CA-LPF- Basin Complex Wildland Fire -137,260 acres

Basin Complex Wildland FireBasin Complex Wildland Fire

Perimeter/operational map
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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.

Today, cool moist air will start the day as a deep marine layer encompasses much of the lower elevations. The marine layer will gradually dissipate by mid-to-late morning allowing for warming and drying in the afternoon. Temperatures will be in the 80's to lower 90s. Humidity will gradually fall through the day. Terrain driven winds will continue to be the prime influence for the fire.

The burnout technique used over the past few days will continue as weather permits. It usually starts by late morning, or early afternoon as the humidity drops and temperatures gradually increase. Pre-built firelines were pretreated yesterday using retardant dropped from air tankers or helicopters. That is anticipated to occur again today. Fire retardant mixed with water helps to delay or prevent combustion.

The Hennicksons, Chews Ridge, and Blue Rock Ridge areas should see pretreatment and burnouts today. The goal is to use the burnout technique when weather is in our favor, and contain the fire as quickly and effectively as possible. About 9 miles remains mostly on the north and northeast flanks, and yesterday about 2 miles of burnout was nearly completed in the Piney and Paloma Creek drainages.

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 to back away from the main fire to more highly defensible ridges well ahead of the main wildfire is working. Firefighters over the past several days have built miles of 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.

Now that lines are built, firefighters are at the critical step of using burnout operations to achieve final containment. 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.

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 21st, 2008:

Village Market

Carmel Valley Market

Both Safeway Stores

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

Approximate Location: GPS: 36.21 latitude, -121.739 longitude

Basic Information

Incident Type	Wildland Fire
Cause	Lightning
Date of Origin	Saturday June 21st, 2008 aprox 12:56 PM
Location	15 miles NW of King City
Incident Commander	Pincha - Tulley / Hutchin

Current Situation

Total Personnel	2,115
Size	137,260 acres
Percent Contained	70%
Estimated Containment Date	Wednesday July 30th, 2008 aprox 12:00 AM
Fuels Involved	6’ Chaparral, accumulated dead Tan Oak from sudden oak death, with timber and slash in the higher areas.
Fire Behavior	Inversion layer limited fire activity below 4500 feet until late morning. Burnout operations where successful after 2 p.m. Active fire was observed in the interior of the fire with some isolated torching and short runs.
Significant Events	A Voluntary Evacuation remains in effect for all residents off of Carmel Valley Road from Arroyo Seco in the south to Cachagua Road junction in the north. A structure contingency plan is in place for Upper and Lower Cachagua, Zen, Tanbark, Freds, Miller, White Rock, and Santa Lucia. Crews continued to make good progress with burning operations in the area of Arroyo Seco on the eastern perimeter. Pretreatment for burnout operations in the area of Bluerock Ridge was completed and crews are prepared to initiate firing when appropriate conditions exist. Crews continued to make progress on containment and burn out in the area of Miller Canyon.

Outlook

Planned Actions	In the areas of Paloma Creek, River and Miller Canyons, crews will continue to improve line with burnout operations and hold line. In the Bluerock Ridge area, firefighters will initiate burnout operations when appropriate conditions exist. Provide contingency resources and prepare structures in the affected areas. The Southern perimeter will be patrolled by air operations and in the Northern portion of the Indians Fire will be scouted to help determine rehabilitation needs.
Growth Potential	High
Terrain Difficulty	High
Remarks	The East Basin Complex is in unified command with Pincha-Tulley (CIIMT3), Hutchinson (CalFire), Oakley (Monterey County Sheriff’s Office), and Boone (type 3 organization-West Zone).

Fire Stats

Acres burned: 134,118

Acreage increase (last 12 hours): 409

Fireline to build: 0 miles

Date started: 6/21/2008

Percent contained: 70%

Expected containment: 7/30/2008

Injuries: 9

Structures threatened: 1627

Structures destroyed: 26 residences, 32 other

Suppression cost to date: $62.8 Million

Resources

Crews: 68

Engines: 103

Helicopters: 12

Air Tankers: 6

Dozers: 20

Total Personnel Assigned: 2,115

Unified Command: USFS, CAL FIRE, and the Monterey County Sheriff's Office

Current Status:

· Burnout operations were delayed in the morning due to moist marine weather conditions, however, in the afternoon burnout operations were very successful along the containment line on the east side of the fire from Piney Creek south towards Arroyo Seco, and the line along Chews Ridge.

· On the north side of the fire, burnout operations were postponed due to wind direction, however, National Guard C-130 MAFFS airplanes dropped retardant just outside these containment lines in preparation for later burnout operations.

· Tassajara Road continued in patrol and mop-up status.

· Tonight crews will continue burnout operations to improve and hold existing line in River Canyon, Miller Canyon and Paloma Creek areas.

· Today personnel began assessment of fire suppression repair needs for the Indians Fire and repair work will begin soon. Fire suppression repair work is continuing for the West Basin Fire, repairing control lines and other areas that have sustained ground disturbance as a direct result of the fire suppression activities. Crews are also repairing fences, roads and gates damaged by fire suppression activities.

· For this evening, minimum temperatures will be 61-69 above 3000' and 44-55 degrees at lower elevations. Wind speed is predicted west to southwest at 3-7 mph on the ridgetops, gusting up to 10 mph. Downslope and downvalley winds will be less than 5 mph.

Evacuations:

· The following areas are under VOLUNTARY evacuation: Carmel Valley Road from the intersection of San Clemente Road (Sleepy Hollow) south to the intersection of Arroyo Seco Road; Arroyo Seco Road west of the junction with Carmel Valley Road; and Cachagua Road and Tassajara Road down to the Zen Center.

· Emergency Passes issued by the Monterey County Sheriffs Department are required for residents and their employees to enter the voluntary evacuation areas along the Carmel Valley Road and Cachagua Road. These passes are available from officers at checkpoints located at the intersection of Carmel Valley Road and Sleepy Hollow Road, and Carmel Valley Road and Arroyo Seco Road. Passes are available at the checkpoints 24 hours a day.

Evacuation Center Information:

· The American Red Cross has closed the emergency evacuation shelters at Greenfield High School (2025 El Camino Real in Greenfield) and Carmel Middle School (4380 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley).

· If anyone needs the assistance of the American Red Cross, they may call (831) 809-5861 in Greenfield or (831) 624-6921 or (925) 407-5153 in Carmel Valley.

· The SPCA animal rescue team is providing assistance with evacuation of pets and livestock at no charge. Contact the SPCA at (831) 373-2631 or (831) 646-5534 (after hours).

Other Highway, Road and Area Closures:

· All national forest lands on the Monterey Ranger District are closed to public access except several picnic areas on the Big Sur coast along Highway 1. The open picnic areas include Pfeiffer Beach, Mill Creek, Sand Dollar Beach, Jade Cove Beach, Willow Creek and San Carpoforo Beach. Camping is prohibited in these facilities. Wood campfires and charcoal barbecues are prohibited, but gas stoves are permitted.

· The Santa Lucia Tract is closed to public entry. Permit holders may contact the King City office of the Monterey District at (831) 385-5434 for access information.

· Andrew Molera State Park is open at the main park entrance on the west side of Highway 1. The following trails are open: Creamery Meadow, Bluff, Panoramic, Ridge, River trail system and Molera Beach.

· The Buzzard's Roost Trail at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is open on the west side of Highway 1.

· At Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Partington Cove on the west side of Highway 1 is open.

· All other State Parks in the fire area remain closed indefinitely.

Evacuations and closures are subject to change depending on fire conditions.