Life in the Fire Lane

Cachagua Fire's Pride...

2008-10-18T19:25:00.000-07:00

October 18, 2008...

"Guys, I'm hoooo-ome!!"

This just in from Chief Skee Stanley of Cachagua Fire:

Cachagua Fire Protection District has a new (used) engine. The District purchased a Boise Mobile Equipment Engine from Mt. Jackson Fire Department in VA.

The new E-7731 has 28,000 mile on her, 500 gallon Poly tank, 1,000 gpm pump w/ pump and roll capabilities.

E-7731 will be at West-Mark in Ceres, CA for the next 30 days for some modifications and a complete service. I estimate the the new E-7731 will be in service by 12.01.2008.

Yes she will be painted red and we will be keeping the white hood and cab top.

Congratulations to Chief Stanley and Cachagua Fire!!!

On travel to the East Coast through 10/5...

2008-10-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

Hi, gang!

I'll be doing limited posting due to being on the road, and nowhere near the Chalk Fire action, through Sunday, 10/5...

Back in the saddle on Monday the 6th.

All the best to our friends in Big Sur South and KUSP listeners!

Kelly

The Scoop from Skee...

2008-09-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

September 30, 2008, about 8:00 pm

Chief Skee Stanley of Cachagua Fire sent me a screen dump of the data he sees from his ICS Summary screen. Here's what it looks like"

209 as of 18:00, 9/30/08...

Incident Status Summary (ICS-209)
Date 09/30/2008
Time 1800
Incident Number: CA-LPF-002754
Incident Name: CHALK
Incident Kind: Wildland Fire
(Full Suppression/Perimeter Control)

Start Date Time: 09/27/2008 2002
Cause Under Investigation
Incident Commander: Jim Smith
Incident Command: Organization Type 2 Team 1
County: MONTEREY

Latitude and Longitude
Lat: 35° 59´ 25"
Long: 121° 25´ 48"

Ownership: CA-LPF

Short Location Description (in reference to nearest town):
22 miles Southwest of King City, Ca
Size/Area Involved: 3,453 ACRES
% Contained or MMA: 8 Percent
Line to Build: 762 Chains
Estimated Costs to Date: $1,800,000
Structure Information 0 Threatened 1 Damaged 0 Destroyed

Threat to Human Life/Safety:
Evacuation(s) in progress: Yes
Potential future threat: Yes
No likely threat --------------- Residence 12 0 0
Commercial Property 1
Outbuilding/Other 12 0 0

Projected incident movement/spread 12, 24, 48, and 72 hour time frames:
12 hours: North, South, and East
24 hours: North and East
48 hours: Same
72 hours: Same

Values at Risk: include communities, critical infrastructure, natural and cultural resources in 12, 24, 48 and 72 hour time frames:
12 hours: Ventana Wilderness. Condor habitat range and Steel Head habitat in Mill Creek. Residences
24 hours: Same
48 hours: Ventana Wilderness. Condor habitat range.
72 hours: Same

Critical Resource Needs (amount, type, kind and number of operational periods () in priority order in 12, 24, 48, and 72 hour time frames):
12 hours: Type 3 engines.
24 hours:
48 hours:
72 hours:

Major problems and concerns (control problems, social/political/economic concerns or impacts, etc.) Relate critical resources needs identified above to the Incident Action Plan.

Access to the fire is a concern with steep rugged terrain. Fire is burning in the Ventana wilderness and evacuation order is in place.

Observed Weather for Current Operational Period
Peak Gusts (mph): 6
Max. Temperature: 85
Wind Direction: SW
Min. Relative Humidity: 20
Fuels/Materials Involved: 4 Chaparral (6 Feet)
Large volume of dead and down material in fire fuel bed. Oak woodland and pockets of timber. No prior recorded fire history in area of involvement.

Today's observed fire behavior (leave blank for non-fire events):
Occasional slope runs, moderate rate of spread, rollout pushing fire down slope.

Forecasted Weather for next Operational Period
Wind Speed (mph): 1-3
Temperature: 68
Wind Direction: SW
Relative Humidity: 30

Actions planned for next operational period:
Continue to construct and improve line, contingency line construction, structure protection.

For fire incidents, describe resistance to control in terms of:
1. Growth Potential - High
2. Difficulty of Terrain - Extreme

Remarks:
Acreage increase is over a 24 hour burn period. Accurate data was not available at post time. This incident will be in unified command with Fort Hunter Liggett at 0600 10/01/08. 11 people advised to evacuate in Dempsey Flat area, and Beiar Property

The Plume from Corral de Tierra through Salinas Valley...

2008-09-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

(Salinas Valley - Corral de Tierra (on the left) to Big Sur South (on the right), panorama shot... click to expand)

September 30, 2008 about 11:30 am...

The extent of the smoke plume speaks to this morning's fire activity...

The Plume from the Corral de Tierra side...

2008-09-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

(Corral de Tierra side of Laureles Grade(on the left) toward Big Sur South (on the right), panorama shot... click to expand)

September 30, 2008 about 11:30 am...

Here's the plume on the Corral de Tierra side of Laureles Grade... next one up will show the continuation of this to the right, over Salinas Valley.

Same Old Shot, Different Day....

2008-09-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

(Carmel Valley side of Laureles Grade toward Big Sur South, panorama shot... click to expand)

September 30, 2008 about 11:30 am...

Having left Jamesburg behind to go to work in Monterey, I notice the scent of smoke and a slight ashfall all the way into town.

On Laureles Grade, The plume formed over the fire looks big! And with the wind shift to the northeast, the plume is extending through Corral de Tierra and into Salinas Valley, then out over Monterey Bay.

Big Sur Kate tells me that the thing went on a "run" - firespeak for the fire beginning to accelerate and take off.

Citizen On-ground Reporting...

2008-09-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

September 30, 2008 about 8am...

During the Basin-Indians Fires, the early IC teams were not really fond of citizen reporters. "These blogs" - as we were referred to - "are inaccurate" they were often heard saying.

On this side of the chaparral, it was refreshing... no, absolutely INVIGORATING... when IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley showed up.

Chief Jeanne, rather than circling the wagons and telling her PIOs to keep these locals at bay and out of the way, instead reached out to the local channels of communication.

Among fire officials, the word out about Michael's blog, Cachagua Store, our local-flavor periodically-updated journal, filled with acerbic wit and wisdom was that it was parlous, at best.

Jeanne showed up for a cuppa' on Michael's front porch at the store... kudos to the Chief for behavior above and beyond the call.

For my part, Jeanne invited me to record an interview with her, updating the status of the fire, every morning, which we made available on KUSP's website.

Now, with the Chalk Wildland Fire, Kate Novoa, Big Sur Kate, has taken the lead with her excellent job of reporting, from her house just 4 miles from the fire.

As of 9:00 am this morning, Inciweb hasn't updated this incident for the past 13 hours. Contrast this with the information on Kate's 'blog, and you'll see the value of well-written, up-close, unopinionated citizen reporting.

Writing a 'blog in service to the community is fun, exciting and satisfying... but, Kate - and I - have "real jobs" and when a 'blog 'takes off" and becomes the "go to" source of incident information, it can take over your life as people begin to count on your service.

Now and then, you get an email or a phone call from someone worried sick about their friends, their family, or just simply, their memories of a beautiful part of the world, now under threat. It's wonderful to know that the information you provide has made a difference... in a sense, it feeds, in part, a 'blogger's addiction... that and an insatiable desire to learn, understand and tell the human side of the tale.

Kate's in the middle of that kind of expectation right now. She deserves every bit of credit and thanks from those of us who have interest, lives and property at stake.

Accurate, well-written, on-scene citizen reporting is part of our information landscape... it's not going away in the near future. On the contrary, it's a "craft" - a developing, volunteer craft - which, in these days of "embedded" journalism and information "spin," can be, and often is, a definitive and vital font of information in a suite of information sources.

Let's welcome such reporting to the party.

From the front line on the Chalk Fire...

2008-09-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

September 29, 2008 about 6:00 pm...

Our good friend and neighbor, Chief Skee Stanley of the Cachagua Volunteer Firefighters sent this from the too-close-for-comfort seat of the Chalk Fire front lines:

Just spoke with my lead dozer operator Terry Bishop who says:

"We are going to be on this fire for awhile"

On another note, I got a call from Mike Kremke (USFS-LPF Division 1). Chief Kremke requests the Cachagua Fire Protection District to staff up a type 3 engine for coverage of the northern area of the Los Padres National Forest per our contract with USFS - LPNF.

CFC Engine-7732 with a crew of three to four firefightes, Battilion Chief J. delValle (B-7702) will have adminstrative coverage for the Northern end of the LPNF.

I ran into Chief Jaime delValle yesterday on Tassajara Road, and he mentioned that that the fourth dozer went down to Big Sur today... proud of his homeboys, Papa Skee signs his missives this way:

Another example of what CFC Volunteers can do and have done.
Any Assignment
Any Where
Any Time
CFC will get the job done Safely!

Skee
Skee Stanley
Fire Chief
Cachagua Fire Protection District

Go get 'em!!! And thanks Cachagua Volunteers, once again, for watching our back!

The Chalk Wildlands Fire Plume from Carmel Valley

2008-09-28T23:12:00.001-07:00

(panorama shot, click to enlarge... it's wiiiiiiiiiide!)

September 28, 2008 about 6:45pm...

Upon leaving our house in Jamesburg this evening, we noticed some ashfall on our car... curious, I thought! That fire's still 27 miles away!

Well, when we got to Laureles Grade, here's the view looking south. This is not a small fire, and the word is that the crews expect containment on October 10th... in other words, it's not just a walk in our park!

Chalk Peak Fire near Pacific Valley, Big Sur...

2008-09-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday, September 28, 2008 about 8:30am ...

Big Sur Kate, who lives and blogs from Pacific Valley, is reporting a new fire, just about out her back door.

It seems to have begun around 9 pm last night and it was estimated to be about 25 acres at the time.

As of this morning, evacuations have been ordered in the Pacific Valley area, near the fire. The extent of the evacuation area is not yet clear.

According to Kate and other sources, USFS wildland fire vehicles are on site and aircraft can be heard nearby.

The Modis map (click to expand the image), above, is from this morning and it shows a number of hot spots. The ones to the left are - presumably - near the origin of the fire, while those to the right are about two miles east.

There is no incident yet declared on Inciweb, but stay tuned to Kate's Blog for on-ground information, as long as she can do so safely.

Here's a recent post from Kate's blog:

9:30 am - initial attack reports LP hots spotted headed this way early this am. Also reports: “BEU sent 1 engine strike team, 2 single increment engines, 3 crews from Gabilan Camp, 1 chief officer, 2 air tankers, C-406. Good header showing from King City with drift smoke going to the north. Mid 90’s expected today. Fire is on the south side of Naciemento Ferguson Rd. off the South Coast Ridge Rd, both sides of the South Coast Ridge Rd. have fire on it. Last update I heard was 20-30 acres. Smoke column looks like it might be a little larger than that.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, September 28, 2008 about 10:15am ...

This just in from BSVFD Chief Frank Pinney (through a 3rd party source):

FYI, we are standing by at this time on the South Coast with structures threatened by a 200-300 acre active fire near Pruitt Ridge, just about to South Coast Ridge Road. USFS has crews on it since about 9PM last night and incoming resources this morning.

Frank

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, September 28, 2008 about 2:15pm ...

Big Sur Kate is the go-to woman on this fire... her blog has in-yer-face photos - literally! - since the fire is providing a show for people watching it from her place (she's even done up some popcorn!).

InciWeb has the fire up, at last. Listed as the "Chalk Wildland Fire" just click and you'll go there, if it's not "that time of the month" for InciWeb!

From Kate's latest on her blog:

And this just in from the (U.S. Forest Service) PIO:

“The Chalk Fire is now on Inciweb. Info from the field is sketchy at this point, but should improved later this afternoon/early evening when the arrival of the Type 2 Incident Management Team and additional PIO’s. We have a field PIO (Rich Phelps) in the area right now, however cell phone coverage is poor. We have only two phone lines open in the Goleta Information Center so would prefer everyone check inciweb.org. As we receive new confirmed information we will post it on Inciweb….

Kathy Good
Public Affairs Officer

2:00 pm - just spoke w/ Kathy Good. Jim Smith and his Type II IC team is on the way, and additional information should be available once the situation is evaluated.

2:30 pm - Roberta, of the USFS is asking all children to leave the area, according to Alicia. Keith Harlan reports what sounds like an evacuation “warning” (preparation, only) for Lucia and the Hermitage.

Here's what InciWeb's got at the moment:

INCIDENT UPDATED 33 MIN. AGO

Summary

The Chalk Fire started at approximately 7:30 p.m last evening and has now burned 500-600 acres. The fire is located just to the north of Chalk Peak, approximately 22 miles south west of King City, in the Monterey County section of Los Padre National Forest. The fire is burning in oak and brush west of Chalk Peak and South Coast Ridge Road and is on both sides of South Coast ridge Road. By 1:00 p.m. this afternoon, the fire had crossed Nacimiento Ferguson Road and is currently burning on both sides of the road. The fire is currently very visible, as it is generating a large column of smoke.

Cause of the fire is under investigation.

Road closures: Nacimiento Ferguson Road is closed at Highway-1 on the west side and at the forest boundary on the east side. South Coast Ridge Road is closed at Nacimiento Ferguson Road and Highway-1 at Plaskett Creek.

Evacuations: As a precautionary measure, 3 national forest campgrounds southwest of the fire have been advised to evacute. Other rural residences and private inholdings may need to be evacuated.

Resources either on scene or ordered: 7 helicopters, 8 air tankers, 1 lead plane, 1 air attack aircraft and 10 engines.

And this just in from Chief Skee Stanley of Cachagua Fire:

At Noon today Cachagua Dozers 7755, 7756 and 7757 are enroute to the Incident. D-7758 will be enroute on Monday morning.

Skee

And here's the fire map!!

Full size

Close up

What about a Municipal Advisory Council?

2008-09-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

September 8, 2008 about 7:30 am...

At a recent Big Sur MAAC meeting, Congressman Sam Farr brought to my attention the provision in California law that allows for an entity called a "Municipal Advisory Council" or MAC.

The purpose of such a group is to allow a community to "advise" the county supervisors on what the community's needs are and through this method, get a "seat at the table" gain some local "clout" and garner funds, via grants, etc... otherwise-unavailable to individuals.

Shall we consider asking Dave Potter's office to sponsor a Jamesburg-Cachagua Municipal Advisory Council? Is anyone interested in forming such a group? What are the pros and cons of this in our area?

Unlike "Incorporation" or the formation of a "Service" or "Fire" district, we would not need LAFCO approval, nor would it cost anything to do this.

Here's the citation:

Municipal Advisory Councils

(Excerpt from California Government Code Section 31010)

DIVISION 4. EMPLOYEES

PART 1. EMPLOYEES

31010. The board of supervisors of any county may by resolution establish and provide funds for the operation of a municipal advisory council for any unincorporated area in the county to advise the board on such matters which relate to that area as may be designated by the board concerning services which are or may be provided to the area by the county or other local governmental agencies, including but not limited to advice on matters of public health, safety, welfare, public works, and planning. Unless the board of supervisors specifically provides to the contrary, a municipal advisory council may represent the community to any state, county, city, special district or school district, agency or commission, or any other organization on any matter concerning the community. The board may pay from available funds such actual and necessary expenses of travel, lodging, and meals for the members of the council while on such official business as may be approved by the board.

The resolution establishing any such municipal advisory council shall provide for the following:

(a) The name of the municipal advisory council.

(b) The qualifications, number, and method of selection of its members, whether by election or appointment.

(c) Its designated powers and duties.

(d) The unincorporated area or areas for which the municipal advisory council is established.

(e) Whether the establishment of the council should be submitted to the voters and the method for such submission; provided that if an election is required pursuant to subdivision (b), such election shall be held at the same time as an election held pursuant to this subdivision.

(f) Such other rules, regulations and procedures as may be necessary in connection with the establishment and operation of the municipal advisory council.

(Added by Stats. 1971, Ch. 348; Amended by Stats. 1975, Ch. 336; Amended by Stats. 1978, Ch. 41.)

______________________________________

Links to some existing MACs...

Pescadero Municipal Advisory Council

Inyokern Municipal Advisory Council

Temescal Municipal Advisory Council

Gualala Municipal Advisory Council

______________________________________

Example of a MAC for an unincorporated area...

LODI NEWS SENTINEL
July 18, 2002
Lockeford to hold first MAC meeting tonight

By Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel staff writer

Today will be a historic occasion with the first-ever meeting of the Lockeford Municipal Advisory Council.

The seven-member council will advise San Joaquin County officials about issues covering public works projects, public health, safety, welfare and land-use issues in the Lockeford area.

The council consists of temporary chairman Timothy Fowler along with Robert Marty, Lani Eklund, Peter Bregman, Don Litchfield, Chris Littlefield and Roy Wales.

"We hope to be the spokespeople for the community and hope to have a little more clout than individuals would," said Bregman, a certified and financial planner who has lived near Highway 88 and Kettleman Lane since 1978.

"I hope it will be a voice for the community and help to shape the community so that we can live in Lockeford and enjoy the reasons we moved to Lockeford," said Eklund, co-owner of the historic Inn at Locke House on Elliott Road.

The council's inaugural meeting will begin at 7 p.m. today at the Lockeford Community Center's McDonald Building, 19456 N. Jack Tone Road. Monthly public meetings will be held on the third Thursday of each month.

In addition to electing officers, Fowler has placed four items on the MAC's first agenda:

A report by Chris Locke, a Lockeford Community Services District board member, on plans for Lockeford's first park. It could be built on 10.21 acres the district purchased this year from the pioneer Hammond family on Tully Road, just south of Lockeford Elementary School.

What can be done with the large abandoned building at the northwest corner of Highway 88 and Elliott in the heart of Lockeford's business district.

A tentative subdivision map for Lockeford Vista, Unit 2, a proposal for about 34 homes on the south side of Highway 88 in the eastern end of town. The Lockeford Vista developer, however, has not acquired water and sewer rights, according to Joe Salzman, general manager of the Lockeford Community Services District.

Plans for traffic signals on Highway 88 at Victor Road and on the highway at the Tully/Elliott road intersection.

Two more stop lights are planned on Highway 88, one at Victor Road and another at the intersection of Tully and Elliott roads. Bregman said he wants to make sure Caltrans' plans don't become delayed like they have in the past.

Fowler said a Caltrans representative is scheduled to attend the MAC's Aug. 15 meeting.

Fowler noted the need for more traffic safety in light of two major accidents that took place in the Lockeford area during the past week. One was a fatal truck-pedestrian accident on Highway 88 near Victor Road, and another crash at Elliott and Highway 88.

"That's somewhat of a frequent occurrence," Fowler said.

Bregman said he hopes a municipal advisory council in Lockeford can encourage important projects like traffic lights on Highway 88 to be accelerated.

He said he has witnessed many severe traffic accidents near his residence at Highway 88 and Kettleman Lane, yet it took until last fall to have a traffic light installed at that intersection.

Municipal advisory council at-a-glance

A municipal advisory council consists of residents within a community's boundaries who will advise San Joaquin County officials about issues of interest within the community.

Issues will include land use, public works projects, public health, safety and welfare.

The Lockeford Municipal Advisory Council boundaries extend north to the Mokelumne River, west to Tretheway Road, south to Kettleman Lane and east to Tully Road between Kettleman and Brandt Road. North of Brandt, the eastern boundary is Disch Road.

Lockeford becomes the fifth community to have a municipal advisory council established by the Board of Supervisors. The others are Woodbridge, Morada, Linden and French Camp. Beginning in 2004, the council seats will be elected positions.

The Lockeford MAC consists of seven people who live within the council boundaries.

Timothy Fowler, council president for tonight's meeting, has owned for seven years an arbitration business in Lockeford, where he handles real estate disputes, medical disputes with insurance companies and negotiates debt settlements with businesses in debt.

"I try to keep the parties from going into court," Fowler said. Fowler has also owned Computer Bob's on Highway 88 in Lockeford for two years. Born and raised in Lodi, Fowler was a building contractor for 25 years before deciding to get out of the business. He spent 10 years in Amador County before moving to Lockeford four years ago.

He was project coordinator for the Lodi Veterans Plaza project and is vice president of the Veterans Plaza Foundation.

Community Emergency Response Team....

2008-09-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

September 7, 2008, about 10 am...

As we move forward in the Jamesburg and Cachagua community to develop our own citizen's emergency action group, we might find useful a program called Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) offered without charge by "Citizen Corps" which is a program sponsored by FEMA, which is of course, under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Here's what their webpage says about the CERT program:

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.

The CERT program is well-developed and free of charge. If we wished to start a Jamesburg and Cachagua CERT-based program, here's a link that suggests the steps that a community group takes in order to do so.

Supervisor Dave Potter has already offered the service of his office to assist (the CERT program asks for a local elected leader to sponsor the local program, so this would be a perfect first-use of the supervisor's resources).

If you'd like to get an idea about what the training materials are like, you can try out a few by following this link.

________________________________________________

The Big Sur NERT Concept...

In addition to CERT, a while back, while attending one of the Big Sur Multi Agency Advisory Meetings (BSMAAC), Penny Vieregge, a long-time time, active and respected resident of Big Sur, brought up an effort, mounted in 1996, to address local fire preparedness.

Chief Frank Pinney also chimed in, in support of revisiting the Community Emergency Response Plan, of which he was also a part.

Here are some notes, provided by Peggy, from the previous program. The plan is a 5-module approach, which involves Disaster Emergency Training provided by the Red Cross in order to create a context for emergency preparedness. But, it doesn't stop there...

The plan assumes that neighborhood groups, or "enclaves"- any small, distinct area or group enclosed or isolated within a larger one, will identify and address it's own distinct needs.

For example, in our area, an enclave could be as "broad" as Jamesburg and/or Cachagua, or as discrete as Trampa Canyon, Chews Ridge, Princes Camp, Sky Ranch, and the like.

The enclaves are as we define them... we simply want the delineations to make practical sense.

The enclaves will communicate with each other in an emergency and in non-emergencies, they'll maintain and enhance their preparedness, periodically.

Here are some of the features of the Big Sur plan ("NERT" - a predecessor of "CERT" are conceptually the same):

Identification of enclaves with mapping, communications, safe areas and evacuation routes for Coastlands (Upper, Middle and Lower Roads) and Pfieffer Ridge (upper and lower). Areas, from Palo Colorado south to the County line identified by watershed, access roads, alternate escape routes

Three training frameworks in preparation, responding and recovery in place:

Module I - Self and Family
Module II - Neighborhood; and,
Module III - Community

Module I
Training provided by American Red Cross (ARC) - Intro to Disaster

Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) - Disaster Awareness Personal
Family
Workplace

Training Provided by NERT

Emergency Response Team

Training provided by ARC

Disaster Action Teams
Incident Command System from Family to State

Training provided by ARC and NERT -
Family Planning for:

Fire/Flood
Road closures

Module II
Communications

Within the family
Within the enclave
With command agency

Info Updating
Documentation

Module III
ARC /NERT - Disaster Psychology

Windup after Disaster
Recovery Re-occupation Safety,
Hazard Assessment Available agency assistance debriefing
Re-assessment of planning

Module IV

Trained enclaves to meet with professional agencies for a review of:

Safe areas
Evacuation/staging areas
Introduction of enclave leaders (based on the ICS)
Inventory list exchange; and,
Communications methods, protocols and contacts

Monterey County Agency Contacts

2008-09-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

September 7, 2008 about 9:30 am...

Monterey County Contacts for Fire Recovery Questions:

Planning Department Questions:

Coastal Zone

Joe Sidor (Primary) 755-5262
Carl Holm 755-5103
Laura Lawrence 755-5148
Mike Novo 755-5192

Inland Areas

Ramon Montano (Primary) 755-5169
Taven Kinison Brown 755-5173
Jose Luis Osorio 755-5177
Carl Holm 755-5103

MoCo Website Links:

Monterey County website links to other organizations:
Links to NonProfit Organizations
Links to Government Organizations
Applications for Rebuilding, Monterey County website

Erosion Control Information, Monterey County website

Monterey County Fire Information website

Building Services Department Questions

Wanda Hickman: 755-5285
Albert Salvador : 755-5191

Health Department Questions (Water Systems, Hazardous Materials, Waste)

Reception : 755-4505

Office of Emergency Services (Disaster Assistance)

Individuals and Businesses: Rob Clyburn: 796-1902
Non Profits and Agencies: Phil Yenovkian: 796-1904

Natural Resources Conservation Service (technical assistance for private lands)
Salinas Office: 424-1036

Robert LaFleur: extension 101
Danny Marquis: extension 115

US Forest Service (questions relating to Forest Service land)
King City Office: 385-5434

State Parks (questions relating to State Parks land)
Monterey District Office: 649-2836

Ever Wonder What the Cobra Pilot Sees??

2008-09-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

September 7, 2006 about 7am...

Video from Wildfire Event on the Klamath River

If you read this blog regularly during the Basin Complex Fire, you may remember that we spoke about the Bell Cobra Helicopter, based in King City, outfitted with InfraRed instrumentation and from high altitude, used to search for "hot spots" in the fire zone.

In 1996, the U.S. Army retired 25 of its Cobra combat attack helicopters.

The Forest Service got them, refitted them with a bunch of useful things and called them "Firewatch" helicopters.

High-flying and fast, their purpose is to relay information about the direction and strength of a fire to ground crews and to help larger planes make accurate water or fire-retardant drop by providing precise GPS coordinates.

Also on board is an infrared thermal imager capable of detecting the heat of a wildfire through thick smoke (see video, above). Its low-light and color cameras can pick up fine resolution images of the fire, and then its transmission equipment can send those images—in real time—to firefighting crews up to 30 miles away.

Community Meeting, Cachagua Community Center 9/3/08...

2008-09-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

September 3, 2008, about 6:00 pm...

The Community Meeting at Cachagua Community Center this evening, was in the overall, positive and fruitful.

Hosted by Congressman Sam Farr and 5th District Supervisor Dave Potter, the meeting, drew a raft of agency representatives, including Monterey County Sheriff Mike Kanalakis and his staff, the CHP, MoCo OES, Building, Environmental Health, Natural Resources Conservation Service, CalFire, Cachagua and Carmel Valley Fire, the U.S. Forest Service, SPCA others.

I, for one, was pleased to see the Sheriff present, as, I think, were many residents, since more than a few were non-plussed about the performance of the Monterey County Sheriff's deputies, and Chief Kanalakis himself, during the evacuation events.

John Russo (shown in the picture, above), Greg Scherman, (the unofficial "Mayor of Jamesburg") and a number of other residents aired their experiences, points of view and displeasure; but, ultimately - and this is the encouraging part - many agreed that it is time for and active group of residents to organize in order to identify resources, lines of communication, work with local representatives and authorities and vie for a seat at the Incidnet Command table, when the next disaster strike Jamesburg Cachagua.

For their part, agency representatives appeared to be willing to assist in any way they can.

If you wish to be a part of forming and developing a Community Emergency Response Team, please call (831) 659-2320 or email me: kellyeo@mac.com

Our thanks to all the agency representatives in attendance, and to Sam Farr, Dave Potter and Kathleen Lee, and John Russo for helping to put together this meeting; and, of course, many thanks to our good friends and neighbors in the Cachagua-Jamesburg area.

Audio from the meeting can be found HERE and on KUSP's website.

Will the Real Community Meeting Please Stand Up... ?

2008-09-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

September 2, 2008 about 5pm...

Congress member Sam Farr and Supervisor Dave Potter, Co-Chairs

Invite you to a

SPECIAL MEETING ON THE BASIN COMPLEX /INDIANS FIRES

Where:

Cachagua Community Center

37100 Nason Road, Carmel Valley

When:

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

6 to 7:30 pm

Questions?? Call 1 (800) 340-FARR or (831) 915-9274

We want to hear from you!

I. Debrief on the fire

What worked?
What didn’t work?
What do we need to improve?

II. Rebuilding the community

Identify what programs are currently in place
Identify what services are currently available
Identify services or programs that are needed
What Planning Efforts are in place for the winter?

Agencies invited to participate are:

Cachagua Fire Protection District
Carmel Valley Fire Protection District
Monterey County Sheriff
Office of Emergency Services
Water Resources Agency
Planning and Building
Environmental Health, and Public Works Departments,
California Highway Patrol
United States Forest Service
CAL-FIRE
NRCS Resource Conservation District

The Angora Fire of 2007, just over a year later...

2008-08-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

The Angora Fire was a wind driven fire that started near North Upper Truckee Road subdivision near Angora Lakes, Fallen Leaf Lake, Echo Lake and South Lake Tahoe, California around 2:15 PM on Sunday, June 24, 2007 as a result of an illegal campfire.

The fire burned 3,300 acres, destroyed 242 residences and 67 commercial structures, and damaged 35 other homes. At the peak, there were as many as 2,180 firefighters involved in battling the blaze. The fire cost $12.1 million to fight.

(More pictures and text to come, on the Angora Fire!)

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Controlling Nature's Wrath...

I watched this movie recently and I can highly recommend it. It covers not only Defensible Space but also Fire Safe Councils.

Finding the video was particularly timely, since I'd been touring the site of the Angora Fire near Fallen Leaf Lake at South Lake Tahoe.

Friends invited us to stay at a house they were renting on Fallen Leaf Lake, just over the ridge from the Angora Fire burn area, so it was easy to tour.

Talk about object lessons, the pictures certainly told a lot!

In addition to touring the burn area, this video turned up on the cabin owners bookshelf, unopened, since last year.

My guess is that the video was a giveaway to the neighbors, in order to encourage defensible space activity, etc.

If you'd like to watch the video, I've uploaded it HERE.

Big Sur Multi-Agency Advisory Council Meeting, 12th August...

2008-08-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

August 12 2008, about 6 pm....

The Big Sur Multi-Agency Advisory Council (BSMAAC) met at Big Sur Lodge last night.

Agency representatives with responsibility for post-fire programs were on hand to discuss what is being made available and the work that they are doing.

Monterey County Planning Department will waive permit fees under their emergency permit process.

USFS BAER and CalFire's similar SEATS programs will publish reports - available via website within 2 weeks.

Consultations to estimate mudslide potential this winter in the Big Sur area will be done routinely AND BY REQUEST of individual homeowners with specific concerns. Contact Coast Property Owners Association to schedule a consultation.

Audio of the meeting can be found HERE and in KUSP's website.

(left: Congressman Sam Farr makes a point during the well-attended BSMAAC Meeting of the 12th of August.)

Neighbor to Neighbor Big Sur Fire Relief Gala...

2008-08-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

August 9th, 2008 about 6pm... Monterey Convention Center

Fantastic food from two of Big Sur's best chefs, a live auction, a silent auction, wonderful wine from the likes of Talbott, Pessagno and others, nine hosted bars, and Big Sur PuertoRiqueño music were the hallmarks of last night's Neighbor to Neighbor Big Sur Fire Relief Gala.

I'm not quite sure exactly how much money was raised, but a guess would be in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred thousand dollars.

Big Sur Volunteer Fire Fighter Toby Rowland Jones (far-right in the picture to the right), of Partington Ridge, offered for auction dinner for 6 at his home. Toby, who stayed with a number of others to fight the flames face to face, was floored when the winning bidder raised his hand at $9,000.

It was such a successful and amazing moment, that, shortly thereafter Toby - always fast on his feet - made a unscheduled auction offer of dinner for four at his home, which netted about $3500.

Toby, hide the Spaghetti-O's, dude...

As the event wore on, an people were treated to poignant video of those who stayed to defend their homes, complete with Johnny Cash singing Tom Petty's "I won't Back Down."

I had the chance to catch up with the host of the event, 5th District Monterey County Supervisor Dave Potter. He was gracious enough to chat with me about where things might go from here, now that the Basin Complex fire is behind us.

You can listen to the audio by clicking HERE.

Big Sur Multi-Agency Advisory Council Meeting...

2008-08-05T17:57:00.000-07:00

August 4, 2008, about 6pm...

The Big Sur Multi-Agency Advisory Council (BSMAAC) met at Big Sur lodge last night. The photo at left has Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Frank Pinney addressing the group of about 100 Central Coast residents, as the meeting began.

While the meeting was emotionally charged and many impassioned testimonies were heard, the tone of the meeting was respectful.

Audio from the two hour plus meeting can be heard HERE and at KUSP's website.

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Life in the Fire Lane - PART DEUX

2008-08-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

After a wee hiatus, it seems sensible to avoid having a discussion of wildfire and how to deal with it as a community, in a vacuum.

Thus, Life in the Fire Lane - PART DEUX, is born.

I've been doing a lot of research - journalism-like research - on the overall disfunctionality of our wildfire prevention scheme, and a little bit of work on the multi-agency structure of wildfire response and suppression, and I think it's work sharing, the solicitation of feedback and coordination between active groups bordering the Los Padres National Forest.

My wonderful partner, Martha, has gotten caught up in this - one might say, it's "caught fire" with her, and she's coming up with ideas and references that have been and continue to be, extremely useful.

I would hope that you, who have taken the time to visit this 'blog and read, will also feel inclined to share your ideas, contacts, activities and knowledge!

I hope to develop a series of radio pieces on these subjects, to be aired, perhaps, on KUSP Central Coast Public Radio at some time in the not too distant future.

There are also lessons to be learned from activities - success stories, really - in groups not local.

Hopefully, this 'blog can make a contribution to furthering the understanding and discussion of how we who life cheek-to-cheek with wildfire-prone lands, should act in order to protect our lives, property and the natural environment of the spectacular area in which we live.

On a practical note, I have ideas and information from recent meetings and conversations on about managing in the face of threat of wildfire.

I'm editing some rather lengthy audio from a meeting in Pacific Valley, in Big Sur south, from the previous Thursday (July 31).... many thanks for the audio tapes - I was a few minutes late to this 2-hour long meeting - to Linda Padilla, who also made a lovely contribution to KUSP, just because she wanted to do so!

I also had the opportunity to meet Big Sur Kate tete-a-tete... hiya, Kate!!! Great to meet you!

There's much to discuss and very few for whom interest will outlast the immediate threat of wildfire.

But, we're in good company. Here's the question that poet Gary Snyder, a Grass Valley resident, posed to forest scientist Jerry Franklin:

"I was on a panel in San Francisco several years with Jerry Franklin the eminent forest scientist now based at the University of Washington. So last month I took it on myself to write him the following question:
'When I talk to the Biodiversity Council in June, I would like to be able to say something like this: 'Long range sustainable forestry practices - that will support full biodiversity - and be relatively fire-resistant - and also be on some scale economically viable - over centuries - is fully possible. And what we must now do is search out and implement the management program that will do that.' Do you think I can say this and the science will support it? Any comments?'

Jerry Franklin immediately wrote me back,

'What you propose is totally and absolutely feasible for the Sierra Nevada. I.e., long-term sustainability, full biological diversity, relative fire resistance (low probability of catastrophic crown fire), and economic viability. A system which provides for restoration and maintenance of a large diameter tree component (with its derived large snags and down logs) and which provides for moderate to high levels of harvest in the small and medium diameter classes (allowing escapement of enough trees into the large diameter class to provide replacements for mortality in the large diameter group) and prescribed burning in some locations can do this. Other considerations include riparian protection and, perhaps, shaded fuel breaks. Economic and sustainable in perpetuity!' "

To quote SuperMario.... "Here weee g-o-o-o-o-o-oooooooo..."

Now It's Time to Say 'Goodbye' to All Our Com-pa-ny...

2008-07-28T13:13:00.001-07:00

July 28, 2008 about noon....

(photo by Kari Greer)

Hi, friends and neighbors!

You can listen to the final "Morning Update" interview with IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley from the Spike Camp in Jamesburg, HERE and at KUSP's website.

Our common ordeal is now coming to a close and we all have our lives to which we must return... others will tell the story "after the fire" better than I can. I'll leave it to them!

For my part, "Thank You" to all of you who made this 'blog a compelling and interesting source of information for our community.

If I try to name everyone, I'll fail... but I'd like to thank Jim Kasson, in particular, for his unfailing dedication to bringing us twice a day MODIS updates.

Dr. Eric Walters of Hastings Reserve also contributed a tremendous amount of on-the-ground reports during the Mandatory Evacuation, as did so many of our good neighbors and friends, offering pictures and information.

BIG ups to Cachagua Fire and in particular Rod McMahon, Bear Kimber, Dane Bonsper... and, of course, Bob Eaton, without whose pastures this production would have been hard to stage!

Many thanks to IC Chief Jeanne Pincha-Tulley and her staff, who reached out to communicate with the Central Coast communities about this fire, from the day she took command. Chief, the Forest Service may not know what a gem they've got in you... but we sure do!

KUSP has been an invaluable resource, my personal media outlet and a dedicated community-based medium for accurate and broad-based information on the fire. Steve Laufer, Manager of New Media at KUSP, has worked tirelessy - well, OK, he's tired - on this project. He deserves a standing ovation.

Finally, from me personally, thanks for your kind words of support and for your comments! Martha and I have met many of our neighbors for the first time; and, that's been an unexpected delight!

If you wish to express thanks financially, below are my suggestions. Each or any one of these organizations need and deserve your support... they are largely VOLUNTEER organizations:

KUSP 88.9 FM Central Coast Public Radio

Cachagua Fire Protection District

Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade

The Wildland Firefighter Foundation

And, finally, a BIG THANKS, to the thousands of Wildland Firefighters who came to defend our lives and property when we called.

They didn't HAVE to do this... they did it because... it's what they do.

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Note on the Future of 'Life in the Fire Lane'...

My plan for this 'blog is to use it to further the community conversation about creating - at least - a community-sourced working plan for Wildand Fire Fuels Reduction and at best, working within our community to produce a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. I'll post only if there's relevant information or announcements to convey.

If you'd like to be a part of a longer-term effort putting together such plans and getting buy-in from the various agencies that govern our local public lands, you're invited and feel free to contact me.... and, thanks to those of you who have done so, thus far.

-- waves -- "Y'all come back, now... heah??"

Best,

Kelly Erin O'Brien

(831) 659-2320 home

(650) 533-1010 cell

Evening of the 27th MODIS map...

2008-07-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

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July 27, 2008 about 7 pm...

This map is looking pretty good!

Jim says:

"The only new fires are near the top of, and NW of, Miller Mountain.

InciWeb is on vacation this afternoon, so I can’t compare the satellite data to the plan."

Indeed, InciWeb has done it's 'vaporware' act yet again, disguising itself as a "Page not Found". When is a communications tool not a communications tool? When it's being INCIWEB!!!

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HOLD THE PHONE!!!!!!

I just accessed InciWeb and we are at 100% containment!!!!!

Congratulations to Chief Jeanne Pincha-Tulley and her team!

From the Summary:

"The Basin Complex Fire, which started on June 21, was declared 100% contained at 6:00pm today, July 27. The fire has burned 162,818 acres to date; however, the final acreage will be somewhat higher due to the continued burning of islands of vegetation within the fire's interior.

Approximately 560 firefighters are still assigned to the Basin Complexthis evening, but heavy demobilization of resources is underway. Some crews will remain in the area to continue mop-up and to rehabilitate fire control lines and roads."

Evening of the 27th Information Map..

2008-07-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

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July 27, 2008 about 9 pm

100% contained!!!!!

Evening of the 27th Operational Map..

2008-07-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

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July 27, 2008 about 6 pm...

100 % Contained!!!

Interview with Abigail Kimball, Chief of the USFS...

2008-07-27T15:36:00.001-07:00

July 27, 2008 about 3 pm...

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Abigail Kimball, Chief of the USFS. The the interview may be found HERE and on KUSP's website.

These are the questions I asked Chief Kimbell:

What can community groups and individuals can do to work with Forest Service in order to promote the long-term health of the Forest, and minimize the possibilities of future wildland fires?

The national forests were created in part for "securing favorable conditions of water flows," the importance of which has grown as populations have grown. Evidence appears to show that we are entering a period of water scarcity not seen in our history. What difference can the Forest Service make in maintaining the balance between population growth and water sources, in the face of climate change?

Regarding The Forest Service's work in managing outdoor recreation, given California's extreme fire situation so early in the summer, do you support a ban on campfires on fire-prone public lands.

The Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) program, once an assessment is made, will act to mitigate significant threats to health, safety, life and property in a watershed. Does the BAER team assess the fires effects on the river in its entirety, or just within the borders of the Los Padres National Forest?

The Basin Complex and the Indians Fire, between them will possibly cost $150 mllion, including BAER. Did you anticipate this year's early fire season from a budgeting standpoint? And if not, from where will the additional monies come?

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Here's a bio of Chief Kimbell...

Abigail R. Kimbell, the 16th Chief and first female Chief of the US Forest Service grew up in New England, where she spent her formative years hiking, fishing, and camping on the White Mountain National Forest. She received a bachelor's degree in forest management from the University of Vermont in 1974 and later a master's degree in forest engineering from Oregon State University.

She worked as a seasonal employee before beginning her Federal forestry career in 1974 with the Bureau of Land Management in Medford, Oregon. She then joined the Forest Service as a pre-sale forester in Kodiak, Alaska, in 1977. She next worked in Oregon as a logging engineer and then a district planner. She served as a district ranger in Kettle Falls, Washington on the Colville National Forest from 1985-88, and on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in La Grande, Oregon, from 1988-91, and as forest supervisor of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska (1992-97) and the Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming (1997-99).

From 1999-2002, Kimbell was the forest supervisor for the Pike and San Isabel National Forests and the Comanche National Grassland—all in Colorado—as well as the Cimarron National Grassland in Kansas. In May 2002, Kimbell began work as the associate deputy chief for the National Forest System lands in the Forest Service Washington, DC headquarters. During her tenure as associate deputy chief, Gail's leadership was instrumental in helping to carry out the Healthy Forests Initiative and she provided support in the development of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003.

In December 2003, Kimbell was named as the Regional Forester for the Northern Region located in Missoula, Montana. She assumed her current position as Chief of the US Forest Service on February 5, 2007.

Kimbell is a member of the Society of American Foresters

Are we burning the wrong Bushs?

2008-07-27T15:28:00.000-07:00

July 27, 2008 about 3 pm...

Here's an interesting article from Natty Geographic from August 15, 2003, about the U.S. Wildfire Policy...

Is U.S. Wildfire Policy a Smoke Screen?
TravelWatch
By Jonathan B. Tourtellot
National Geographic Traveler
Updated August 15, 2003
"Everybody is trying to hijack the fire issue for their own agendas" —Fire historian Stephen Pyne, of Arizona State University"
If you like driving among towering Sierra Nevada ponderosa pines older than the Constitution, or hiking Montana's Bitterroot in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark, you may be making one of the year's half billion visits to America's national parks and forests.

Except, of course, to the forests that are on fire. In Montana alone, 19 fires were burning at last report. One has closed part of Glacier National Park.

Wildfires have been getting worse over the years. In response, the government now plans drastic tree-thinning under its Healthy Forests Initiative. Skeptics call it a pretext for logging, one that flies in the face of our forests' overarching value as places to visit and appreciate.

Today's fires can grow unusually fierce because Smokey Bear went overboard. For decades, the well-meaning policy of suppressing all forest fires allowed too much fuel—dead wood, underbrush, small trees—to build up on public lands, especially in the fire-prone West. What might have once been a minor grass fire now turns cataclysmic, like last year's Hayman Fire in Colorado.

All parties generally agree that many forests need tidying up—by cutting, or carefully controlled burning, or both.

There, agreement ends. Citing cost efficiency, the Bush administration will invite loggers to do the thinning and let them cut what they need for profit. Critics say they'll take the best, biggest trees.

To sort it out, I consulted the nation's best-known fire historian, Dr. Stephen Pyne, based at Arizona State.
"I am dismayed that they are coupling fire management with commercial logging," he says of the White House plan. "Usually fire takes the little stuff and leaves the big, while logging takes the big stuff and leaves the little." Logging debris, he adds, is a worse hazard yet.
But both sides, Pyne says, oversimplify. Forests are naturally adapted to fire, but in different ways. The open grass-tree mix typical of ponderosa pine needs frequent, mild grass fires. The bigger trees survive, providing key habitat and pools of cooling shade. Lodgepole pine forests, by contrast, grow thickly and regenerate every century or so from "self-immolating burns," as in the seemingly catastrophic Yellowstone fires of 1988.

Jim Furnish, a former deputy Forest Service chief, agrees. In Yellowstone today, he points out, "you can see all the young lodgepoles growing the way they're supposed to. Yellowstone is performing exactly as a wild park should." Lodgepole, in fact, relies on fire to open its seed-laden pine cones.

What are national forests for? A faithful political conservative on most matters, Furnish wants "to manage forests for values like wildlife and recreation." Economics back him up: Whether fishing or camping or touring, visitors now account for 78 percent of the national forests' contribution to the overall economy, according to a 2000 Department of Agriculture report. Logging has slipped to only 12 percent.

Furnish offers a way to have both visitors and timber, minus fire: He started demonstration plots in the 1990s to show how loggers can thin second-growth forests, leaving the large trees and using new lumber technologies to get the most out of smaller ones. [Indeed, the market for old-growth timber is declining. Few mills can still handle the big logs, as thick as 50 inches (127 centimeters), but political pressure to cut old growth persists.]

Furnish wants to see forest habitats preserved, not just for that feathered political football, the spotted owl, but for whole ecosystems, including vulnerable salmon streams. Take away the big trees, he says, "and you're taking away the engine that God built."

Geo-savvy tips: To see what a ponderosa forest should look like, check out the one that the logging town of Condon, Montana, created around its Swan visitor center (406-754-3137). In Yellowstone, take a ranger-led tour of the open, now flourishing areas burned in '88. For a taste of logging traditions, many of which are themselves endangered, visit Libby, Montana, next July for Logger Days (406-293-4167).

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And you think that your garden hose is a pain?

2008-07-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

July 27, 2008 about 11 am...

While in Strike Camp here in Jamesburg, recently, I took note of an ongoing operation in the supplies area.

It's the hose inspection, cleaning and coiling works, that goes on most of the day and night.

The deal is this... the crews bring in used hose (they lay it out about 100 feet at a time, in sequence. At each junction there may be a "Y-valve" - also called a "siamese" - with a smaller diameter hose taken off the one are of the "Y"... there's hella' hose to lay out and then pick up.

After they laid out repeated runs of hose, then they have to collect it and bring the hoses back to camp at the end of the shift. A reel of 1 1/2 inch hose weighs about 15 pounds... some crew grab a few to haul uphill, in addition to their pack and tools.

On top of all this, outgoing crews need hose ready to go - HRG ;-) - to take with them to the fireline.

This group makes it all possible!

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LA Times Series on California Wildfires....

Kate, of the Big Sur Kate 'blog, just passed on a link to a 5-part LA Times series on California Wildfires.

The video of the 2700-acre South Lake Tahoe Fire that consumed 176 structures, is stunning... the mandatory evacuation sequences and the backfire attempt to create a firebreak, that failed in the face of an abrupt shift in the weather gives an indication of the bullets we dodged in Carmel Valley.

Thanks for the link, Kate!!!

Click here for an impressive interactive graphic on the cost of fighting wildfires from the LA Times.

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Fabulous and Fascinating Fun Facts for Friends and Family...

A ways back in the 'blog, the term "chain" was used to describe length. Here's the scoop on it, regarding wildfires:

"A chain is a unit of length; it measures 66 feet or 22 yards (20.1168m). There are 10 chains in a furlong, and 80 chains in one statute mile. An acre is the area of 10 square chains (that is, an area of one chain by one furlong)."The chain was commonly used with the mile to indicate land distances and in particular in surveying land for legal and commercial purposes.

The clergyman Edmund Gunter developed a method of surveying land accurately with low technology equipment, using what became known as Gunter's chain; this was 66 feet long and from the practice of using his chain, the word transferred to the actual measured unit. His chain had 100 links, and the link is used as a subdivision of the chain as a unit of length.

In countries influenced by English practice, land plans prepared before about 1960 associated with the sale of land usually have lengths marked in chains and links, and the areas of land parcels is indicated in acres.

A rectangle of land one furlong in length and one chain in width has an area of one acre.

In United States the chain is normally used as the measure of the rate of spread of wildfires (chains per hour), both in the predictive National Fire Danger Rating Systems as well as in after-action reports."

Sunday Morning MODIS and a Proposal...

2008-07-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

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July 27, 2008 about 8 am...

I know that people are beginning to lose interest in this fire... we all want to just get on with it and put this behind us.

But it's important to remember:

that this fire is not over yet,
the future of wildfire in our area is fairly predictable.
though the danger posed by wildfire within the National Forest has been mitigated for a few years, we still have enormous potential for wildfire in the outlying residential areas of Big Sur, Carmel Valley Village, Jamesburg and Cachagua; and,
climate change - global warming - may make prolonged drought and the risk of fire a rule.

The question before us as a community is:

Can we live with the social, economic, ecological and personal disruption and tragedy that massive wildfire brings to our area... about every ten years or so? If not, shall we work together over the long term to effect USFS Forest Management policy in Los Padres National Forest?

There some facts that make this question more relevant than at other times:

Climate change may cause the wildfire season to arrive much earlier and stay a bit later.
The U.S. Forest Service budget is under extreme duress due to firefighting expenses... essentially, the USFS is - financially speaking - eating itself from within by cannibalizing the budget of its other programs, which include forest management and wildfire mitigation.
While the next federal administration may bring change, regardless of who is elected, the legacy of the current administration leaves a tough card to be dealt (to either McCain - who has experience with wildfire in his home state of Arizona - or Obama). The Iraq War, the state of Medicare and Social Security, the state of the economy, the principal and interests we owe to China, the fall of the dollar and dependence on oil put "emergencies" on a first come, first served basis.
The government may not be able to help us except in an emergency, like the fire, and their resources may be strained or spread out, as we saw when this fire season began.

These fires combined, will cost us - as taxpayers - more than $150 million dollars. Should we not attempt to devise a locally-sourced approach - one that involves periodic, sensible wildlands management - rather than disgorging massive funds every ten years or so?

From the Los Angeles Times, July 27 2008:

"Wildfire costs are busting the Forest Service budget. A decade ago, the agency spent $307 million on fire suppression. Last year, it spent $1.37 billion.

Fire is chewing through so much Forest Service money that Congress is considering a separate federal account to cover the cost of catastrophic blazes.

In California, state wildfire spending has shot up 150% in the last decade, to more than $1 billion a year."

If we as a community, formed a working group do study and understand the implications, options and limits of issues such as firebreak maintenance and periodic prescribed burns in the Los Padres National Forest (LPNF), AND WE FORMULATED A RECOMMENDATION from a citizens' group, in the form of a report, to the U.S. Forest Service - LPNF, we could perhaps effect the way our "local" national forest is managed.

If there is a future for this WebLog - Life in the Fire Lane - then perhaps it might be as a voice advocating for such a citizens' group?

If you are willing to be a part of bringing together a community group, the goal of which, over the course of a few years, will be to recommend to the USFS - LPNF a Forest Management Plan that protects our local economy, property and the quality of our watershed, feel free to email me: kellyeo@mac.com or call: (831) 659-2320 or (650) 533-1010 cell. I'll use what resources I have to assist in bringing together those who are interested in working together.

There is a precedent for such action, by the way, in Idaho, which I shall write about, here, in the near future. And, I believe that we have allies politically here in the State of California, who would support a sensible community approach develop from a citizens' group.

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Some key points from InciWeb... why there still danger...

Containment remains at 85% as of today (still a' ways from 100% - KEO)
Intense backing fire of interior fuels in the upper Carmel River and Arroyo Seco drainages occurred. Other interior pockets of fuel continued to burn. Containment lines held.
Critically dry fuels conditions still exist with the potential for extreme fire behavior.

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Jim's comments about MODIS:

A cool, humid night. The fog is back. Even so, there was a fair amount of burning north, NW, and NE of Miller Mountain. There are no other new hotspots.

InciWeb’s “planned actions” for today is written in the past tense, so it’s hard to tell if any more burnouts are planned for today: “Crews continued to improve containment lines and complete burnout operations of interior islands. Significant progress was made on rehab in the Indians Fire and rehab operations continued on the East Basin Fires. Most of the hand line on the East Basin has been rehabbed.“

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Thanks, Pete!!

Thanks so much to Warren "Pete" Poitras, Director of the Carmel Valley Fire Protection District, for this link to a story and some extraordinary pictures of the firefight in the backcountry. The story is on the Carmel Valley Rotary website under "Press Releases" and it really warrants a visit!!

What's for dinner??? MODIS!!!!!!

2008-07-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

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July 26, 2008 about 7 pm...

Jim's provided us with the afternoon MODIS and a few words... thanks, Jim, for your continued support!!!

"Hot day today. I can’t tell how much activity is from burnouts and how much from wildfire, but this fire is most certainly not out.
A lot of action all around Miller Mountain
One lone hotspot just south of the MIRA Observatory.
Quite a bit of fire SE of Tassajara Hot Springs."

85% containment and counting!!!!

Want to do Something Meaningful for the Firefighters??

2008-07-26T16:08:00.001-07:00

July 26, 2008, about 3:30 pm...

There's no update for today from Chief Jeanne Pincha-Tulley. We agreed this morning that when she had more to report - rather than a simple reiteration of last night's community meeting at Tularcitos School in Carmel Valley - then, I'll interview her. The next scheduled update is on Monday morning.

One thing DID come up... what could people do to really say "Thanks!" to the firefighters.

While they appreciate the signs A LOT, what would really be a help would be if you made a donation to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation (WFF).

Who are WFF and what do they do??

Who they are:

"They are federal, state and local firefighters, private sector firefighters, interface firefighters, and volunteers from rural communities and towns across the United States. Many are long-time career professionals, some much newer to the job. They're ordinary people doing an extraordinary job – a community of committed individuals who work and train to protect our private and public lands."

What they do:

"We provide financial assistance, immediate and ongoing emotional support, advocacy, and recognition to fallen and injured wildland firefighters. We present program information and in some instances, onsite crisis support, to government and private fire agencies and other organizations.

Survivor family members are forever a part of the Foundation's purpose. We continue to provide emotional support and in some cases financial support many years after a firefighter's death. We will not forget."

So where federal assistance falls short, these folks go long. What the Forest Service won't pay for, they will... your donation helps WFF to:

Provide immediate travel assistance to get an injured firefighter's family to their firefighter's bedside and assist with expenses for families while their firefighter is recovering.
Arrange travel for crews to be able to take their fallen brothers home.
Network crews and families with information and support after an injury or fatality.
Give financial assistance to families of firefighters killed in the line of duty, ensuring the home is maintained and children are provided for.
Help an injured firefighter meet their financial needs until they receive benefits, or are able to go back to work.
Track injured firefighters to ensure they are receiving worker's comp benefits.
Assist children returning to school after the loss of a parent.
Ensure survivors are able to attend "Family Fire" the Foundation's annual gathering of families, co-workers, and wildland fire service personnel. Families share their path of healing and their children meet other kids struggling with the loss of a parent.
Organize a Disneyland trip for children of our fallen wildland firefighters.

If you'd like to know more about wildland firefighting, here's a link to the WFF store, where there are many products of interest, the proceeds from which go to the Foundation.

And here's the Operations Map...

2008-07-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

________________________

July 26, 2008 about 8:30 am...

Here's yesterday's Operations Map, on which you can clearly see the "island" of fire around Carmel River...

Vente MODIS latte, please....

2008-07-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

_________________________________________

July 26, 2008 about 8:15 am....

Lot's of smoke this morning, but not a lot of crew traffic up to Chews Ridge...

Cachagua Fire was BUSY yesterday, using their own home-made "TerryTorch:

"Cachagua's Torch 77 crew, composed of Skee Stanley, Terry Bishop, Tim Koster, Cassidy Johnson, and Dane Bonsper successfully "created some heat" with Terry's new TerraTorch that he built. It uses gasoline and a gelling agent to create the perfect flame-thrower. Using the torch, our crew moved along the dozer line so efficiently that air operations asked us to slow down, so we stopped and waited for the helicopters to catch up. Thanks to the US Forest Service, Cal Fire and cooperating agencies, all fire crews on the lines were always safe. The operation ran smoothly. It was nice to see the system working so well. 100 ft. flames danced and swirled as they slowly, and then more rapidly, moved down the ridge away from our community.

TerraTorch 77 a.k.a. Terry'Torch 77 was a stunning success. It created fire instantly and a heat draw that drew in the fire below, created later by the amazing helitorches. It was like an air-show and ballet combined, well maybe not... "...

...following Thursday's burn, there is no fuel load to support a fire of any kind on the "black" side of the dozer lines. "Lower" and "Upper" Cachagua are now relatively safe from this fire."

Jim's comments reflect what appear on the "Information Map" (next post) for yesterday... the "island" that Jeanne has been talking about is clearly seen in the Info Map and in the Operations Map as well... that little - well, not so little - viral area around Carmel River.

Off in a minit to interview JP-T for the morning update... see you soon!

"Just four hotspots overnight, all in the vicinity of Miller Mountain. Could be burnouts; could be wild fire."

As of 7:00 this morning (just updated), InciWeb says the plans for the day are: “Fire personnel will continue with mop up and patrol in the areas of Paloma Creek, Miller and River Canyons. Crews will progress with burnout operations around the communities of Arroyo Seco, Tanbark and South of the Los Padres Dam will continue as needed to improve perimeter line and mop up 300’. The Southern perimeter will be patrolled by air. Continue rehab for the East Basin and Indians Fire.“

Evening MODIS map...

2008-07-26T00:02:00.000-07:00

July 25, 2008... late!!!

Just back from a busy evening... apart from the Community Fire Information Meeting at Tularcitos School, I also recorded an exclusive interview with the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Abigail Kimbell.

Both shall be available as soon as possible, along with morning coffee with Jeanne...

In the meantime, here's this evening's MODIS map, with Jim's comments:

"This afternoon’s MODIS map is lit up like a Christmas tree. Let’s look at what InciWeb has to say about today’s activities, changed shortly after 7:00 this morning."

" 'In the areas of Paloma Creek, Miller and River Canyons, mop up and patrol will continue. Interior burnout operations south of the Los Padres Dam will continue as needed and mop up. Crews will complete burning operations and mop up around Arroyo Seco and provide contingency resources and mop up for the affected area of Tanbark. The Southern perimeter will be patrolled by air.' ”

"So the backburning is not complete. In fact there is scheduled burning everywhere we see red dots on the map. So we’ll have to wait at least another day to see what the remaining wild fire looks like."

The Morning Update for 7/25 with IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley

2008-07-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

July 25, 2008 about 9:30 am...

This morning's update with IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley and Chief Rick Hutchinson of CalFire can be accessed right HERE and at KUSP's website.

This morning's update should be of particular interest, since the chiefs discuss the residual prevailing conditions and the threat those dry - and getting drier - very hazardous conditions pose to our residences, after this incident is secured.

Now is the time to take further actions and precautions to protect your home, and the operative word is "Clearance"... as much as you can get!

I think you'll enjoy this morning's interview... it's more than just an update!

MODIS decaf macchiato with soy, please....

2008-07-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

_________________________________

July 25, 2008 about 7:30 am

According to Jim, this morning’s MODIS data shows:

Some more fire along the Div LL lines. Probably late backburning.
Concentrated activity near China Camp.
An isolated hotspot on the eastern slopes of Miller Mountain.

"According to the 7:00 update of InciWeb, backburning is not yet complete: “Mop up and patrol will continue in the areas of Paloma Creek and River Canyon. Burnout operations are progressing south of the Los Padres Dam to the southern portion of Miller Canyon. Contingency resources for the affected areas of Tanbark and Cachagua are in place. The Southern perimeter is being patrolled by air. In the northern portion of the Indians Fire crews will scout and determine needs for rehab.”

"I thought they finished the burnouts yesterday. Maybe they didn’t update today’s planned actions when they updated the rest of the site. Tonight’s MODIS data will tell the story. If the burnouts were completed last night, all we’ll see on the MODIS map is what’s left of the fire."

We are at 79% containment as of last update on InciWeb. According to InciWeb, the final piece of containment line was burned out in yesterday's activity, tying in the containment perimeter. And for today...

"Burning operations using aerial ignition will continue in the interior of the fire to remove the threat from unburned vegetation that could spot over the containment lines. These burnouts will be low intensity (see below regarding fire burn intensity) to help protect the watershed."

Also - BIG news! - with the successful progress on the fire, the Monterey County Sheriff will lift all Voluntary Evacuations and road closures at 6 pm this evening, July 25, 2008.

Back in a few hours with "Fridays in the Morning with Jeanne" - the daily update with IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley.

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Whoa, that's INTENSE!

Fire intensity is a term used to describe the amount of heat a fire produces - it will be a hot, cool, or moderate fire

Most people have heard about the fire that burned out of control near Tok, Alaska, during the summer of 1990. There have been many other fires in Alaska that firefighters were not able to stop. These fires are often controlled only after a change in weather helps to cool the fire. What makes these fires burn so hot? Topography, ground slope, humidity, temperature, and the amount of fuel all work together to determine fire intensity.

Topography is important when discussing fire intensity. Slopes that face south, southwest, and west tend to be warmer and drier because they receive more sun. Fires on these slopes will burn more readily than fires on north-facing slopes. Fire will burn up a steep slope more rapidly than on level ground because the fire and heat move up more quickly and dry out the vegetation.

Moisture in the air and air temperature also affect how fuels burn. Fires that occur in the spring burn less intensely than fires during the dry summer months because of lower temperatures and increased moisture in the soil and air. While rain can cause fires to cool down and lessen in intensity wind can fan a fire and cause the intensity to increase.

A low intensity fire means that the fire is burning slowing and is not very hot. These usually occur in moist areas, in wetter months, low winds, and minimal fuels.

A moderate intensity fire is faster burning and very hot. They usually occur in dryer months and in moderately dry conditions. There are adequate fuels to continue the fire.

A high intensity fire is one that burns very fast and extremely hot. These usually occur in dry months with dry soils and a large amount of fuels. These fires are very hard to contain and ignite other areas quickly often traveling great distances.

The amount and condition of available fuels will also influence fire intensity. There are three basic types of fires: surface, ground, and canopy (crown) fires. Each burns differently depending on the kind of fuel present.

A surface fire burns fuels that are on the ground as well as shrubs and trees. Fuels small in size and very dry (e.g. branches, bark, broken and downed trees, dead shrubs, etc.) will cause a fast moving fire. Grass fires generally produce lower temperatures and burn quickly. A fire through brush such as alder or willow burns quickly with high temperatures because of the woody fuel. Some shrubs, such as Labrador tea, have an oily sap that is very flammable. If a fire burn fast, but without much intensity, the soil and trees are often not damaged. Surface fires can help keep surface fuels from building up and will stimulate herb and shrub regrowth.

A ground fire can occur when the duff layer becomes very dry. Duff is the organic layer of the soil consisting of decaying leaves and other plant parts, dead branches, and wood. It can be from a few inches to several feet thick. A ground fire can creep slowly through the duff, similar to the way charcoal burns. It not only burns the dead leaves and wood, but will also burn the roots of living trees and plants. Generally ground fires are of moderate intensity but, like the charcoal on a grill, can smolder and burn much longer than a surface fire.

A canopy (crown) fire burns the higher leaves and branches of trees and shrubs, moving from tree to tree through the treetops. The worst canopy fires occur in dense forests.

Know why your cat just ran out the door??... ask your dog...

2008-07-24T21:47:00.000-07:00

July 24, 2008, about 8 pm ...

Life for dogs, cats, kittens and puppies just got a whole lot better!

Turns out, that at the Cachagua Store... THIS VERY Sunday... the SPCA will be giving away - yes! that's right... giving away! - free food...

Say it again... FREE FOOD this Sunday between 10 am and 2 pm!

All your pet has to do is stand in line and pick up his/her ration. OK, OK, maybe you could do it instead. Or, have Room Service at the Jamesburg Hilton do it for you...

I KNOW that they'll do it for you at the Cachagua Ritz-Carleton.

NO JOKE, neighbors... word... 'dis is legit, nome-sayin'? Rod McMahon, PIO of Cachagua Fire, called to tell me to tell you about it.

Free dog and cat food, courtesy of the SPCA... it's Christmas for our furry friends right here in July!

Now tell your horse to get out of that dog suit he's wearing!

______________________________________________

The Event of the Season...

Don't forget to getcha seff over to Tularcitos School in Carmel Valley Village on Friday evening at 7 pm - NOT 6 pm - for what just might be the very LAST Community Fire Information Meeting and a chance to say "goodbye" and "moochis grashis" to the Unified Commanders and others in attendance.

This evening's MODIS map...

2008-07-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

________________________________

July 24, 2008 about 8 pm....

Here are Jim's comments:

We are now seeing the results of today’s backfiring along the Div LL and Div MM firelines. Looks like they got pretty much the whole distance backfired, as was the plan, though the hotspot pattern gets a little sparse as you move south. The red dots on the wrong side of the fire line are probably MODIS errors.

The Miller Mountain fire continues, and has moved back into the area SW of Pine Valley Camp.

The four new hotspots near China Camp may be backfires.

Still more burning SE of Tassajara Hot Springs.

Fireman Sam's Wildlands Fire School, Part 2...

2008-07-24T15:17:00.001-07:00

July 24, 2008 about 3 pm...

I have word from the Public Information Office of a fire information meeting in Carmel Valley at Tularcitos School tomorrow night starting at 7 pm rather than 6 pm.

In the meantime, some further information about the tools used in wildland firefighting may be of interest.

_____________________________________

Would you like to touch my Driptorch?

Driptorch... you've heard the term a few times if you've attended fire information meetings... but just what IS a driptorch???

You've come to the right place because....

Fireman Sam's Wildlands Fire School has a course in driptorching!

In Welsh - Fireman Sam's native language - a driptorch is called "geiriadur cryno chwiliadwy."

I'll stick with 'driptorch'...

A driptorch is a tool used in wildland firefighting, controlled burning, and other forestry applications to intentionally ignite fires.

The driptorch consists of a canister for fuel with a handle attached to the side, a spout with a loop to prevent fire from entering the fuel canister, a breather valve to allow air into the canister while fuel is exiting through the spout, and a wick from which flaming fuel is dropped to the ground.

The wick is ignited and allows the fire to be directed to where you want it.

The fuel is a mixture of gasoline and diesel. You can add heavier oils to the mix, so that the liquid fuel sticks to the vegetation, thus increasing burn time and heat.

_________________________________________________________________

Why What You've heard on the TV News about Ideal Weather Conditions is Wrong

Setting backing fires, or backfiring, requires certain conditions for it to go well....

Technique

A backing fire is started along a baseline (anchor point), such as a road, plow line, stream or other barrier, and allowed to back into the wind. Variations in wind speed have little effect on the rate of spread of a fire burning into the wind. Such fires proceed at a speed of 1 to 3 chains (one chain=66 feet) per hour. Backing fires are the easiest and safest type of prescribed fire to use, provided wind speed and direction are steady. They produce minimum scorch and are especially useful in heavy fuels and young pine stands.

Major disadvantages of backing fires are the slow progress of the fire and the increased potential for feeder-root damage with increased exposure to heat if the lower litter is not moist enough. When a large area is to be burned, it often must be divided into smaller blocks with interior plow lines (usually every 5 to 15 chains). All blocks must be ignited at about the same time to complete the burn in a timely manner. In-stand winds of 1 to 3 mph at eye level are desirable with backing fires. These conditions dissipate the smoke and prevent heat from rising directly into tree crowns.

When the relative humidity is low, a steady wind is blowing, and fuels are continuous, an excellent burn can be anticipated once the fire backs away from the downwind control line. Under such conditions, however, extra care must be taken to make sure the initial fire doesnt spot across the line.

Factors Associated with Backing Fires:
Must be ignited along the downwind control line.
Use in heavy roughs.
Use in young stands (minimum basal diameter of 3 inches) when air temperature is below 45oF
Normally result in little crown scorch.
Costs are relatively high because of additional interior plow lines and extended burning period resulting from slower movement of the fire.
Not flexible to changes in wind direction once interior lines are plowed.
Requires steady in-stand winds (optimum: 1 to 3 mph).
Will not burn well if actual fine-fuel moisture is above 20 percent.
Requires good fuel continuity to carry well.
A single torch person can progressively ignite lines.

Wildland Fire Glossary...

(from the Santa Barbara Independent of Thursday, July 10, 2008)

Firefighters who battle blazes throughout America speak in a technical language entirely their own. In the past week, you may have heard some such phrases tossed around in media reports or by the firefighters themselves. Here’s a rundown of the latest firefighting lingo.

Backfire: Set by firefighters inside established fire containment lines to consume the fuel in a wildfire’s path. Similarly, “burn outs” are used to fine-tune containment areas.

Blow-up: A sudden increase in fire activity that temporarily prevents control, often accompanied with large columns of smoke.

Bump up: To move locations, whether it’s an individual working on a fire line or an entire crew moving to a different wildfire. “Bump back” means to return to your location.

Cold trailing: Part of “mopping up,” firefighters employ this technique when they use their hands to feel the ground warmth, and then dig out every live spot and trench every live edge.

Contain a fire: This happens when a full fuel break—including natural barriers, dozer and hand lines, and roadways—are surrounding a fire.

Control a fire: Following containment, this is when a fire is completely extinguished and the fire line is strengthened to prepare for flare-ups.

Crowning: When the fire moves through trees and high shrubs above the ground fire.

Defensible space: Zones where flammable materials have been cleared or treated to act as a barrier between wildfires and humanmade structures. These are at least 30 feet by definition, but the larger the flames, the bigger defensible space required.

Direct attack: Using all firefighting resources, from hand crews to air tankers, to put out the fire where it’s burning.

Drip torch: Hand-held tank with a spout that’s used for igniting backfires and burn-outs by dripping a flaming mix of diesel and gasoline.

Flanks: The burning regions that are parallel to a wildfire’s spread.

Flare-up: Sudden burst of wildfire, but unlike a blow-up, is short and doesn’t affect control plans.

Hand line: A fire line built with hand tools.

Hotshots: Highly trained firefighters who build hand lines. They usually work in a hand crew of 20 people.

Indian pump: Five-gallon backpack water carrier with hose and pump to be used on hot spots and during mop-ups.

Initial attack: The actions taken by the first resources to arrive at a wildfire to protect lives and property, and prevent further extension of the fire.

Ladder fuels: Materials that allow a fire to jump from ground to trees with ease. These are crucial for homeowners to eliminate.

McLeod: A combined rake and hoe used in building hand lines.

Mop-up: After a fire is controlled, this process reduces smoke, ensures that the burning has stopped, and removes potential dangers such as falling rocks.

Nomex: The brand of a fire-resistant material used in firefighter’s jumpsuits.

Pulaski: Also known as a “P-tool,” this combined ax and hoe is used for building hand lines.

Rate of spread: The amount of fire activity extending in a horizontal direction, usually expressed in chains (one chain=66 feet) or acres per hour.

Red flag warning: The term used by meteorologists to indicate a critical fire weather pattern.

Relative humidity: The ratio of current moisture in the air to the maximum possible amount of air moisture. Below 20 percent allows fires to spread easily; below 10 percent can lead to extreme fire behavior.

Retardant: The substance, typically dropped from air tankers, that reduces flammability in the brush. It does not put out a fire, but slows it down so firefighters can attack directly.

Slop-over: When a wildfire jumps an established containment line, usually occurring along roads, ridges, and/or lines cut by dozers or fire crews.

Snag: A dead tree that can be hazardous to firefighters.

Spot fire: Small blazes that start outside the main wildfire due to flying embers.

Spotting: When a fire is actively shooting out sparks that cause spot fires.

Today's Operations Map...

2008-07-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

___________________________

July 24, 2008 about noon...

In case you're not sure where "Div LL" or "Div HH" is, here's an indication...

Info regarding today's activity:

"Burnout operations were successful and an increased fire activity occurred due to higher temperatures and lower relative humidity. Active fire was observed in the interior of the fire with frequent isolated torching and intense uphill runs when in proper alignment. Fire was generally backing in Carmel River and Miller Canyons. Increased fire activity was also observed in the area of Arroyo Seco.

Significant Events
Burning operations will continued from Miller Canyon to the Los Padres Dam and mop up operations continue north of the dam. Crews are working burn out operations and improving containment lines in the area of upper Miller Canyon. Burn operations for structure protection in the area of Tanbark have been completed. In the area of Arroyo Seco on the eastern perimeter, burning operations were completed and crews improved line. A structure contingency plan is in place for Upper and Lower Cachagua, Zen, Tanbark, Freds, Miller, White Rock, and Santa Lucia."

...y, hay más información AQUI, en Español.

The Morning Update for 7/24 with IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley

2008-07-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

(Click to enlarge today's information map)

_______________________________

July 24, 2008 about 9 am...

This morning's Briefing with Jeanne is available right HERE and soon at KUSP's website.

Key points from the interview:

Completed firing operations at Tanbark, down Chews Ridge and into Hennickson's Ridge into Div LL.

Today, aircraft will be used to fly and drop retardant on the saddle of Hennickson's Ridge, prior to firing, in order to reduce the risk that the saddle poses under certain wind conditions.

The goal is to get to the dam in Div HH and attempt to "blackline" the fire completely today, if conditions and operations permit.

__________________________________________

Gettin' Out o' Dodge...

The California Department of Corrections (CDC) Fire Camp was nearly deserted this morning, as the fire winds down and folks go home... or, in this case, back to prison.

Heavy equipment for creating dozer lines are beings packed up and driven off this morning.

______________________________________________

The National Guard knows how to bring it to the fire!

This beast showed up in Strike Camp this morning... the California National Guard's version of a wildlands fire truck.

8x8ing, anyone??

Fireman Sam's Wildlands Fire School...

2008-07-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

July 24, 2008 about 10:30 am...

Fireman Sam, that lovable Welsh firefighter from the happy little Welsh village of Pontypandy, runs a Wildlands Fire course each Spring, right here in the USA!

I took some notes while attending Sam's course in April. The title of the course was "Canolfan Uwchefrydiau Cymreig a Cheltaidd Prifysgol Cymru." Conveniently, a translator was on hand for the entire course.

______________________________________

Pulaskis, McLeods and Branddaskers...

___________

Wuzza P'lasky???

If you're from New York City (NEW YORK CITY!!!???) - as I am - a 'Pulaski' is a Polish revolutionary war hero with a skyway named after him.

But in the USFS and the wildlands fire service a Pulaski is a hand tool used in wildland firefighting.

A Pulaski is a combination axe and mattock in one head, similar to that of the cutter mattock, with a rigid handle. The pulaski is considered one of the most versatile tools for constructing firebreaks. It can be used to both dig and chop. It is also used for trail construction.

Ed Pulaski, a ranger with the United States Forest Service, invented the tool in about 1911. Ed was a famous Wildlands Fire Fighter, credited with saving the lives of a crew of 45 firefighters during the disastrous August 1910 wildfires in Idaho.

____________

A McLeod??? Is that Welsh for sump'in"

This McLeod is not a Taos Deputy Sheriff assigned to Brooklyn... in fact, it's not even spelled the same way as Dennis Weaver's old TV character.

A McLeod is a wildland firefighting tool that's combination heavy duty rake and hoe. It's named after Ranger Malcolm McLeod. Firefighters use this tool to cut through matted litter and duff and for clearing loose surface materials. It can also be used to shape a trail's backslope.

_________________

And then, there's a Branddasker....

Well, in fact, it's called a 'Branddaskere' - a Danish word, that means "fire swatter" in English ("brand": fire; "daskere": literally, 'dasher,' but 'swatter' will do..). It's also called a "flapper" or a "beater."

A flapper is a tool designed for extinguishing minor fires in rural areas such as heaths. A flapper is built with a long handle and a series of closely-spaced rake-like tines (kind of like a hand-held bamboo fan, that a geisha might hold). The tool allows firefighters to stand well back from the fire. The tines are either rubber or steel.

A flapper is small, so you can't use it against a blazing forest fire or large burns.

Dark Roast MODIS map for this morning..

2008-07-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

July 24, 2008 about 7:30 am...

DAMMMMM, this fire is just getting tiresome! The Jamesburg air is smoky this morning, like a few weeks ago (actually, I kinda missed it). Far fewer fire trucks on the road and people coming and going... hopefully this'll be done soon and we can all go back to complaining about politics.

In any case, here's the MODIS for this morning and Jim's comments! (The map take a few attempts at uploading... hang on!)

"Last night was cooler and more humid than the night before, with temps in the 40s and humidity in the 70s and 80s, but still not the full marine-layer-influenced fog that we saw early in the week.

As of 7:00 this morning, InciWeb has this to say about the plans for today: “Mop up and patrol will continue in the areas of Paloma Creek and River Canyon. Burnout operations are progressing south of the Los Padres Dam to the southern portion of Miller Canyon. Contingency resources for the affected areas of Tanbark and Cachagua are in place. The Southern perimeter is being patrolled by air. In the northern portion of the Indians Fire crews will scout and determine needs for rehab.”

That sounds a lot like yesterday. We have yet to see MODIS evidence of the burnout operations along most of the Div LL and the northern parts of the Div MM firelines. Perhaps we will today.

Current MODIS report: There are only six new hotspots on the map, all in Miller Canyon. The firelines are north and east of these fires. To the east, there has been a great deal of burning that should slow pr possibly stop the advance of the fire. The land to the north is unburned."

We'll see what the IC has to say this morning about the result of operations from yesterday and what's planned for today.

This note from the IC - and it's important for us to respect:

Due to the heavy fire suppression traffic and activity in the Cachagua area, residents should use extreme caution when traveling. For firefighter and public safety, residents are asked to refrain from approaching firelines, dozer lines and firefighting resources while burnout operations are being conducted. Firefighters need to be focused on keeping the fire within containment lines and visitors could distract them at a critical time.

__________________________________________

Stay tuned for:

The Morning Update with IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley
Fireman Sam's Wildland Fire School
News of Community Meetings
Operations Maps come to "Life in the Fire Lane"
The Incident Command System, what it is, how is works

All this and more, right here on "Life in the Fire Lane"... we'll be back, after this word from our sponsor... (actually, I gotta run... and go interview the Chief... back later with the goods).

MODIS in the PM...

2008-07-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

July 23, 2008 about 5 pm...

Jim says:

"InciWeb has been down most of the day, but just came back online and is reporting the following activities for today:"

“Today’s operations include continued patrol and mop up in the areas of Paloma Creek, River, and Miller Canyons. Burnout operations South [of?] the Los Padres Dam to the southern portion of Miller Canyon are progressing. The Southern perimeter will be patrolled by air and in the northern portion of the Indians Fire we will continue to scout and determine needs for rehab. Contingency resources are being provided for the affected areas of Tanbark and Cachagua.”

"What MODIS sees is a little different from what I would expect from this report, but in many ways is consistent with it."

There is no new activity in the northern fire. I would have expected to see some hotspots east and southeast of the Los Padres Dam along the Div LL fireline.

There continues to be a great deal of fire both west and east of the place where Tassajara Road crosses the firelines. I can’t say how much of this is back burning and how much is wild fire.

There also continues to be much activity in the Piney Creek region above Carmel Valley Road.

Way down at the bottom of the map you can see two new hotspots inside the Indians Fire fire lines.

___________________________________________________________

The "that's all I have to say about that" department...

Inciweb seems to hook up with some of Jim's observations:

"Burning operations continued from Miller Canyon to the Los Padres Dam and firing operations north of the dam have been completed. Crews continued to burn out and improve containment lines in the area of Miller Canyon and initiated burn operations for structure protection in Tanbark. In the area of Arroyo Seco on the eastern perimeter, an increase of interior fire activity was reported along with a quarter acre spot fire that was contained."

The IC expressed this morning that she didn't want today's operations to theaten Cachagua,so, she stacked up the fire trucks and Bambi buckets, in case things went awry... to which the following statement refers, in firespeak:

"Contingency resources are being provided for the affected areas of Tanbark and Cachagua."

_________________________________________________

Coffee in the morning with Jeanne...

Be sure to look for the Morning Briefing with IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley. We sit down at 9 am to record the briefing, and it's usually up on KUSP before noon the same day!

Sadly, Shooter was not available for an interview this morning... ; - (
_________________________________________________

This, at about 7:15 pm from InciWeb about today's activities (glad the IC was cautious!):

"Burnout operations were successful and an increase in fire activity occurred due to lower relative humidity. Active fire was observed in the interior of the fire. Fire was generally backing in Carmel River and Miller Canyons. Increased fire activity was also observed in the area of Arroyo Seco."

______________________________________________

Morning MODIS, then off to the briefing...

2008-07-23T07:52:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

July 23, 2008 about 7:30 am...

Here's the morning's MODIS map and Jim's comments:

"InciWeb has stopped posting weather information. All in all, that is probably a good thing, since their data was often not credible. The low for last night was 50 degrees, but it was 60 for most of the night. The humidity got as high as 66%, but it was in the low 50s for most of the night. So last night did not provide the conditions to slow down the fire much, and today promises to be hotter and drier than yesterday. This will be good for setting backburns, but not so good for slowing down uncontrolled fire.

Because last night was warmer and drier than the last few evenings, and probably because the backburns continued into the evening, the MODIS map shows more than usual morning activity."

There are three hotspots near the Div MM fireline, and four near the Div NN line. I hope these are backburns. There are many hotspots moving downslope westward from the juncture of the Div MM and NN lines all the way to the river and up the other side. InciWeb said that they would be initiating burns in this area, so I think probably they are mostly or entirely set fires.

Activity continues in the Piney Creek region.

One lone hotspot just west of the river on the Div GG line where there were so many backburns yesterday. Looks like the backburns are substantially complete there.

The morning briefing with the IC and last night's Carmel Valley Village meeting at Tularcitos School are now linked here and up on KUSP

_________________________________________________
The View from the Top...

Backburning along a dozer line on Chew's Ridge.

(Both pics to the left were shot by Kari Greer, contract photographer for the Unified Command)

The Helitorch at work over Chews Ridge, taken from a spotter helicopter...

Afternoon MODIS map...

2008-07-23T00:07:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

July 23, 2008... past midnight...

Just in from a conference in San Jose today, so waaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind the curve!!!! Sorry!

Here's this afternoon's MODIS data and Jim's comments:

"There are great columns of smoke in the sky in the direction of Los Padres Dam, and there is corresponding MODIS activity. There are a forest of red dots on the map, but the overall picture looks pretty darn good."

Many new hotspots along the Div GG fireline, almost certainly because of the aggressive backburning forecast on InciWeb.

Much activity in the Piney Creek area, upslope from the Div PP fireline. This all be backburning, or some of it could be the fire moving downslope.

Two hotspots below the southern end of the Div MM fireline. The easternmost one is almost certainly a backfire.

______________________________________________________

Carmel Valley Fire Information Meeting at Tularcitos School

I couldn't record this meeting tonight, since I was on the road; but, my partner, Martha did so. We'll have the audio up tomorrow, about the same time as we put up the briefing with the IC.

Umma try to get and interview with "Shooter" of the Federal Poilce, as well, if he is willing.

Briefing with Jeanne Pincha-Tulley and MODIS...

2008-07-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

July 22, 2008 about 9:15 am...

Here's The MODIS map for 7 am today and Jim's comments:

"Another cool and foggy night (44 degree low with 97% RH at 1100 feet). Just two new hot spots on the MODIS map, on both sides of the Div MM fireline. According to this morning's InciWeb, backfiring was widespread yesterday afternoon and evening. The areas where the hotspots appeared are not mentioned in the InciWeb report; but, from their location, I think that both hotspots are probably backfires, one of them mistakenly placed on the wrong side of the fireline by MODIS.

InciWeb reports that the fire burned towards the Carmel River in Carmel River Canyon and Miller Canyon yesterday. That would mean the fire is getting close to the LL and MM firelines. This activity does not show on the satellite map."

_____________________________________________

Briefing with IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley

Listen to the morning update HERE or at KUSP's website.

KUSP can use your LOVE...

2008-07-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2008, about 7:30 am...

As the fire activity and the event itself comes to a close, it will soon be time for me to sit down and shut up, and let others tell the post-fire tale. There are a few more days of reporting to do, yet, though!

If you've appreciated the information on this 'blog and the tireless effort of the folks at KUSP to cover thoroughly the fire, the events surrounding it and our communities, my request is that you support Central Coast Public Radio, 88.9 FM - if you have the means and the intent - as generously as you can.

I volunteer my time to KUSP (I really DO have a regular job, to which I must return!). But, the station is largely Listener supported.

We are NOT KAZU, which is owned and operated by Cal State University Monterey Bay.

We are a community-based listener supported NPR affiliate that runs on donations from - as they like to say on PBS - "People like you."

If you wish to support our efforts, now AND IN THE FUTURE, to cover locals news, arts, music and cultural events, we'd be most grateful and we'll use your money well!

You can support KUSP by clicking RIGHT HERE.

And, thanks!!!!

____________________________________________

Cachagua Community Fire Meeting notes, July 21st...

2008-07-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

July 21, 2008 about 6:30 pm...

Rod McMahon, Public Information Officer for Cachagua Fire addresses the crowd at tonight's Fire Information Meeting.

Jamesburg Cachaguans got to meet Incident Commander Jeanne Pincha-Tulley, recently appointed to take Command of the Basin Complex fire.

The news was very good, and the plan very definite... we're at 72% containment and the next few days will be an attempt to fully "blackline" - contain - the fire.

Today, burnout operations proceeded as the IC had planned along Chew’s ridge north toward the end of Laurel Springs road and east along Blue Rock Ridge to Los Padres Reservoir and north along Hennickson’s Ridge to Los Padres Reservoir. Tonight, crews will continue burnout operations to improve and hold existing lines.

Tomorrow, more of the same activity seen today by residents near Chews Ridge will be seen near Hennicksons Ridge... plenty of air traffic and a good deal of smoke from backburning.

Chief Pincha-Tulley made it clear that it would be foolish to leave unburned fuels behind in Div MM that might come back at some later time - perhaps years from now - and rage with fire once again, this time with a real possibility to advance swiftly against residential areas.

Thus , the IC is - in effect - attempting to provide insurance for Jamesburg Cachagua for some time to come.

You'll find the audio for this evening's meeting HERE and at KUSP.

_____________________________________________________________

Interview with Sgt. Garrett Sanders, Monterey County Sheriff's Office

I interviewed Monterey County Sheriff Sgt, Garrett Sanders, regarding the Sheriff's responsibilities during a Mandatory Evacuation. In April 2007, Garrett Sanders was promoted from Sheriff’s Investigator to Sheriff’s Sergeant, Enforcement Operations Bureau. Sgt. Sanders is an 11-year Sheriff’s Office veteran. He worked as a Deputy Sheriff in the jail facility for 2 years prior to transferring to Enforcement Operations Bureau.

Sgt. Sanders is the Monterey County Sheriff's Department liaison to the Unified Command. The audio of the interview can be found HERE and at KUSP.

_________________________________________

Chief Pincha-Tulley's favorite toy, the Terra Torch...

2008-07-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

July 21, 2008 about 7:15 pm...

At tonight's meeting, IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley spoke fondly of her weapon of choice... a device called a "Terra-torch."

Hmmmm... inquiring minds what to know just what the hell a Terra-torch is...

SOUNDS interesting, and by the twinkle in the Chief's eyes, it seemed as if the woman would, perhaps visit the local Terra-torch shooting range just to keep her hand in and get out of the office.

Well, here it is. You decide if this flamethrower looks like fun!

Red Dharma Rain...

2008-07-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

July 21, about 5:30 pm...

Jim's report is simple this evening:

"A very quiet day for the satellite’s point of view. Just one new hot spot, above Carmel Valley Road near Rocky Creek Camp, and well inside the firelines."

Thank goodness for small favors!!!

_________________________________

July 21, about 2:30 pm...

Our neighbor John Russo was working at his home and looked up to see today's action up on Chews Ridge...

Red Dharma Rain next to the Chews Dozer lines, courtesy of the Boeing Chinook...

I'm carrying a Helitorch for you!

John says:

"They're engaged in some hot action right now at MikeMike (Div MM - Chews Ridge and Hennicksons Ridge) up on the Dozer line. This morning they were lining up on the radio for 3-4 loads an hour.

The ground crews keep calling for more. Just caught this shot of the heavy
helicopter dropping retardant just above the ridge."

Watchout, John!!!

MODIS map and morning update from IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley

2008-07-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

July 21, 2008 about 8:30 am

Here's this morning's MODIS update from Jim Kasson, with a brief comment:

"At my house last night we had a low of 49 deg F and humidity in the 90s for most of the night. The cool, moist air seems to have calmed the fire. There were no new hotspots on the morning satellite pass. This has happened before, and definitely doesn’t mean the fire is out, but it is certainly good news."

By the way, don't miss the Samoa HotShots Goodbye Ceremony in Strike Camp last night!!!

Audio is right HERE...

_______________________________________________

This morning's update from IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley

The audio is available by clicking HERE, and from KUSP's website!

(pic: and you thought gas and diesel was getting cheaper!)

Points from the interview and other news:

Cachagua Fire Information Meeting tonight at 6:30pm at the Cachagua Community Park... I'll be there. Far more importantly, so will IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley.

(Pics: The Havana Hotshot - Ole'33 - stocks up at Strike Camp this morning)

In casual discussion with David Olsen, the IC's Information Officer, he indicated that Thursday, give or take a day or so, they'll be breaking part of the Strike Camp and moving it out either toward King City or through Carmel Valley Village. The CHP may manage traffic during the moving operations.

The checkpoint at Sleepy Hollow may also disappear on Thursday, (again, give or take a day or so) if all goes as planned.

The IC requests that locals SLOW DOWN!

There are many, many fire trucks and other heavy support vehicles still on the road. The UC wants to avoid injury and accidents, which can easily occur at this point in the operational cycle, when people believe that the danger is over. Fire is not the only danger!!!

_________________________________________________________

Word from the Sleepy Hollow Checkpoint about Contract Laborers...

Word from the Sleepy Hollow Checkpoint about contract laborer is that they will be let through today; however, they will need a signed note from the resident that they are working for, with the date, or date span, that they are working for you.

Be sure to include your full name and address and signature, sign and date it and include the name of the person working for you.

(I know, I know... it's only for a few more days... and "it's for your safety"... like removing your shoes and no more than 3 oz. of toothpaste at airport security...)

Heads up!!! It's MAFFS...

2008-07-20T22:57:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2008 about 10:30 pm...

Our good neighbor and one of the leaders of the Lavender Hill Mob, John Russo, took a pic of this Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) equipped C-130, flying directly overhead, during today's extensive air offensive to further secure the containment lines on the Basin Complex fire.

MAFFS is a self-contained reusable 3000-gallon aerial fluid dispersal system that allows Lockheed C-130 cargo/utility aircraft to be converted to wildland firefighting airtankers.

Five tank modules store the retardant under pressure; each module contains a pressure tank where compressed air is stored at 1200 psi.

The control module includes the master control panel, the loadmaster's seat, and discharge valves. An air compressor module provides air pressure for charging the system; it stays at the airtanker base during air operations and is used to recharge the system between runs. Each unit weighs about 11,000 pounds, with a load capacity of 3000 gallons.

The system is pneumatically powered and includes tank modules, a control module, and a dissemination module.

MAFFS can make variable drops over the fire, with flow rate preselected at the control module. At maximum flow rate, a MAFFS-equipped C-130 can discharge its entire load in under five seconds.

IC Pincha-Tulley Update and Samoa HotShots Sing!!!

2008-07-20T22:12:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2008 about 8 pm...

'Blog-in this week just before noon for a daily update on the Basin Complex Fire - East, with Incident Commander Jeanne Pincha-Tulley.

I'll be interviewing the IC each morning this week and we'll get a full run down of the previous day's activity, the status of the fire and what to expect throughout the day.

Audio will be available - as usual - on KUSP's website, before noon each day.

_______________________________________________________

Samoan HotShots Sing Gospel Songs and a 'Goodbye' Chant...

About 150 firefighters and support staff got a chance to hear the Samoan HotShots sing their Sunday songs of praise and bid goodbye to their compatriots, in Strike Camp in Jamesburg, tonight. The Samoan crew leaves the active line after 3 weeks on the Basin Complex Fire.

"Goodbye" is not a single word and a handshake to the Samoans... instead, traditional ceremonial chant and dance make 'goodbye' an affair to remember!

Click HERE to listen! It was an impressive and fun display of tradition and it brought a smile and a laugh to all in attendance, after a long day on the fireline.

This evening's MODIS map...

2008-07-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2008, about 5:45 pm...

Here's the evening fire snapshot from Jim Kasson!

"By request, I’ve added some roads and landmarks to the map. If you’d like to see your home, place of business, or favorite location on the map, I’m sure we can work something out (extra charges for logos, bright colors, and large fonts)."

"InciWeb was unusually voluble today (thanks to the new management?). It contained a tutorial on fire management, as well as a fairly-detailed description of today’s activity, which was expected to be stepped-up back-burns and application of fire retardants."

"From the satellite’s perspective, things look pretty good:"

Five new hotspots on Miller Mountain, but no immediate threat to the MM fire line. The firefighters have been and will be applying retardant to bolster the efficacy of that fire line over the next few days.
One new double hotspot in the Piney Creek area, also away from the fire lines
No new hotspots in the extreme northern fire, from which we are protected by the GG and LL fire lines. If there were back-burns here, they were too small for the satellite to see them. The firefighters have been and will be applying retardant near these lines also over the next few days.
One new outbreak in the southern fire, away from the place we don’t want to see fire, which is the southern boundary of that fire.

____________________________________________

Moo-eee Correct-oh, mis señores y señoras!

As Jim mentioned in his commentary above, one might say that InciWeb, that tool for mass communication that could not withstand the onslaught, is now downright garrulous. And, as Jim speculates, and with which, I concur...

Isss godda be the new management! Jeanne Pincha-Tulley knows how to keep you informed!

From InciWeb, the Summary... Check it, yo:

Summary
Firefighter and public safety is the primary concern on the Basin Complex. Portions of the fire are located in areas with very steep or difficult access and inaccessible terrain. Many areas of the fire have extremely dry heavy brush and dead trees from sudden oak death in the Tan Oaks (http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/). One would not expect to see this level of dryness in the area until late summer. This provides for the potential of increased fire activity and behavior.

There is a change in the weather pattern today as a trough of low pressure deepens off the West Coast. Slightly cooler temperatures over the fire are expected with a little increase in moisture. Winds will generally be more southerly today. Fire behavior will be primarily influenced by local and terrain driven winds. Weather will be mostly sunny with periods of smoke and haze.

This fire's history is its tendency to back down from ridge tops, hit creek or river bottoms and then cast embers across the drainage where the fire makes strong runs up to the next ridge. Firefighter efforts and safety are significantly compromised as they try to build fireline with that fire behavior.

To effectively contain the fire, the strategy was to back away from the main fire to more highly defensible ridges well ahead of the main wildfire. Firefighters have then built fireline using dozers and hand crews, clearing fuel along a narrow strip. In some cases, they used old firelines from the 1999 Kirk Fire, and the 1977 Marble Cone Fire.

Once the lines are built, the next step to contain the wildfire is conducting a burnout operation. Using scientific tactics that combine local knowledge and experience in fire behavior, fuel burning characteristics and terrain, the fire fighters can use fire-to-fight fire. By igniting fire, it can be better controlled and it creates a "black line" that is in essence a cleared wide area absent of fuel. The absence of fuel stops the wildfire.

Over the next few days, the burnout technique will be increased now that the dozer and handlines are done. The Hennicksons and Chews Ridge sites will see burnout, as will areas near Carmel Valley Road in the vicinity of Piney Creek and Paloma Creek. Helicopters dropping water or retardant will be very visible at some times. Air tankers may also be used to reduce the possibility of spot fires.

The goal is to use the burnout technique when weather is in our favor, and contain the fire as quickly and effectively as possible. With over 40 days of wildfire on the Los Padres National Forest this year, everyone is hoping for the best in containing another challenging and tough fire.

While wildfire has now burned on the Los Padres National Forest for over 40 days and consumed over 200,000 acres, the skill and knowledge of 4 National Type 1 Interagency Incident Management teams as well as state and local assets have effectively dealt with a very difficult fire situation. The size of these fires, along with the entire northern California fire siege, exemplifies the challenge faced this year in California. California Interagency Incident Management Team 3 is currently in command of the Basin Complex.

Information officers will be available for questions regarding the fire at the following locations in Carmel Valley from noon to 3 pm on July 20th, 2008:

Village Market

Carmel Valley Market

Both Safeway Stores

Additional information officers will be available at Sleepy Hollow from 8 am to 8 pm.

Now if this, me pretties, is not communication, I know not what is!

______________________________________

The Havana Hotshot...

2008-07-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2008 about 4 pm...

While the fire danger is far from over, with luck, cooperation of the weather, the good skills of the firefighters and judgment of the Unified Command, this business will soon be done.

And before that happens, and we all fade away, myself included, into our usual lives, there are many organizations to thank. We can try, and we do, thank them all; but, special thanks go to our own.

Let's start with the Cachagua Fire Protection District... our volunteers who look after us day after day, when everyone else has gone home, or isn't thinking about emergencies.

They're just our friends and neighbors, puttin' on a fire service for us... and they deserve our support, do they not???

Cachagua Fire runs - when she'll start up - a 1975 International Wildlands Fire Engine - 7733 - that I call the "Havana Hotshot."

This classic vehicle should have been retired and relegated to the annual parade, having pumped over a million gallons of water and seen more wildland fires than most any other engine cruising the Basin Complex Fire.

Instead, with parts scarce or unavailable, and breakdowns frequent, our volunteers make Old 33 continue to live, not unlike a Cuban Chevrolet; thus, my nickname for her.

We have a lot of fire season ahead of us and Cachagua Fire needs a new wildlands fire engine. They can only get one, if we can help them out.

Here's how you can help Cachagua Fire pimp their ride!

Write them a check - be generous! - and send it to:

Cachagua Fire Protection District

P.O. Box 2090

Carmel Valley, California 93924

________________________________________________

How to get a gen-you-wine piece o' Cachagua hissstreee....

Here's how you can get a genuine piece of Cachagua history for cheap - a garment that, when worn, will have you be the envy of the party - AND, you can help out our firefighters at the same time.

Basin Complex Fire T-shirts are a mere twenty bucks!! Proceeds benefit the Cachagua Fire Volunteers, Big Sur Fire Brigade, and Mid Coast Fire Brigade.

Shirts will be sold in Cachagua at the helibase, the base camp, and the Cachagua General Store, in Carmel Valley Village at the Chatterbox Restaurant and Taqueria Del Valle and at the PassionFish Restaurant in Pacific Grove.

Joleen Lambert Skinner did the artwork... you know Joleen.

One of the hotshots from Alaska was injured in late June, and is now at home in Colorado recovering. Many people have expressed an interest in helping her and her family out. She has requested that financial offers of goodwill be directed to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, as they are the first and best place to be of assistance to the families of firefighters injured or killed in the line of duty. This is especially important in light of the Iron 44 Helicopter Crash on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

____________________________________________

Details of Interview with IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley...

2008-07-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2008 about 9 am...

This morning, I had the opportunity to interview Incident Commander Jeanne Pincha-Tulley, in her office-trailer at the Spike Camp on Carmel Valley Road, Jamesburg, Carmel Valley. I found her to be very informative, affable and a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of person.

You can listen to the interview by clicking HERE, and it is also available at KUSP's website.

Here are the salient point about today's operations on the fire lines:

The IC intends to bring this incident to completion as quickly as possible and as weather permits.

The first stage of this operation will be an aerial drop of retardant along 7 miles of the dozer lines along Chews and Hennickson's Ridge and behind the residential area of Jamesburg and parts of Cachagua.

There are spot fires near the Carmel River behind Hennicksons Ridge, adjacent to the dam and Cachagua. There'll be an effort to secure this area today, as well.

Expect heavy aerial activity this afternoon. If backburning begins - in order to back the fire down toward the fire line and away from residential areas - there may be considerable smoke!

Retardant Drops, top to bottom...

2008-07-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2008, about 10 am...

Ever wonder what those retardant drops look like if you're a hotshot on the ground working the fire lines?

The idea of behind the use of aerial retardant is to keep the fire out of the crowns of the trees, where, if the fire reaches, it can burn madly and intensely-hot and completely out of control.

The use of air support is intended to give the firefighters a fighting chance against the flames and to keep the fire "on the ground" were it can be managed more effectively.

This morning's MODIS map...

2008-07-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2008 about 7:45 am...

Here's this morning's MODIS data from Jim Kasson and Jim's commentary, below. I'll be speaking with new IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley this morning about the second bullet point in Jim's commentary. As Jim points out, this is the current threat to Carmel Valley:

"Not much activity overnight, but one thing bears watching (see 1 below). I’ve added the Div PP fireline. I’ve also roughed in three firelines from the Indians fire, Divs A, B, & O. I wouldn’t expect these lines to be defended, but they mark the boundary between a burned-out area and the Basin Fire, so I thought they might be useful."

Most importantly for Carmel Valley residents, there are three hotspots working their way down towards the Carmel River. If the fire gets there, it will be a short uphill stretch to the Div MM fireline. There are also three hotspots west of Pine Valley Camp.

One new hotspot in the Piney Creek region above Carmel Valley Road.

No new fire in the extreme north.

No new fire in the extreme south.

Interview with IC Jeanne Pinch-Tulley...

2008-07-19T22:42:00.001-07:00

July 19, 2008 about 10:30 pm...

Be sure to look for what should be a very interesting and important interview with new IC Jeanne Pincha-Tulley, commander of California Interagency Incident Management Team 3, that I'll be doing tomorrow (Sunday) morning at 9:00 am and subsequently available here on the 'blog and at KUSP's website. I expect that KUSP will dedicate some airtime to the IC's comments, as well.

I'll not be able to post-produce and upload the audio until about noon tomorrow, so don't expect to hear it before then; but, the Unified Command does have a message to get out.

Over the next day or so, tactics will be such - conditions permitting - that the firefighters will be hitting the Miller Mountain area, and surrounding areas, hard. This will create a lot of smoke and helicopter activity which could be very upsetting to residents if they don't know what's happening in advance. Heck, it could be upsetting even if you KNOW what's happening in advance!

The IC wants to make sure that residents are aware of what's going on... and that is, that they are intending to fight the fire on the firefighters terms, and ultimately get this thing contained and put to bed once and for all, as soon as feasible.

So, stand by, and we'll have the latest information from the IC herself right here on Life in the Fire Lane and KUSP.

Chief Pincha-Tulley lives in Grass Valley, California. In 1978, while working as a seasonal firefighter on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest crew, she concurrently studied for her degree in Forest Management from the University of Washington. Ms. Pincha-Tulley worked her way "up the ladder" (no pun intended!), working in five different national forests in three states. In 1986, she began serving on incident command teams, working on fires all over the contiguous 48 states and Alaska. Jeanne became an incident commander three years ago. She is the first and only female IC in the country; and, she has a reputation as an excellent communicator with communities subject to the incidents she manages.

The evening's MODIS Map....

2008-07-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

July 19, 2008, about 7:30 pm...

Just back from town and we have the evening's MODIS map (click to enlarge) update with comments, from Jim Kasson:

"I’ve zoomed out a bit in this afternoon’s map so that we can see the newly-active southern part of the fire. It is not a threat to people in the Carmel Valley, but I thought that many would be interested in the larger picture."

No new activity in the Div NN/RR/TT triangle, or in the Piney Creek region. However, there are four hot spots south of there, between Rocky Creek Camp and the Girl Scout Camp. The southernmost of these is just north and about two miles east of Tassajara Hot Springs. I haven’t put the fire line that goes from Div OO to the Indians Fire on the map, but I will. It is labeled Div PP on the fire maps.

Only one new hot spot in the northern fire (actually two, almost on top of each other at Sulphur Springs Camp). I expected more activity from this fire today. There seems to be a lot of smoke coming from this area, and the smoke may be hiding the fires from the satellite.

The Miller Mountain fire continues to be the most active, spreading mainly west, southwest, and south. No new activity as close to the MM fire line as the three hotspots from last night.

There is new activity way down south near Hanging Valley Camp. There was a pair of hot spots last night that I didn’t mention this morning. Now there are seven more, fairly well spread out. To the east of these new fires is the area burned out by the Indians Fire. To the west is land that was burned out earlier in the Basin Fire. The land to the south is unburned.

______________________________________

The dragon snorts...

July 19, 2008 about 2 pm

This picture was taken from Lambert Flats looking toward Chews Ridge, behind Kincannon Canyon. Whatever happened, there's some fuel burning in this one!

Eyewitness reports from up on the ridge said that this burn was a considerable distance away, in the area of Miller Mountain.

(picture courtesy of Steve Scarlett)

Eric Walters noticed that that spot where the fire jumped the dozer line was active again today:

"They had a helicopter dropping water on it this afternoon. I guess these things will probably flare up from time to time over the coming days.

My son and I have been down by the road each evening applauding the fire crews as they return to base camp. You can tell that they appreciate our thanks.

I wish there was something that the collective community could do to say thanks - especially for Company 77. Maybe when this is all over we could organize a CFC appreciation bbq or something."

________________________________________

Why we're here...

The awesome beauty that is our home slowly returns...

Taken from near the entrance of Sky Ranch...

At about 7:00 pm....

The Saga of Resident Passes...

2008-07-19T14:53:00.000-07:00

July 19, 2008 about 1:00 pm...

Well, Cachagua Fire is certainly not issuing Resident Passes. Instead, a kind of mini-unified command, a bit ad-hoc I gather, is issuing them at the Sleep Hollow checkpoint on Carmel Valley Road, on behalf of the Monterey County Sheriff's Office.

The officers staffing the checkpoint are quite delightful - very polite and expeditious - they won't waste your time. Most are Information Officers of the U.S. Forest Service and Cal Fire, while the CHP is handling traffic flow.

The "Pass" is simply the one page form that you fill out - name, address, phone number - and you put it on your dashboard, in plain view. They log the information, and you're on your way. It's done very smoothly and quickly.

I interviewed Sergeant Carl Churchfield who was running the CHP portion of the activity at the checkpoint. The audio is here, from KUSP's website. There's a bit of wind noise during the interview!

Sgt. Churchfield stated that they'd be out doing this through the weekend, until about 11:00 pm tomorrow night, then the staffing of the checkpoint will be cut back between fixed hours of the workday (I'll get this info later on). They expect to issue about 900 resident passes, and an unknown number for contractors and other employees.

Other folks had differing experiences, some confusing, but all good, it would seem...

"(We spoke) to CHP officers and a sheriff's deputy at the Sleepy Hollow roadblock this morning. When asked about the passes now required to enter Carmel Valley Road, one of the CHP officers said "I'm all about solutions. I've been all about solutions my whole life." (He) said that they are setting up a table at Sleepy Hollow with passes and a log book, from where they will be dispensing passes. We were told that this would all be set up by the time we returned from breakfast. He asked us to spread the word, so that's what I'm doing.

We were also told that passes issued by the Cachagua fire department were not legal(!) The CHP guys couldn't pronounce "Cachagua," so we helped them through that part of the conversation.

As of noon, there was no table or passes. The CHP guys had left the scene, leaving a lone Sheriff deputy who recognized us and let us through. I have a feeling the fire will be extinguished before the passes are ready for prime time.

And another report....

"I got a pass at 1:00. A bunch of forest service people at the Sleepy Hollow checkpoint were giving them out. They said to get one, you had to get by the CHP officer about fifty feet up the road towards the village. Everybody was very nice.

I asked about guests and employees. The Forest Service guy said that we couldn't get passes for them, but they could get passes for themselves, if they could get by the CHP officer. I asked how the CHP officer was deciding who was for real. He said that you have to know the address of the person you're intending to see, including the zip code. Since the CHP guy can't be expected to know all the addresses, I expect that the key bit of information that you need to get by the cop is the zip code.

So tell your employees and guests

1) tell the CHP officer your address.
2) stop at the table to get a pass.

If this doesn't work, please let me know what does."

and one more report from Cachagua Fire:

The Sheriff's Department asked Cachagua Fire to provided passes during theMandatory Phase, but did not specify the format nor did they offer to provide the form, so we (I) made our own. It had Cachagua Fire ID on it, and not the Sheriff's logo...

The passes which we are issuing now are the same passes which are obtained at 'Checkpoint Charlie', therefore, quite "legal."

Not so fast, Jamesburg Cachagua!!!

2008-07-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

July 19, 2008 about 8 am...

Today we're at 70% containment!

Here's the MODIS map for this morning (click on the map to expand it) and Jim's comments reflect my own concern and that of Rick Hutchinson... and that is, we still have a dragon on the doorstep.

The fire in the area of Miller Mountain is still a threat, and no small one. If conditions should change, its possible that the fire could make a run toward Hennicksons and Chews Ridges.

If you haven't listened to my interview with Rick Hutchinson, of Cal Fire about this, I recommend it, because I had Jamesburg Cachagua specifically in mind at the outset. And, based on his comments, we don't need to fret, but we DO need to remain prepared.

If you are living locally, listen and watch for increased helicopter and fixed-wing air traffic. Take note of the direction from which they are going and coming. This usually means increased fire-suppression activity... might be a backburn, or it might be something different. Keep up to date on the latest "Fire Status" of the Incident Reports at either KUSP or InciWeb, to get planned fire-suppression activity information and areas of concern, regarding the fire.

Jim's notes (thanks, as always, Jim!!):

"The update is a little late this morning because the server was serving a file that caused the dreaded “Invalid Token” error when imported into Google Earth. When this happens, repeated downloads are fruitless. You have to wait for another satellite pass, and hope that the file gets fixed in the update. So far, it always has. If this is Greek to you (this is NOT a veiled reference to Sheriff Mike Kanalakis, btw - Kelly's note), be glad that somebody’s downloading the files for you."

No new hotspots at all in the eastern fire, either within the backburn triangle or south of there, where there was so much activity yesterday. There probably will be more fire in the Piney Creek region today, if only backburns.

No new fires at all in the northern fire, south of firelines GG and LL. Again, I wouldn’t expect this happy circumstance to continue.

Lots of activity around Miller Mountain, including some new hotspots headed for the Div MM fireline. Kelly asked Cal Fire's Rick Hutchinson yesterday if that could be a threat, and got an affirmative response, so we should watch this carefully. The fire north of Miller Mountain is burning downslope, and could also be a threat if it turns east.

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Homey Don't Play 'dat Sheet...

July 19, 2008 about 8 am...

You may remember that, recently - it seems like only yesterday - we received the following official notice about MoCo Sheriffs Department instituting a pass system.

To wit:

"The Monterey County Sheriffs Department is instituting a pass system to residents and their employees along Carmel Valley Road and Cachagua area. Residents living within the Cachagua Fire District can obtain passes from the Cachagua Fire Department. Residents living along the lower portion of Carmel Valley Road can obtain their passes from the California Highway Patrol officer situated near the junction of Carmel Valley Road and Arroyo Seco Road daily between 6:00 am and 8:00PM. Residents will also need to obtain passes for their workers."

"These passes are only valid for travel restrictions during voluntary evacuations. Passes are not valid during mandatory evacuations. Only passes from the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department are valid."

Well, as any sentient being might have predicted, the traffic jams at the Sleep Hollow checkpoint caused the CHP to blurt out "This isn't gonna work..."

Cachagua Fire, as it turns out, agrees. Word has it that, as of this morning, Cachagua Fire is giving the responsibility of issuing and keeping track of the passes back to the source: The Monterey County Sheriff's Office.

So, keep that identification handy, as a backup for passing staffed checkpoints this weekend. The CHP is doing a GREAT job of keeping rice-rocket motorcyclists off Carmel Valley Road... which, after all, was what some residents requested and wanted.

So, THANKS, Cachagua Fire and CHP, for being the voice of reason and pragmatism.

Sheriff Mike Kanalakis, maybe a l'il sit down with Big Sur, Jamesburg and Cachagua residents - over a few bottles of Ouzo and some souvlaki - might be a good idea, so that perhaps things might go a bit smoother in the future... I'm just sayin'.... just a suggestion...