, with reports from locals coming in up and down the coast all day long. Let’s not forget what it was like to live in this police state from July 3, 2008 to July 8, 2008, when the road opened to locals and their employees, and July 11, 2008 when the road opened completely.

Go to this link, and scroll down. It is arranged as all blogs tend to be, with the older posts first, or backwards chronology. Just scroll down to July 4th and start reading. It is fascinating:

http://www.surcoast.com/Info_Update_OLD.html

July 3, 2008

July 3rd, 2008, one year ago today, the MCSO issued its infamous memo.

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All our representative’s offices were closed for the long week-end. I am convinced to this day that the timing was purposeful. Can’t call Dave Potter’s office, can’t call Sam Farr’s office. Who can I connect to change this newly created “police state” in Big Sur. LA Times & San Fran Chronicle both come to mind. So, I call them. I provided the same story, but the LA Times was the most interested. Then, Ross Curtis got arrested.
(To be continued tomorrow.)

July 2, 2008

The Basin Fire started 11 days before this date one year ago today. One year ago, today, Highway One was closed due to the fire. Today, I start a retrospective for the next few days.

Today’s story and photo is by Dave Egbert, of http://www.firesafegardens.com, a BSVFB member:

That morning, I had hung out the Flag as I always do each July. Then I left Big Sur for SF to do an appearance on KGO’s View from the Bay, ironically talking about fire safe plants and my experiences as a firefighter. While I was gone, the fire met several “trigger” points in the gorge and atop Mt. Manuel. I was on my way home when I got the news that the highway was being closed at 7pm.
When I rounded the corner at the lighthouse, I saw the extent of the fire. Pico Blanco was fully ablaze and other fires were working down the Golden Staircase in Molera. Heavy smokes spouted from Cielo Prieto and Mt. Manuel. I was the only truck heading south and was waved by from CHP and Sheriff. When I reached Front Hill, the last residents were scrambling off the hill wild eyed and dusty.
I was scattered and alone on the ranch.
The dogs paced and fussed and the smoke was dropping down with the sunset. I went out on the atv to scope the now nearly empty ridges. I shot this photo of the house with the flag moving slowly in the sunset. The house looked so vulnerable, unable to stop the angry orange smoke.

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Fire Restrictions

I did not get an “official” notice from the USFS, but signs were posted down here in the Silver Peak Wilderness Area today. It has been incredibly hot, very low humidity, so I am not surprised.
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And now, for tonight’s sunset:
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That’s the long view. Here’s the close up:
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Have a blessed week, everyone!