The spread of the Pilot Fire slows

The fire is burning near Crestline between Silverwood Lake and Lake Arrowhead in southern California.

Above: A retardant-coated truck near the Pilot Fire, August 7, 2016. Photo by Jeff Zimmerman. More Pilot Fire photos.

(UPDATED at 8:16 a.m. PDT August 10, 2016)

The Pilot Fire near Crestline, California did not grow as much Tuesday as it had in previous days. A mapping flight at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday determined it had burned 7,522 acres. Wednesday morning the incident management team reports it is now at 7,861 acres.

Many incident management teams pull out of the air a grossly understated “containment” figure (which is the reason we rarely include that statistic), but Dave Bently, a spokesperson for the fire, said the fire is 64 percent contained, meaning in this case, he said, that they have a fireline around 64 percent of the perimeter. Which, by the way, is the definition of fire containment. Kudos to the team for making the containment number meaningful.

The map of the fire shows the fire perimeter from the Tuesday morning mapping flight, plus heat detected since then by a satellite. From 200 miles above the Earth the sensor only detects large heat sources, so there are likely many more small hot spots. But it is significant that all of the heat sources found are within or very close to the earlier perimeter. The accuracy of the satellite-detected data is supposed to be within 375 meters (1,230 feet). Scroll down to see other maps.

Pilot Fire map
The red lines was the perimeter of the Pilot Fire at 3:34 a.m. PDT August 10, 2016. The red and brown squares represent the location of heat detected by a satellite in the following 24 hours.Click to enlarge.

The numbers:

  • 1,746 personnel
  • 105 engines
  • 46 hand crews
  • 8 dozers
  • 8 air tankers
  • 12 helicopters

The incident management team has posted information on InciWeb about evacuations, road closures, trail closures, smoke, and drones, all of which are important, but there is not a lot of information about the fire itself such as the fire activity over the last 24 hours, where it was still spreading, what firefighters are doing, the use of aircraft, and where the open fireline is. Mr. Bently said that information was not available but should be later in the day.

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(UPDATED at 6:55 a.m. PDT August 9, 2016)

The Pilot Fire north of Crestline, California continued to be active Monday on the west and south sides. The incident management team is calling it 6,963 acres.

At least 5,200 homes are under voluntary or mandatory evacuation orders.

Map of the Pilot Fire
Map of the Pilot Fire as of 1:30 a.m. PDT August 9, 2016.
3-D map of the Pilot Fire
3-D map of the Pilot Fire, looking south, as of 1:30 a.m. PDT August 9, 2016. Click to enlarge.

Continue reading “The spread of the Pilot Fire slows”

Soberanes Fire continues to march through the mountains above Big Sur

Firefighters on the Soberanes Fire
Firefighters on the Soberanes Fire. CAL FIRE photo.

For 16 days the Soberanes Fire has spread through the Santa Lucia Mountains that rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean above Big Sur. Since we last wrote about the fire on August 2 the fire has grown from 43,000 to 57,845 acres. There have been no reports of additional homes burned since it was announced five days ago that 57 residences and 11 outbuildings had been destroyed. Another three homes have been damaged.

Since starting from an illegal campfire, the blaze has been moving through very steep, rugged, inaccessible terrain. Several areas are under evacuation orders.

3-D Map of Soberanes Fire
3-D Map of the Soberanes Fire showing the perimeter at 1 a.m. PDT August 7, 2016. MODIS, Google, USFS, Wildfire Today

It has burned to within 1.2 miles of Big Sur on Highway 1, and is 15 miles west of US 101. It has not crossed US 101 and at its closest point is about 1,000 feet from the highway.

Map of the Soberanes Fire. The white line was the perimeter at 2 a.m. PDT on August 2. The Red line was the perimeter at 1 a.m. PDT August 7, 2016. MODIS, Google, USFS, Wildfire Today
Map of the Soberanes Fire. The white line was the perimeter at 2 a.m. PDT on August 2. The Red line was the perimeter at 1 a.m. PDT August 7, 2016. MODIS, Google, USFS, Wildfire Today

Damage assessment teams document 57 homes destroyed in Soberanes Fire

By Ryan Maye Handy and Bill Gabbert

(UPDATED at 12:27 p.m. MDT August 2, 2016)

Soberanes Fire map
Map of the Soberanes Fire at 2:30 a.m. August 2, 2016.

Damage assessment teams have identified 57 residences and 11 outbuildings that have been destroyed in the Soberanes Fire between Big Sur and Monterey, California.

The Incident Commander, Todd Derum, reports that firefighters have achieved 18 percent containment after fighting the blaze for 12 days, which has now blackened over 43,000 acres.

Several areas are still under evacuation orders.

On the west side the fire has come close to reaching the Pacific Ocean, while the east side is 14 to 18 miles west of US Highway 101.

Resources assigned to the fire include: Engines: 510, Water tenders: 51, Helicopters: 17, Air Tankers: 6, Hand Crews: 107, Dozers: 72, Other: 14, Total Personnel: 5,451.

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(UPDATED 10:41 a.m. MDT, August 1, 2016)

The Soberanes fire in Big Sur continues to rage with little containment, and on Sunday it prompted more evacuations of local residents.

Businesses in the area have already begun to suffer from the shutdown of various state parks in the famously scenic coastal region, according to a story from Market Watch. 

As of Monday morning, the fire had burned 40,618 acres and was 18 percent contained, according to InciWeb.

The rugged firefighting conditions mixed with hot weather have made the fire harder to contain:

Extremely remote and rugged terrain with limited access coupled with hot and dry weather and an above average cured grass crop has resulted in a high resistance to control.

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The Soberanes fire in Monterey County has shifted California’s focus from Los Angeles to Big Sur, where the fire has shut down several state parks, destroyed dozens of homes and continues to burn with little containment.

Here are some of the latest stats on the Soberanes fire (or read more background on the Soberanes fire):

  • 29,877 acres – 15 percent contained
  • 2,000 structures threatened
  • 41 homes and 10 outbuildings destroyed
  • One fatality, a bulldozer-operator who died after a rollover.
  • Total personnel: 4,245
  • Resources:  394 engines, 94 crews, 14 helicopters, 6 air tankers, 67 dozers, 41 water tenders.

 

Firefighter killed in dozer accident on Soberanes fire

(Updated 5:46 a.m. MDT, July 28, 2016)

The operator of a bulldozer was killed while working on the Soberanes fire, one of two major wildfires burning in California and one that has already destroyed 20 homes.

The operator was killed when the bulldozer rolled over, and another operator was injured in a similar incident, The Associated Press reported on Wednesday. Other reports say the dozer operator died of injuries on Tuesday night.

The bulldozer operator was working on a call-when-needed basis overnight when the fatal accident occurred, according to information posted on CAL FIRE’s website. The dozer was one of 60 assigned to the fire in Monterey County.

Officials have not yet released the name of the operator who was killed. California’s other major blaze, the Sand fire, killed a man this week outside of Los Angeles.

UPDATE April 17, 2017: KQED reports that the name of the dozer operator that was killed was Robert Reagan.

Check back with wildfiretoday.com for more on this story.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Chris and Daniel.

Sand fire destroys homes near fire station in the Angeles National Forest

The remains of one of the Bear Divide Ranger Station buildings in the burned Angeles Forest.

Five homes that were a part of the Angeles National Forest’s Bear Divide Ranger Station were destroyed by the Sand fire, officials announced a press conference on Monday. 

The buildings were home to several firefighters, several of whom were fighting the Sand fire, The L.A. Times reported.

Read more about the Sand fire here.

(This photo of the Bear Divide Ranger Station was shared with us by a reader. Date, time and other credit info are unknown.)