5 PM — I just got a call from one of the lead PIOs for the USFS Dolan Fire. His name is Michael Lindbery. He has been PIO here before, he was on the Kirk-Hare, the Basin, the Soberanes, and all those in between. He will be providing me, and others, with a daily update twice a day. They are also arranging to do live briefings on FB similar to what Cal Fire is doing on the River and the Carmel Fires. He also understands that live in person updates may be necessary for this community given our unique challenges. It will take a few days to get this all up and running, so be patient. I am very grateful he is reaching out to us community members to make sure we have the communication we need. I provided the email contact (I’ll have to find it and create a sticky post with all the contact info on it for Dolan, as there will also be a public phone number contact number two. Right now the team is coming on at 0600 hours. Logistics is looking at 3 different sites for a base camp and I will be notified when that happens. So stay tuned.

4:15 PM — Going door-to-door on Partington for mandatory evacuation. Dave Smiley says this is NOT happening. My source heard it on the scanner, so I don’t know.

Have heard from the Hermitage that the fire has jumped Vicente Creek now (which you can see it starting to do in this photo).And that the Hermitage is under mandatory evacuation now. Also heard Lucia is as well.

This taken Looking north at Gamboa ridge from south side of Vicente creek. “I am at the fire. We are calling it roughly 6,700 acres. It still hasn’t reached Coast Ridge Road, but mostly will today. A lot of effort is going in to protecting the structures and the Hermitage.” (A firefighter’s story and photo) Tim Short tells me we are transitioning to a Type 1 fire team.

Noon — new info on inciweb. First, Dolan is currently at 6,700 acres and is 0 % Contained.

Incident Information

Basic Information

Current as of	8/20/2020, 11:52:33 AM
Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Unknown
Date of Origin	Tuesday August 18th, 2020 approx. 08:15 PM
Location	6 miles North of Limekiln State Park, 10 miles south of Big Sur
Incident Commander	Pete Harris,US Forest Service, Incident Commander
Incident Description	Wildfire
Coordinates	36.123 latitude, -121.602 longitude

Current Situation

Total Personnel	232
Size	6,700 Acres
Estimated Containment Date	Wednesday September 02nd, 2020 approx. 12:00 AM
Fuels Involved	Chaparral (6 feet)Brush (2 feet)Timber (Grass and Understory)
Significant Events	Extreme Long-range spotting, short-range spotting, running

Outlook

Planned Actions	Full suppresion and structure point protection. Build direct and indirect contingency line.
Projected Incident Activity	Fire is burning in the Ventana wilderness. Fire is moving up and down canyons, spotting and making erratic runs, evacuations with structure protection on the North and South of fire. Fire will continue to burn in the Ventana Wilderness. Area tends to burn actively in the evening hours driven by mid-slope thermal weather activity. Concern that the smoke inversion will lift and the fire activity will increase.Forestcast for hot and dry weather. Anticipate Fire to continue to actively burn, spot, run and increase in size.
Remarks	Smoke Inversion existed all day over the fire. Unable to fly Fixed or Rotor wing over the fire.Concern of fire movement to Highway 1. Presently Hwy. 1 is closed from Pfeiffer State Park at the North to Ragged Point at the South.Communities of Lucia, Partington Ridge, Big Creek Reserve and Camboa Point face potential evacuation.

Current Weather

Weather Concerns

Continued Hot and Dry weather pattern. Potential for previous days lightning to produce new starts in the area.

11:45 pm — Just received a text from Brendon that there is now a “suggested” evacuation of Lucia. I am going to venture a guess that this is an evacuation warning. I know Partington Ridge got one last night.

The USFS is back behind the Hermitage cutting a line all around us and Lucia. (From Brendon at the Hermitage.)

8:00 am — this post will be updated through out the day. USFS managed fires are harder to get info on than Cal Fire ones, but here is what the USFS has posted, and where they post. It has not yet been updated since 10 pm last night. https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7018/

The Dolan Fire started at 8:15pm on Tuesday, August 18, 2020. The location is approximately 6 miles north of Limekiln State Park, 10 miles south of Big Sur. The fire actively burned throughout the night, running through Hot Springs Canyon and is now burning in Big Creek Canyon.The east side of Dolan Canyon was evacuated. Highway 1 is closed between Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and Ragged Point. The fire is burning in the Ventana Wilderness. It is currently at 2,500 acres. The cause is unknown and under investigation. There are 232 personnel on the fire. There are (6) handcrews that include 3 hotshot crews, (1) Type 2 helicopter, (15) engines and (2) water tenders.

Incident Information

Basic Information

Current as of	8/19/2020, 10:02:54 PM
Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Unknown
Date of Origin	Tuesday August 18th, 2020 approx. 08:15 PM
Location	6 miles North of Limekiln State Park, 10 miles south of Big Sur
Incident Commander	Pete Harris,US Forest Service, Incident Commander
Incident Description	Wildfire
Coordinates	36.123 latitude, -121.602 longitude

Current Situation

Total Personnel	232
Size	2,500 Acres
Estimated Containment Date	Wednesday September 02nd, 2020 approx. 12:00 AM
Fuels Involved	Chaparral (6 feet)Brush (2 feet)Timber (Grass and Understory)
Significant Events	Extreme Long-range spotting, short-range spotting, running

Outlook

Planned Actions	Full suppresion and structure point protection. Build direct and indirect contingency line.
Projected Incident Activity	Fire is burning in the Ventana wilderness. Fire is moving up and down canyons, spotting and making erratic runs, evacuations with structure protection on the North and South of fire. Fire will continue to burn in the Ventana Wilderness. Area tends to burn actively in the evening hours driven by mid-slope thermal weather activity. Concern that the smoke inversion will lift and the fire activity will increase.Forestcast for hot and dry weather. Anticipate Fire to continue to actively burn, spot, run and increase in size.
Remarks	Smoke Inversion existed all day over the fire. Unable to fly Fixed or Rotor wing over the fire.Concern of fire movement to Highway 1. Presently Hwy. 1 is closed from Pfeiffer State Park at the North to Ragged Point at the South.Communities of Lucia, Partington Ridge, Big Creek Reserve and Camboa Point face potential evacuation.

Current Weather

Weather Concerns

Continued Hot and Dry weather pattern. Potential for previous days lightning to produce new starts in the area.

National Fire Interagency maps can be found here: https://maps.nwcg.gov/sa/#/%3F/EditLayerSatelliteFireDetections/36.3523/-121.4401/10

The yellow dots are the oldest fire detections, the red, the newest. Remember there can be false readings, and other areas where fire is not detected. Use these for general information, not for a very specific spot.

Generally, John outlines the fire’s parameters, and like here, the 24 hour prior outline is in blue, and current is in red. Thank you, John.

Below photos by Jon Knight (and no, the fire is not on both sides of the road)

Report from Rhea this am: “Good morning, We just went up to Gamboa to have a look and we talked to the crew chief for a while. The fire wasn’t that active overnight, marks place on circle m was saved, it burned through most of whale point and it made a run up the ridge behind circle m, but it hit the grass line and slowed way down. It’s still trying to get back into devils, but the north west winds slowed it down a lot last night. The dozer crew is supposed to show up this morning and start opening up the road behind here. Surge also showed him the old line just south of Gamboa and he said he’d send hand crews up there today. He said that crews will start assessing homes and structures in Lucia today too. Tried to take some pics, but there wasn’t much to see.”

7:50 pm — Due to the River Fire encroaching on the command post located at Toro Park in Salinas, CAL FIRE Incident Management Team 1 has initiated plans to relocate all non-essential personnel. Essential personnel remain at the incident command post to manage the River and Carmel Fires.

Evacuation Map as of 3:25 PM:

2:24 PM:  KSBW reporting backburn operations underway at Indian Springs.

Update on Fires in Monterey County 10:16 AM: River Fire 33,653 Acres – 7% contained, Carmel Fire 4,285 Acres – 0% contained, Dolan Fire 2,500 Acres – 0% contained. More info: https://www.facebook.com/MontereyCountyOES

River Fire – Evacuation Order for Corral De Tierra south to Tassajara Rd. 9:40 AM: The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued an Evacuation Order for all areas south of Corral de Tierra Road and Underwood Road extending south to Tassajara Rd, not to include Corral de Tierra Road and Underwood Road.

River Fire – Zone 13 Evacuation Order Overnight 9:22 AM: Over night the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office deputies issued in person evacuation orders for areas West of River Road extending west to Carmel Valley Road. West of River Road south from Gonzales River Road to Puma Road. East of Carmel Valley Road from south of Tassajara Road to Finch Creek.

River Fire – Evacuation Warning from River Road to Arroyo Seco 9:02 AM: The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued an Evacuation Warning for all areas east of Carmel Valley Road extending south from finch Creek to Arroyo Seco Rd. All areas west of River Road and For Romie Road and Arroyo Seco Road extending South to Elm Avenue and Arroyo Seco Rd.

11 am — from the office of Mary Adams:

Update #RiverFire – 33,653 Acres, 7% Containment

Fire continues to actively burn in all directions. Progression to the north impacted homes in the outlying communities of Salinas. The fire is making slope driven runs.

Firefighters continued their aggressive attack on the fire from the ground and the air. High temperatures, low humidity, topography influenced winds, steep mountainous terrain and difficult access continue to hamper firefighting efforts. Firefighters continue with 24 hour a day operations.

Wind patterns differ on each side of the fire, which contributes to the spread of the fire in multiple directions.

For more details, see pictures or go to https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/16/river-fire/

Please register for evacuation alerts by visiting http://AlertMontereyCounty.org.

For information on how you can prepare for wildfire please visit http://www.ReadyForWildfire.org or fire.ca.gov

For information regarding the Dolan Fire, please visit fire.ca.gov or inciweb.NWCG.gov

7:00 AM this page will be updated throughout the day. Check back for more updates.

33,653 Acres, 7% Containment

CalFire Incident page here & Facebook Updates here. Sheriff Facebook Updates here.

River and Carmel Fires Google Earth Image with VIIRS and MODIS Satellite and CDF Infrared combined. Some of the latest detections are from 10:48 UTC (3:48 AM PT, see Important caveats note below).  Click this link to view larger image: River_Carmel_Fire_082020

Toro view: River_Carmel_Fire_Toro_082020

Palo Escrito Peak view: River_Carmel_Fire_Escrito_082020

From John Chesnut:

River Ortho Map (click on map to view full size):

River Topo Map (click on map to view full size):

Daily IR Log here

National interagency Fire Center Map can be found here

Evacuation Map can be found here (Red is Order, Yellow is Warning)

Evacuation Notifications can be found here

Current Wind can be found here

Alert Wildfire Camera here

Scanner Fire & Sheriff

Air Traffic here

Road Closures here

CalFire’s Ready, Set, Go! Checklist here (see page 9)

Important caveats: Please note that the squares on the heat detection maps represent the expected margin of error, not the size of the area burned. In other words, the detection could have come from anywhere within the square. Also be aware that false detections do sometimes occur. An outlying or “over the line” heat detection is not, by itself, a confirmation that there is fire in the area indicated. In addition, the satellites do not detect heat everywhere that fire exists. Creeping, backing or smoldering fire is often not detected. Finally, the detections are only snapshots of moments in time. Flare ups that occur before or after a satellite pass may be entirely missed.

Also be aware that yellow squares disappear from the map after 6 days. These are not maps of the area burned since the fire began, just maps of where heat has been detected during the past week.

7:50 pm — Due to the River Fire encroaching on the command post located at Toro Park in Salinas, CAL FIRE Incident Management Team 1 has initiated plans to relocate all non-essential personnel. Essential personnel remain at the incident command post to manage the River and Carmel Fires.

Evacuation Map as of 3:25 PM:

 

 

Update on Fires in Monterey County 10:16 AM: River Fire 33,653 Acres – 7% contained, Carmel Fire 4,285 Acres – 0% contained, Dolan Fire 2,500 Acres – 0% contained. More info: https://www.facebook.com/MontereyCountyOES

River Fire – Evacuation Order for Corral De Tierra south to Tassajara Rd. 9:40 AM: The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued an Evacuation Order for all areas south of Corral de Tierra Road and Underwood Road extending south to Tassajara Rd, not to include Corral de Tierra Road and Underwood Road.

River Fire – Zone 13 Evacuation Order Overnight 9:22 AM: Over night the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office deputies issued in person evacuation orders for areas West of River Road extending west to Carmel Valley Road. West of River Road south from Gonzales River Road to Puma Road. East of Carmel Valley Road from south of Tassajara Road to Finch Creek. 

River Fire – Evacuation Warning from River Road to Arroyo Seco 9:02 AM: The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued an Evacuation Warning for all areas east of Carmel Valley Road extending south from finch Creek to Arroyo Seco Rd. All areas west of River Road and For Romie Road and Arroyo Seco Road extending South to Elm Avenue and Arroyo Seco Rd.

11:30 pm — from John Chesnut: “Cal Fire has released a “red blob” map of the Carmel and River incident.
I redrew my VIIRs mash up to follow the “red blob” map.    The Cal Fire indicates several of the suburban roads were effective firelines,  and hence drawing the lines to reflect that success reduces the “fog of war” that over-estimates fire extent.

Attached is the Cal Fire released “red blob” map.

7:00 AM this page will be updated throughout the day. Check back for more updates.

CalFire Incident Page here & Facebook Updates here. Sheriff Facebook Updates here.

River and Carmel Fires Google Earth Image with VIIRS and MODIS Satellite and CDF Infrared combined. Some of the latest detections are from 10:48 UTC (3:48 AM PT, see Important caveats note below).  Click this link to view larger image: River_Carmel_Fire_082020

Sleepy Hollow view: River_Carmel_Fire_Sleepy_082020

Tassajara Road View: River_Carmel_Fire_Tassajara_082020

From John Chesnut:

Carmel Ortho Map (click on map to view full size):

Carmel Topo Map (click on map to view full size):

Daily IR Log here

National interagency Fire Center Map can be found here

Evacuation Map can be found here (Red is Order, Yellow is Warning)

Evacuation  Notifications can be found here

Current Wind can be found here

Alert Wildfire Camera here

Scanner Fire & Sheriff

Air Traffic here

Road Closures here

CalFire’s Ready, Set, Go! Checklist here (see page 9)

Important caveats: Please note that the squares on the heat detection maps represent the expected margin of error, not the size of the area burned. In other words, the detection could have come from anywhere within the square. Also be aware that false detections do sometimes occur. An outlying or “over the line” heat detection is not, by itself, a confirmation that there is fire in the area indicated. In addition, the satellites do not detect heat everywhere that fire exists. Creeping, backing or smoldering fire is often not detected. Finally, the detections are only snapshots of moments in time. Flare ups that occur before or after a satellite pass may be entirely missed.

Also be aware that yellow squares disappear from the map after 6 days. These are not maps of the area burned since the fire began, just maps of where heat has been detected during the past week.

UPDATE: 8-19-2020
The fast-moving Dolan Ridge Fire located in the Big Sur Region has triggered road closures on Hwy 1, preventing access to many state parks in the Big Sur area.
Due to the emergency situation caused by the fire and resulting concerns for the safety and health of our State Parks visitors, the following parks – including all campgrounds, day use areas, and hiking trails are being closed to visitors until further notice:
• John Little State Natural Reserve• Limekiln State Park• Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park• Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park• Andrew Molera State Park• Point Sur State Historic Park• Garrapata State Park• Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
Visitors to these Monterey District California State Parks are advised to respect the emergency services and public safety efforts in the area. Please check the park unit websites to find out when the Big Sur State Park units will re-open at a future time.

CALTRANS DISTRICT 5 SIGALERT

    Date/Time:  Wednesday, August 19 at 8:53 AM 

      Location:    Highway 1 near Big Sur in Monterey County.

Description of Incident

     Highway 1 is closed from Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County to Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Monterey County due to a brush fire.

 Motorists may use US Highway 101 for north/south thru travel.

Motorists should be aware of law enforcement and other emergency responders, including Caltrans in this area.

It is not known when Highway 1 in this area will re-open.

CHP Traffic Incident Information Page: http://cad.chp.ca.gov

 

7:35 PM Sheriff Scanner (unconfirmed): Sheriff Rescue will be moving to Los Tulares for evacuation warning (this must be for the River Fire). Stone Pine for Carmel Fire.

Carmel Fire – Evacuation Order for Cachagua Road north to Klondike Canyon Road on East Carmel Valley Road to include Klondike Canyon Road, and all roads and communities north east and south west of East Carmel Valley Road: The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued an Evacuation Order from Cachagua Road north to Klondike Canyon Road on East Carmel Valley Road to include Klondike Canyon Road, and all roads and communities north east and south west of East Carmel Valley Road. Leave the area immediately.

7:25 PM Sheriff Scanner (unconfirmed): Sheriff Rescue will be moving to Sleepy Hollow  for evacuation warning (this must be for the Carmel Fire from Buck Mountain direction). Sheriff Rescue anticipates a long night.

Update 6:52 pm: The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued an evacuation warning for areas west of River Road extending to Carmel Valley Road. West of River Road south from Gonzales River Road to Puma Road. East of Carmel Valley Road from south of Tassajara Road to Finch Creek.

10:40 PM Infrared Map Outline from today’s fire in Cachagua:

Click here for a more detailed image: Carmel Fire Outline 08192020 and Carmel Fire Outline 2 08192020

Evacuation Map as of 8:10 PM:

Updated Evacuation Map can be found here:

(Red is Order, Yellow is Warning)

CalFire Update 7:00 PM: Carmel Fire at 2,150 Acres, 0% contained.

6:55 PM Sheriff Scanner (unconfirmed): Sheriff Rescue will be moving to the Village Ranches/ Klondike Canyon for evacuation warning (this must be for River Fire).

5:15 PM Sheriff Scanner (unconfirmed): Fire running up a drainage towards Summerhill, Fire is burning past Trampa Canyon, and likely to Tassajara Road.

7:00 PM from above Stonepine:

Carmel Fire – Evacuation Order for Cachagua Rd, Tassajara Rd, and East of Carmel Valley Rd 2:13 PM: The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued an Evacuation Order for the following areas: Cahcagua Road from Asoledo Drive to Tassajara Road to include Trampa Canyon Road and tributaries. Areas West of Tassajara Road to Miller Canyon not including Miller Canyon. Tassajara Road from Miller Canyon to East Carmel Valley Road to include Chew’s Ridge, Kincannon Road, Lambert Flat, Parrot Ranch Road and tributaries. Tassajara Road west to Miller Canyon not including Miller Canyon. Areas east of East Carmel Valley Road at Tassajara Road to Cahoon Ranch Road to include Martin Road and Cahoon Ranch Road. Leave the area immediately.

7:30 PM Google Earth with VIIRS satellite imagery looking towards East Carmel Valley:

7:15 PM Google Earth with VIIRS satellite imagery looking towards Buck Mountain and Old San Clemente Dam:

2PM Media Update (starts at 1:30):

2:15 PM: Fire made a big push up a drainage, they’re “loosing structures” at Sky Ranch.

2:05 PM: Asoleado area, a couple of structures are engulfed in flames. One Sheriff Rescue is blocked by fire. Also, Fire (River?) went through White Mountain at Ardeas Grade, and East to Sheep Camp.

1:15 PM: Reports that Carmel Middle School will shelter evacuees for Carmel and River fires.

Per Sheriff Scanner (unconfirmed) 1:13 PM: Requesting CHP for hard closure at CV Road and Tassajara. Active fire at Comsat. Asoleado evacuations underway.

Cachagua Fire Department Update:

12:36 pm: crews are addressing active fire near Asoleado with potential for Trampa Canyon. Structure protection crews are being deployed.

1:02 pm. Some concern is being expressed for active fire in the Asoleado area with potential to impact Trampa Canyon. We are monitoring the situation closely.

**CORRECTED** Carmel Fire – Evacuation Orders Overnight  12:12 PM Due to the dynamic situation of the Carmel Fire, Deputies issued an evacuation order of Zone 3 and a portion of Zone 4. Community members were notified in person during the night time hours. The evacuation orders are as follows: Zone 3: Cachagua Road from Summerhill Road to Asoleado Road to include Asoleado Road and all tributaries, Comstat Road, Nason Road and all tributaries south to Los Padres Reservoir. EVACUATION ORDER

Bruce Dormody sent his brother Eric this photo around 2PM, showing the Carmel Fire (on the Left) going down towards the Old San Clemente Dam.

6:15 PM Update: Additional VIIRS and MODIS satellite detection from Google Earth. Infrared Plane spotted doing patterns over the fire areas. As always, there could be false satellite readings. See Important caveats note below.

2:10 PM Update: River Fire East looks like it’s encroaching (unconfirmed) on Carmel Valley Road at Tassajara Road, Also, the two heads of the River Fire East seem to be merging together. Note: this could be false satellite readings. See Important caveats note below.

 

 

Carmel Fire update (at 1:45) video from CalFire can be found here 10:30 AM:

Spanish here:

From Happy Girl Kitchen Co. at 7:30 AM:

From Jack Galante at 7AM:

 

Visibility from above Stonepine at 10AM:

Air quality now considered Hazardous in Carmel Valley Village:

Carmel Fire 8-19-20 8:10 AM Update:

 

Carmel Fire showing the latest VIIRS satellite detections as of 8:10 AM:

National interagency Fire Center Map can be found here: https://maps.nwcg.gov/sa/#/%3F/EditLayerSatelliteFireDetections/36.4461/-121.7205/13

Important caveats: Please note that the squares on the heat detection maps represent the expected margin of error, not the size of the area burned. In other words, the detection could have come from anywhere within the square. Also be aware that false detections do sometimes occur. An outlying or “over the line” heat detection is not, by itself, a confirmation that there is fire in the area indicated. In addition, the satellites do not detect heat everywhere that fire exists. Creeping, backing or smoldering fire is often not detected. Finally, the detections are only snapshots of moments in time. Flare ups that occur before or after a satellite pass may be entirely missed.

Operations Map link here:

 

Briefing Map here:

 

Post will be updated with more info.

River Fire – Evacuation Order for all areas of San Benancio Rd between Troy Ln and Coral De Cielo Rd 7:23 PM:

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has changed the Evacuation Warning to an Evacuation Order for all areas of San Benancio Rd between Troy Ln and Coral De Cielo Rd, to include Coral De Cielo Rd, Tiera Vista Ln, and Lucy Ln. Leave the area immediately. Evacuate west on San Benancio Rd to Highway 68.

River Fire – Evacuation Warning for areas west of River Road extending east to Carmel Valley Road and south from Gonzales river Road to Puma Road. The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued an evacuation warning for areas west of River Road extending to Carmel Valley Road. West of River Road south from Gonzales River Road to Puma Road. East of Carmel Valley Road from south of Tassajara Road to Finch Creek.

Updated Evacuation Map can be found here:

(Red is Order, Yellow is Warning)

2PM Media Update (starts at 1:30):

 

1:15 PM: Reports that Carmel Middle School will shelter evacuees for Carmel and River fires.

River Fire update video from CalFire can be found here 10:30 AM:

Spanish here:

River Fire – Evacuation Order for Las Palmas Parkway, Ranchito Drive, Indian Springs Road, Berry Drive, Enos Drive, Redding Drive, and Belmont Circle 11:09 AM: The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has changed the Evacuation Warning to an Evacuation Order for the following areas: South of River Road from Tara Drive to Pine Canyon Road to include all roads off of: Las Palmas Parkway, Ranchito Drive, Indian Springs Road, Berry Drive, Enos Drive, Redding Drive, and Belmont Circle. Leave the area immediately. Evacuate to River Road. 

 

River Fire – Evacuation Warning for North of Highway 68 from San Benancio Road east to include all Roads off of Portola Drive to Veronica Drive/Estoque Place 10:43 AM: The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued an Evacuation Warning for areas North of Highway 68 from San Benancio Road east to include all Roads off of Portola Drive to Veronica Drive/Estoque Place. 

River Fire – Evacuation Order 10:04 AM: The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has changed the Evacuation Warning to an Evacuation Order for the following areas: Communities within the north of San Benancio Rd, West of Troy Lane, Southeast of Harper Canyon Rd to include Harper Canyon Road, Weather Rock Way, Rimrock Canyon Road. Leave the area immediately. Evacuate north on San Benancio Rd to Highway 68.

Per Scanner Traffic (unconfirmed) 10:10 AM: Possible evacuations for Harper Canyon

 

River Fire 8-19-20 8 AM Update

#RiverFire off Pine Canyon and River Rd, east of Salinas in Monterey county remains 10,672 acres and 7% contained. Unified command: CAL FIRE BEU and Monterey County Sheriff’s Department.

From the CalFire Website:

River fire shown next to the Carmel Fire:

River Fire showing Infrared Heat Perimeter and the latest VIIRS satellite detections:

Important caveats: Please note that the squares on the heat detection maps represent the expected margin of error, not the size of the area burned. In other words, the detection could have come from anywhere within the square. Also be aware that false detections do sometimes occur. An outlying or “over the line” heat detection is not, by itself, a confirmation that there is fire in the area indicated. In addition, the satellites do not detect heat everywhere that fire exists. Creeping, backing or smoldering fire is often not detected. Finally, the detections are only snapshots of moments in time. Flare ups that occur before or after a satellite pass may be entirely missed.

Also be aware that yellow squares disappear from the map after 6 days. These are not maps of the area burned since the fire began, just maps of where heat has been detected during the past week.

National interagency Fire Center Map can be found here: https://maps.nwcg.gov/sa/#/%3F/EditLayerSatelliteFireDetections/36.5964/-121.701/12

 

Post will be updated with more info.

USFS Inciweb report on Dolan Fire:

Incident Overview

Image options: [ Full Size ]

The Dolan Fire started at 8:15pm on Tuesday, August 18, 2020. The location is 6 miles north of Limekiln State Park, 10 miles south of Big Sur. The fire actively burned throughout the night, running through Hot Springs Canyon and is now burning in Big Creek Canyon.The east side of Dolan Canyon was evacuated. Highway 1 is closed between Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and Ragged Point. The fire is burning in the Ventana Wilderness. It is currently at 2,500 acres. The cause is unknown and under investigation. There are 50 personnel on the fire. Los Padres is in Unified Command with the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cal Fire BEU. This fire is putting out a lot of smoke so the public is strongly advised to avoid this area.

Incident Information

Basic Information

Current as of	8/19/2020, 2:01:19 PM
Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Unknown
Date of Origin	Tuesday August 18th, 2020 approx. 08:15 PM
Location	6 miles North of Limekiln State Park, 10 miles south of Big Sur
Incident Commander	Pete Harris,US Forest Service, Incident Commander
Incident Description	Wildfire
Coordinates	36.123 latitude, -121.602 longitude

Current Situation

Total Personnel	50
Size	2,500 Acres
Fuels Involved	Chaparral (6 feet)Brush (2 feet)Timber (Grass and Understory)
Significant Events	Extreme Long-range spotting, short-range spotting, running

Outlook

Planned Actions	Full suppresion
Projected Incident Activity	Fire is burning in the Ventana wilderness. Fire is moving up and down canyons, spotting and making erratic runs, evacuations with structure protection on the North and South of fire. Fire will continue to burn in the Ventana Wilderness. Area tends to burn actively in the evening hours driven by mid-slope thermal weather activity.Forestcast for hot and dry weather. Anticipate Fire to continue to actively burn, spot, run and increase in size.
Remarks	Concern of fire movement to Highway 1. Presently Hwy. 1 is closed from Pfeiffer State Park atthe North to Ragged Point at the South.Communities of Lucia, Partington Ridge, Big Creek Reserve and Camboa Point face potentialevacuation.

Current Weather

Weather Concerns

Continued Hot and Dry weather pattern. Potential for previous days lightning to produce new starts in the area.

Most recent satellite, courtesy of John Chestnut:

DolanFire southern road closure moved to Ragged Point, northern is still at JPBurns.

DolanFire est 2500 acres, actively burning in all directions. Evacs on east side of Dolan Cyn. Hwy 1 closed on the south at Lucia & north at Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP. @LosPadresNF in Unified Cmd with @CALFIREBEU, @MCoSheriff & Big Sur Vol Fire Brigade.

Just got an update from one of the residents at Dolan:
“evacuating went well. things were so fast moving. i was lucky to have help and get my important things and make it out around midnight, but it was fast moving, downhill with no marine layer to slow it down. high likelihood all structures east of the highway were lost in the Santa Lucia Ranch.”

Provided by John Chestnut:

Important caveats: Please note that the squares on the heat detection maps represent the expected margin of error, not the size of the area burned. In other words, the detection could have come from anywhere within the square. Also be aware that false detections do sometimes occur. An outlying or “over the line” heat detection is not, by itself, a confirmation that there is fire in the area indicated. In addition, the satellites do not detect heat everywhere that fire exists. Creeping, backing or smoldering fire is often not detected. Finally, the detections are only snapshots of moments in time. Flare ups that occur before or after a satellite pass may be entirely missed.

7:45 am — Dolan is about 2500 acres. Highway One is closed from JPBurns to Lucia. Spotter plane just flew over, evacuations of east side of highway and, I am told, Esalen last night. Fire established in Big Creek.

7 am — Looks like the fire is fully entrenched in Big Creek Canyon, the dozers were sent home as the fire is in the Ventana Wilderness, and Connie McCoy walked down the Hot Springs Canyon about 4:30 am and took these photos from Highway One. Here, it is so dark with the smoke, I have to have my lights on inside. Eerie.

Maps showing the extent of the fire early this am. Made it to Big Creek.

Big Creek, Circle M, Esalen, and some homes were evacuated last night/early this am. I had word early this am that 4 civilians were dug in and protecting their homes.

Will be setting up a separate post for the Carmel Fire, which like this one, we will be updating through out the day.

Go watch a video bigsurkiyote (lance lindborg) posted. It is crazy! That’s on instagram. Just search for his screen name.

It is now 1:15. I will probably make it until 2, but not much past that, I fear. Here is a photo by Scott Moffat who says:

Took these earlier tonight from the top of hot springs canyon. I
watched the fire climb out of Dolan watershed and spill over into Hot
Springs canyon with the wind at my back. Silhouettes of tree skeletons
from the recent fires still stand as the current inferno rages towards
home.

Midnight, and at 11:45 — from scanner (not confirmed): Fire burning downhill with rapid rate of spread. Spotting downhill 100 yards out ahead of itself. Esalen Institute threatened!!! Structure protection needed asap. Fire behavior described as extreme.

Here is a photo from just minutes before they closed the road near/at this location.

11 pm — Highway One is closed, Nacimiento is closed. (??? From scanner traffic)

Per the scanner 10:20PM: Sheriff Rescue calling CHP for a hard closure of HWY1 for fire coming down the hill.

State Forest Ranger/ CalFire are reporting the Dolan Fire, approx. 90 acres, 2-miles into the forest. Approximate location is 55427 Highway 1 in Big Sur,  36 7.166 x 121 35.986.

Post will be updated as info becomes available.

Per Wildcad:

08/18/2020 20:04

LPF-2428

Dolan

Wildfire

36 7.166 x 121 35.986

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36 7.398, -121 36.096

21S R3E Sec 11