5:30 pm – Sorry, I was not around today. I had to go to Templeton, Paso Robles, and Cambria. I do intend to be home all weekend, however, so will be keeping an eye on things. From late this afternoon (about 1/2 hour ago) the incident report has this to say:

“Despite cooler temperatures and marine moisture in the morning at low elevations, open fireline became active by late morning with upslope runs carrying to ridgelines above. Aircraft was used to check fire spread in several areas.
Most activity was terrain driven through the burn period.
The most active burning was on the southern end of the fire. Fire continues to spread actively both down drainage toward Lost Creek and upslope on the slopes and ridges above it, both east and west. There was some active burning in areas at the bottom of Pick Creek beneath the area burned out yesterday.
There was also aggressive burning in unburned interior areas such as Cienega Creek and the North Fork of the Big Sur River. Managers continued to increase resource capacity on the east side of the fire in response to fire spread. Structure protection planning in that area was finalized. Managers also continued to scout opportunities for evaluation points and geographic locations that have successfully held previous fires.
The uncontained fire edge in Willow Creek did not show signs of significant growth today. Managers continued collecting data on previously used indirect lines on the southeast side of the fire. Previous fire control action points were scouted to be utilized as contingency lines.
Structure protection actions continued on Partington Ridge and south from Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to Dolan Road.”

7:30 am – John Chesnut’s Map:

5 am – here are the day’s maps:

IR Topo Map in PDF

South Ops Map in PDF

And the Fire Behavior and Weather Predictions:

 

7 pm – This is the afternoon MODIS from 1:20 pm today, by John Chesnut. This shows a couple of troublesome spots, one of which could impact Tassajara, if the winds align. Let’s hope they don’t.

8:30 am – One of the things I like about John Chesnut’s maps, is it is easy to see the topography of the land the fire is approaching and tell where the ridges and drainages are, which makes it a bit easier to see where the fire MIGHT go from here.

7:00 am – there is a very moving article about the fire by author Patrice Veecchione in yesterday’s Herald. You can read it here:

What the fires have left behind

6 am – today’s maps: (having trouble with uploading the maps again-but at least I can post the links here). Today’s Topo reveals the current acreage to be 102,499 or an increase of just over 1000 acres since yesterday. One map reveals that the distance between the now-contained Chimney Fire and the still raging Soberanes Fire has dropped another mile to 33 miles.

IR Topo in PDF

South Ops Map in PDF

5 pm – here is a photo of the firing operation behind Anderson Peak by Cordelia Cluett:

Great photo, Cordelia. Thank  you for sending it.

Noon – from a resident of Partington Ridge: “I spoke with one of the firefighters this morning and they are headed back to Partington today because they are going to try and back fire a small area behind Partington that didn’t burn before…”

10:30 am – still  having trouble uploading maps, but did at least get the link for South Ops up, and finally showing enough of the south that I am in there. Here is the daily report:

The fire is still 2 1/2 miles south and west of Tassajara. Fire retardant is being used from the air to help manage the fire. Smoke plumes are visible from Tassajara, but the air quality in the Valley is good.
Total acres: 101,490
Acreage increase: 511
Containment: 60%
Total Personnel: 1,196
Temperatures are expected to be hotter today, with highs in the Interior of the fire expected in the 100-degree range. High pressure is moving inland, bringing moderated southwest winds over the fire area. The southerly winds could produce visible smokes for residents on the north end of the fire.
Fire is burning actively to the east along Zigzag Creek (picture below) and above the Willow Creek drainage. Fire is mainly moving through the heavier brush and dead fuels from the Basin Fire of 2008. Easterly fire growth on the ridge between Zigzag and Willow creeks is expected. This is creating short-lived columns of smoke visible from Tassajara and Highway 1.
There is some fire activity around Black Cone Mountain and the Willow Creek headwaters. Some fire activity south of the North Fork of the Big Sur River continues to spread as slope and fuels line up. Managers continue to monitor fire spread, hold and improve control lines and assess proximity and thread to indirect control lines.

6:30 am – this morning’s maps are being difficult and do not want to upload. Will be uploaded when cooperation is achieved.

IR Map in PDF

 

 

South Ops Map in PDF

If possible, I will load the weather and fire behavior discussions from the IAP:

 

 

7 pm – this was from earlier today, but it has been a busy day for me in my non-digital life, so haven’t had time to get it up. Rose is back up the coast, and I have two days here to catch up with digital and non-digital life. Lots and lots of smoke, but no columns do I see.

The latest update (9/6/16) on the Soberanes Fire:

Fire remains active in areas where growth occurred over the last two days on the southern front of the fire, as well as on slopes above several interior drainages. There was continued growth in Zigzag Creek, above the head of Higgins Creek and on the slopes above Pick Creek. Fire is now established on the north facing aspect of Willow Creek to a point south of the Tassajara Zen Center. The fire is still approximately 2 ½ miles south and west of the Zen Center.

Managers began collecting data on previously used indirect lines east of Arroyo Seco in the event the fire continues spreading in that direction. Crews monitored fire in the Big Sur and Pick Creek drainages and continued holding actions on indirect control line. A new evacuation warning was issued for an area south of Anderson Peak, extending to Dolan Canyon and bounded to the east by North Coast Ridge Road.

Managers looked for opportunities to secure indirect line along the east side of Coast Ridge but no firing operations occurred on Monday due to an unfavorable wind shift. Structure protection actions continued on Partington Ridge. Crews began working around structures from Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to Dolan Road, in case fire reaches that area.

Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) personnel have completed erosion and flooding modeling and are preparing presentations and reports for forest close-out and ICP briefings.

An evacuation WARNING along the Pacific Coast Highway was expanded Monday effective at 6 p.m. to include an area south of Anderson Canyon along Highway 1. The new evacuation warning includes the Big Sur-Partington/South Coast Center Area and applies to all residents and businesses east of Highway 1 starting at the intersection of Highway 1 and Grimes Canyon, extending south to the intersection of Highway 1 and Dolan Canyon. This area is bounded to the east by North Coast Ridge Road and includes all residents and businesses on Dolan Ridge Road. The new warning is due to warmer, drier weather that has increased fire activity on the east side of North Coast Ridge Road.

An evacuation WARNING remains in place for Tassajara Road from Carmel Valley Road to the Tassajara Hot Springs Zen Center.

An evacuation ORDER remains in effect for North Coast Ridge Rd. from mile marker 1.5 to Marble Peak at the end of the road.

9:30 am – And here is an interesting map they call the Planning Map:

Planning Map in PDF

9:30 am – will be offline more than on today, but in the mean time, here is John Chesnut’s map.

And, once again (I am sounding like a broken record) today’s map – fire only gained 500 acres and it looks as if the borders are secure for the moment. The USFS says they could be challenged today, always depending on winds, from north of Anderson Peak to south of Marble Peak. So far this am, the winds are calm to non-existent.

IR Topo Map in PDF

So Ops Map in PDF

 

 

Skee Stanley, formerly of Cachagua Fire, sent me this interesting report on a fire on the edge of Southern Monterey County and Northern San Luis Obispo County back in 1960. Historical perspective is always fascinating to me, and I hope you will find it interesting. I thought this would be a nice time to take a break  from 44 days of reporting on Soberanes, which is over 95,000 acres at the moment. I’ll post my usual fire maps later today. Note the discussion at the end about the Public Information Officer for the Weferling Forest Fire. Thanks, Skee.

Okay, I admit…I took the day off. Two of my girlfriends were back in town, and I hadn’t seen one in a year and a half, another in over 6 months. I did my best to stay off line, and did a damn fine job … But now I have to catch up.

The USFS closed the forest down here, sometime between 3-6 pm. Despite the closure, I had to stop and ask one group to put out their camp fire. They were very cooperative. I had to stop and tell 3 other groups the forest was closed and suggested they drink all the beer they wanted tonight, forego coffee in the am, and leave as soon as they got up and packed. 

Here is the official notice:

Notice anything “odd” about the above map? This puts “Gorda” where Pacific Valley is – north of Plaskett Creek Campground. In reality, Gorda is 5 miles south of the campground.

I have to say, I am so happy to see that you kept up the information flow and posted comments, and information while I was gone today. I have been asked to be interviewed by a number of magazines and radio shows that express their awe of what this Big Sur Community is about. They get it. It is not me … It is us. We work together, we help each other, we keep one another informed. Bigsurkate is a community effort, and no one “gets that” more than I do. I feel so honored to be a part of this wonderful network. We are setting an example for  so many people, agencies, and organizations. I hope you are all proud of us. I am.

And here is an impressive plume from behind Partington, taken by Marcus Foster this afternoon: