Piute Mountain Fire
Location: Piute Mountain in the Sequoia NF, 8 miles N of Twin Oaks, Kern Co. CA
Specific Location: Lat 35° 25′ 51″ Lon 118° 24′ 4″
Date of Origin: unknown, reported 06/29/08
Cause: human
Situation as of 07/16/08 6:00 PM
Total Personnel: 501
Size: 37,026 acres
Percent Contained: 95%
Costs to Date: $23,647,000
Evacuations continue to remain in effect throughout the fire area, related to potential flash flooding and not fire activity. Any further evacuation operations will be handled solely by the Kern County Sheriffs Department.
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Situation as of 07/15/08 6:00 PM
Total Personnel: 660
Size: 37,026 acres
Percent Contained: 75%
Costs to Date: $23,175,000
The Forest Closure in the Piute Mountain area remains in effect. The Bureau of Land Management’s temporary closures of motorized vehicles in the Piute Fire area remains in effect. The flash flood watch issued for the Erskine Creek drainage is still in effect. A recommended evacuation also remains in effect for all residence in the town of Lake Isabella, on both sides of Erskine Creek from the mouth of Erskine Creek Canyon at the pavement’s end to the Kern River due to the threat of flash floods. Evacuations remain in effect for Brown Meadow, French Meadow, and Camp Nick Williams and Red Mountain.
The remaining open line is inaccessible. Efforts are being placed on aerial surveillance and bucket drops to secure final sources of heat in those locations. Infrared imagery has been requested to confirm the effectiveness of these efforts.
Resources are being demobilized commensurate with weather and fire conditions. This incident is being managed under unified command with USFS and Kern County Fire Department. Due to the reduction in the threat to the State Responsibility Area (SRA), Cal Fire withdrew from unified command today.
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Situation as of 07/14/08 6:00 PM
Total Personnel: 1,100
Size: 37,026 acres
Percent Contained: 70%
Costs to Date: $23,000,000
Structures Destroyed: 6 residences , 45 outbuildings (some of which were historical cabins)
The Forest Closure in the Piute Mountain area remains in effect. The Bureau of Land Management’s temporary closures of motorized vehicles in the Piute Fire area remains in effect. The flash flood watch issued for the Erskine Creek drainage is still in effect.
A recommended evacuation was issued for all residence in the town of Lake Isabella, on both sides of Erskine Creek from the mouth of Erskine Creek Canyon at the pavement’s end to the Kern River.
Evacuations remain in effect for Brown Meadow, French Meadow, Camp Nick Williams and Red Mountain.
Although evacuations are no longer due to fire danger evacuations will remain in effect due to the threat of flash floods The flash flood recommended evacuation will remain in effect. Area received ~0.1 inches of rain last night.
Last night’s high altitude IR flight and a more detailed low altitude daytime IR flight indicated some heat is still detectable. The IR information will be used to direct crews for mop-up.
Resources are being demobilized commensurate with weather and fire conditions. Due to the weather conditions night operations will be limited to one strike team of engines patrolling the fire. Crews will remain available in camp, to respond to emergencies.
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Situation as of 07/13/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 1,590
Size: 37,026 acres
Percent Contained: 64%
Costs to Date: $22,505,000
Fire activity moderated due to higher humidities. Direct attack continued on the northern perimeter near Dry Meadow and Bob Rabbit Canyon.
A flash flood watch was issued for the Thompson Canyon and Erskine Creek drainage at 1600.
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Situation as of 07/12/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 1,523
Size: 36,183 acres
Percent Contained: 46%
Costs to Date: $20,700,000
The fire was active on the northwest perimeter (Division M) and crews continued with burnout operations to stay ahead of the fire. Crews completed handline on the northeastern perimeter near Cortez Canyon. Hand firing operations were completed in the southern portion of the western flank (Division A) along existing dozer line. This was supplemented with aerial ignition. Direct attack continued on the northern perimeter near Dry Meadow and Bob Rabbit Canyon with the support of helicopter bucket drops.
Actions planned may be modified based upon flash flooding events occurring in the fire area.
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Situation as of 07/11/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 1,562
Size: 35,078 acres
Percent Contained: 38%
Costs to Date: not updated
The fire was active on the northwest perimeter (Division M) and established itself in the upper part of Erskine Canyon. Crews made excellent progress with direct control efforts on the northeastern perimeter near Cortez Canyon. Crews continued firing operations in southern protion of the western perimeter (Division A) along existing dozer line. Direct attack continued on the northern perimeter near Dry Meadow and Bob Rabbit Canyon with the support of helicopter bucket drops. Work was completed on contingency lines on the northern perimeter near Squirrel Valley and also the western perimeter in the Havilah, area.
The fire is less active with little growth in the north. Limited grown in the southwest is associated with burnout operations.
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Situation as of 07/10/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 1,433
Size: 34,852 acres
Percent Contained: 32%
Costs to Date: $17,250,000
Direct attack began on the northern perimeter near Dry Meadow with the support of helicopter bucket drops and retardant. Work continued on contingency lines on the northern perimeter and also the western perimeter in the Havilah area. The Recommended Evacuation was lifted in the Havilah area at 1500.
To date, 35 additional outbuildings associated with past (historical) mining activity in this area have been found, for a total of 45 outbuildings and 6 residences lost on the incident.
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Situation as of 07/09/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 1,359
Size: 33,152 acres
Percent Contained: 28%
Costs to Date: $13,100,000
Structures Destroyed: 3 residences , 9 outbuildings
The fire was active on the northern perimeter. Crews made excellent progress with direct control efforts on the eastern perimeter near Kelso Valley. Local resources are engaged in active structure protection in the Havilah area. Work began on new contingency lines on the northern perimeter and also the western perimeter in the Havilah area. The community of Havilah remains under a recommended evacuation notice.
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Situation as of 07/07/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 1,191
Size: 26,285 acres
Percent Contained: 22%
Costs to Date: $11,494,098
Strong southeasterly winds pushed the fire actively to the north and west. Control lines were abandoned on the western perimeter as the fire continues to move west toward the community of Havilah. Local resources are engaged in active structure protection in the Havilah area. Contingency lines were continued on the north perimeter but resources were pulled off this operation due to active fire behavior. The community of Havilah was issued a recommended evacuation notice.
Extreme fire behavior has been reported in Haight Canyon and the head of Erskine Creek with crowning and spotting.
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Piute Mountain Fire Google Earth map, 07/07/08, courtesy Kern Co. Fire Dept. [here]. Click map for larger image (1.0 MB).
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Situation as of 07/06/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 1,270
Size: 25,591 acres
Percent Contained: 26%
Costs to Date: $9,900,000
The fire activity lessened on the eastern perimeter due primarily to lighter fuels. Suppression forces continue to deepen line construction on the southern perimeter towards the east. Crews continued line construction and burnout on the western perimeter near Saddle Spring Road and began work on a contingency line. A large contingency line was begun on the northern perimeter with the use of hand crews and mechanical equipment.
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Situation as of 07/05/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 1,267
Size: 21,478 acres
Percent Contained: 26%
The fire was active in all divisions and continued to move east due to strong southwesterly winds. Crews are attempting to keep the fire north of Piute Mountain Road with the aid of aerial retardant.
A new precautionary evacuation notice was issued for all residents west of Kelso Valley Road and east of the Sequoia National Forest boundary; and from the Kelso Valley Road at the junction with the Piute Mountain Road on the on the south and north to include the community of Cortez Canyon. A precautionary evacuation is also in place for Sorrel Peak Road south of the Piute Mountain Road.
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Situation as of 07/05/08 3:00 PM
Total Personnel: 1,261
Size: 19,010 acres
Percent Contained: 18%
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Situation as of 07/04/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 1,247
Size: 18,203 acres
Percent Contained: 18%
Costs to Date: $6,700,000
Suppression forces made good progress on line construction on the southern perimeter towards the east. A slopover occurred along the Piute Mountain Road near Claraville. Crews were able to control the slopover with the aid of aerial retardant. Crews continued line construction on the western perimeter near Saddle Spring Road and began to make plans for a contingency line. Indirect line was constructed in the SRA (State Responsibility Area) for perimeter control. Line construction began in the NW and NE portion of the fire.
The fire has been very active on the eastern side today with spotting 1/4 to 1/2 mile and a probability of ignition near 100%.
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Piute Mountain Fire Google Earth map, 07/04/08, courtesy Kern Co. Fire Dept. [here]. Click map for larger image (1.4 MB).
Situation as of 07/03/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 1,200
Size: 16,461 acres
Percent Contained: 18%
Cost to Date: $5,200,000
Committed Resource numbers are less than in recent reports because of more accurate resource counts.
Active fire spread to the east with torching and spotting 0.25 to 0.4 miles. Backing fire on the west with rolling material causing uphill crowning runs.
A public meeting is planned in Lake Isabella tonight at 1900.
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Situation as of 07/03/08 8:00 AM
Total Personnel: 1,323
Size: 14,923 acres
Percent Contained: 15%
Cost to Date: $3,600,000
Fire continues to move slowly toward the East threatening the Kelso Valley area and down slope on the Western perimeter toward residences in the Lake Isabella area.
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Situation as of 07/02/08 8:00 AM
Total Personnel: 998
Size: 13,504 acres
Percent Contained: 5%
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Situation as of 07/01/08 6:00 PM
Total Personnel: 746
Size: 11,514 acres
Percent Contained: 11%
Costs to Date: $2,300,000
Structures Threatened: 1,000 PRIM , 31 COMM , 200 OUTB Structures Destroyed: 1 PRIM , 6 OUTB
The fire consumed several structures in the French Meadow and the Moreland Mine areas. It also burned through the Nick Williams Boy Scout Camp where a damage inspection is currently being conducted.
Extreme conditions led to high rates of spread and torching. This resulted in significant eastward movement in Division X. The fire remained active throughout the Operational Period. Long-range spotting continues to be a dominant factor in fire progression.
The incident is being managed by Central Coast Team 7 (Smith) under Unified Command between the USFS, Kern County Fire Department and the BLM. A Type I IMT (Hoff) will assume command at 0600 hrs. 7-2-08.
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Situation as of 06/30/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 493
Size: 7,040 acres
Percent Contained: 6%
Road closures were initiated today in coordination with CHP, KCSO, and Unified Command. These included Piute Mountain Rd. at Caliente Ck. Rd., Saddle Springs Rd. at Caliente-Bodfish Rd., Jawbone Cyn.Rd. at Kelso Valley Rd., Piute Mtn. Rd. at Kelso Valley Rd., Erskine Ck. Rd. S of Lake Isabella, Forest Roads 29502 and 29503, and off-road access out of the S end of Squirrel Mtn. Valley. A unified plan was developed today for decisions involving potential 12 and 24 hour evacuations in the fire area.
A Type I team has been ordered due to increasing incident complexity and lack of resources. An Evacuation Center is open in Lake Isabella at the VFW/Senior Citizen’s Center.
High rates of spread with torching. Extreme fire behavior led to numerous instances of control lines needing to be abandoned. The fire remained active throughout the Operational Period with long-range spotting of up to 1.25 miles observed.
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Situation as of 06/29/08 6:00 PM
Total Personnel: 452
Size: 2,200 acres
Percent Contained: 3%
Structures Threatened: 50 PRIM , 1 COMM , 20 OUTB Structures Destroyed: NONE
Closure of area campgrounds and evacuation of campers in the area. Road closures include Piute Mtn. Rd., Saddle Springs Rd.and Cold Springs Rd. Evacuation of residences and visitors in Brown’s and French Meadows. An advisory notice to residences and visitors of the Claraville Town Site. An Evacuation Center has been opened in Lake Isabella.
Incident is in Unified Command with USFS,BLM, and Kern County Fire. The Central Coast Team #7 (Smith) received their in-brief at 12:00 today. The team is scheduled to assume command at 0600 tomorrow, 6/30/08.
High rate of spread with group tree torching.
Planned Actions: Protection of USFS Repeater Site and Historic Sites. Construct and hold line on North and South Flanks. Hold East Flank and protect structures along Piute Mtn. Rd.
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Situation as of 06/29/08 2:30 PM
Total Personnel: 150
Size: ~500 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
The fire is currently threatening a communications site, several historic structures in the Buckston Mill area, summer homes at Brown’s Meadow and French Meadow, the area of Claraville, and natural resources. No evacuations have been ordered.
A news report alleged that voluntary evacuations have been requested for residents along Bodfish-Caliente Road, north of Highway 58. Bodfish-Caliente Road is not very close to the reported fire vicinity. Better info on location will be posted when we get it.
Approximately one-hundred fifty firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, Kern County Fire Department and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management are currently on the fire lines and are being assisted by several firefighting aircraft and two bulldozers. Additional firefighting resources have been ordered including a federal incident management team that is scheduled to arrive by this afternoon.
by Joe Melendez BSA 291
For over fifty years boy scouts have used Camp Nick Williams as a learning base. Troop 291 was at the camp on Saturday when we noticed the aircraft and smoke from the fire. I think it will be found that it was started by shooters who were riding motorcycles in the area and left at high speed about 2 PM. Our camp is very close to the fire. By my estimation we are less than two miles from the fire at the bottom of French Meadows. I cannot state the loss that this will bring to the scouting programs from Kern, Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernadino counties all of whom have an interest at the camp. We continue to pray for our neighbors in Claraville, we will always camp here if we can clean up the damage. They will suffer a much larger fate!
Yours In Scouting — Jose Melendez, Scoutmaster Troop 291, Ridgecrest CA.
I have not heard yet regarding Camp Pico Blanco which may be overrun by the Basin Fire, and where I was in Order of the Arrow.
BSA has received a lot of knocks in the Media over the years. Few realize what a tremendous and valuable organization it really is. BSA imparts leadership, character, and outdoor skills to boys of every race and creed. Many inner city youth find structure, team work, acceptance, and personal growth through scouting.
Thank you Jose, for all that you do. We need to save our forests for our children as much as for any other reason.
Basin Fire still 5 mi S of Camp Pico Blanco, which is under voluntary evacuation at this time. Piute Mtn Fire 2,500 acres at last report.
by Jose Melendez BSA 291
To the members of the firefighting community: I would like to express our sincere thanks for your effort in regard to Camp Nick Williams!
We were at the camp on Saturday. We retrieved our history log book, and perhaps it is all we will have left from this wonderful area. We knew that it was a matter of time until this happened, and due to the age of the wood buildings (some nearly 100 years old), we could not expect that much would remain. Perhaps if we could have repaired the two sections of our lakes which were lost during the 1992 El Nino rains, we might have had a chance! At the least we will cut pads for tent camping after the cleanup, and if we can find funding perhaps rebuild some of the cabins from standing burned timber.
God be with all fire fighters and may the good Lord keep you safe!
Sincerely, Jose Melendez, Scoutmaster Troop 291, President Desert Campers Association, Camp Nick Williams
Jose, what a tragedy! Not only to the scout camp and historic buildings, but also to a very special forest.
The Piute Plateau is an isolated “sky island” forest surrounded by lower-elevation desert (much like the Kaibab Forest). Those forests were Ice Age refugia and harbor unique plants and animals. Intense incineration can eliminate gene pools found nowhere else.
Preventing severe fire is one reason that restoration forestry is so important in special habitats. Too bad that the Sequoia NF has dropped the ball over the last 20+ years and failed to maintain the Piute Forest in a fire-resilient condition.
by Rebecca T.
We are continuing to pray for the safety of all who are working on this fire! We also are sorry for the losses at Nick Williams! (Boy Scout Troop 586, Lancaster) Rebecca Thompson
I don’t wish to appear crass or insensitive about it, and I also wish for the safety of the firefighters, but they are equipped, trained, and paid to fight fire and hopefully will follow all safety precautions.
What is not safe, and in fact is being destroyed at this moment, is a very rare and precious forest. More on this subject later today at SOS Forests.
by Jose Melendez
Well it has been a year since we had this fire! Since then we have had a mud flow which has clogged the camp lake, however the growth of the meadows has been incredible. And many of the trees which we expected to be lost have recovered or are holding on. The fire killed 68 trees in the camp and some were in danger of falling so they had to be removed, in their place we now find small saplings of pine growing. The firefighters were able to spare the view by starting backfires away from the camp although the forest is badly burned outside the perimeter of the camp inside the trees are still green. The camp is back in use as this weekend we had about 20 boys in the camp and training is resuming. We still have a long way to go but the path is clear and time will heal all!
I was Ranger on the district 30+years ago. The Kern Canyon generated 90% of our fires, and we established a culture of jumping on them as quickly as we could. Kern County stretched the mutual aid agreement more than once to come help us stomp on fires.
The Piute Mountain Fire is different. It is in an isolated area, with Kern Co. and the FS being 30 minutes to an hour away, and a low fire occurrence. However, even 30 years ago we knew that was our Achilles heel. The fuels are volatile, country terrible for fire fighting, and access equally terrible. Apparently nothing has changed; the Kern River and Lake Isabella area are still the fire frequency champs, and the Piute is still isolated.
We built a series of shaded fuel breaks on the top of the Piute Plateau, anticipating a fire, someday, coming up the mountain from the SW or S side. However, I am betting there has been no maintenance since I left in 76.
A fire burning through an isolated forest at the edge of the Mojave Desert is truly an ecological disaster. The Piute is isolated from the rest of the Sierra by a minimum of 12 miles and has developed several unique gene pools for animals and plants. There is a good chance these gene pools will miss scientific preservation and study if burned severely.