Monterey and Big Sur were my home for four years and will always have a special place in my heart. I hope my friends Karen and John are safe.
___
The Monterey County Herald
Article Last Updated: 06/28/2008 09:22:17 AM PDT
Fire update
Big Sur
· Higher humidity slowed the spread of the Basin Complex fire burning east of Big Sur on Friday.
The week-old fire in Los Padres National Forest consumed 26,876 acres by 6 p.m. after a relatively quiet night.
The number of firefighters battling the blaze that has burned 16 homes and two outbuildings grew to 834.
Fire crews remained deployed on Highway 1, Partington Ridge Road and the North Coast Ridge Road to protect structures. Crews continued to improve lines near Big Sur, but the tenacious fire remained only 3 percent contained.
· Officials moved a strip of Highway 1 closed because of the fire further south.
That will allow a few businesses just south of the village of Big Sur to reopen, a Forest Service spokesman said. The Big Sur Chamber of Commerce said the Ventana Inn, Post Ranch, Hawthorne Gallery and Nepenthe Restaurant would reopen this weekend.
The fire, sparked June 21 by lightning strikes, has severely cut into the summer tourist trade for many businesses in the Big Sur area.
"The impact is economically pretty devastating, but hopefully short in duration," said Kirk Gafill, general manager of Nepenthe and head of the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce.
The Esalen Institute retreat center announced it would close until July 6 because of falling ash and poor air quality.
The highway is now closed between the Nepenthe turnout to the north and Nacimiento-Fergusson Road to the south.
·
Fire officials are concerned there may be another spate of dry lightning in the next two days like last weekend, when lightning strikes ignited hundreds of fires in Northern California.
"Even though the chance is slight, it still has firefighters' attention," said Big Sur fire spokesman Mark Savage.
Indians Fire
· Firefighters continued backfire operations along the Arroyo Seco River on Friday, taking advantage of favorable weather conditions.
The fire remained 71-percent contained and grew slightly in size to 59,759 acres. The number of personnel on the fire, which was touched off June 8 by an unattended campfire, dropped to 1,333 from more than 1,400.
· For the first time since the fire west of King City broke out, plans today include escorting residents of cabins in the Santa Lucia Tract near the fire's origin point to their properties.
Fire officials said none of the cabins were lost, but the area remains hazardous because a lot of heavy equipment still operating in the area.
· The Monterey Bay area, like much of Northern and Central California, experienced smoky, hazy skies Friday from the fires.
The Monterey Bay Air Pollution Control District said shifting wind carried more smoke into the Peninsula area, and elevated smoke levels probably will last through today.
Meanwhile, the county's two big fires remained on a course to merge within a few days. The Basin Complex fire is spreading south and east toward the Indians Fire.
"We have to be ready when that fire gets here to have a nice, big, black, consolidated anchor point," said Don Ferguson, a Forest Service spokesman.
Statewide
· More than 1,000 fires, mostly caused by lightning, have burned more than 400 square miles from the Central Coast to Oregon.
Areas hardest hit include Butte County, where 31 fires have burned 17 square miles and threatened 1,200 homes; Mendocino County, where 121 fires have burned 42 square miles and threatened 900 homes; and Shasta-Trinity counties, where about 160 fires have burned 55 square miles and threatened 230 homes.
· Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked President Bush for a federal emergency declaration to free up more resources, noting that most of the major fires were less than 20 percent contained. Some 11,000 firefighters from 41 states are battling the blazes.
· The blazes have left a smoky haze over much of the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Valley, prompting air regulators to urge people to stay indoors. Air pollution readings in Northern California and the Central Valley were two to 10 times the federal standard for clean air, said Dimitri Stanich, spokesman for the California Air Resources Control Board.
http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_9728325?nclick_check=1
No comments:
Post a Comment