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:

John Chesnut’s Map:

And here are this morning’s maps. Here is the distance between the Chimney and Soberanes, now down to 37 miles. Chimney is 91% contained this am, however.

You can see the results of yesterday’s firing out operation past Michael’s Hill, as well as more growth to the south. On the east, a couple new spots toward Miller’s Canyon.

IR Topo Map in PDF

There doesn’t appear to be any change in the South Ops Map, and indeed it is left blank for the date, but I’ll include it anyway.

So Ops Map in PDF

And finally, here are the weather and fire behavior discussions:

9:30 am – Here is the most recent fire progression map:

Fire Progression Map in PDF

6:30 am – Here are today’s maps. You will note that the fire jumped the containment line at Cold Springs, north of Michael’s Hill, out near the end of Partington Road. My information is that that happened late yesterday afternoon, early evening. My understanding is that they will be hitting it hard from the air as soon as possible.

IR Topo Map in PDF

So Ops Map in PDF

Fire and Weater Prediction Discussions:

8:00 am – John Chesnut Map

7:00 am – Maps

IR Topo Map in PDF

So Ops Map in PDF

And here are the weather and fire predictions: