Edhat Staff
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INCIDENT FACTS |
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Incident Start Date: August 19, 2018 |
Incident Start Time: 1330 |
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Incident Type: Wildfire |
Cause: Under investigation |
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Command Agency: Incident command transitioned from SoCal Team 2 back to the Los Padres National Forest Aug 24 at 6am. |
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Incident Location: Los Padres National Forest, 30 miles NE of Santa Maria CA on Hwy 166 |
Structures threatened: 0 |
People Evacuated: 0 |
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Size: 1,014 acres |
Containment: 98% |
Expected Full Containment: Wednesday August 29th, 2018 approx. 12:00 AM |
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Civilian Injuries: 0 |
Firefighter Injuries: 3 |
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Civilian Fatalities: 0 |
Firefighter Fatalities: 0 |
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| Total Personnel: 241 | |||
Update by Los Padres National Forest Service
Firefighters continue to make progress towards full containment of the Front Fire, located at the Rockfront OHV area on the Santa Lucia Ranger District. Favorable weather is helping firefighters continue to strengthen and build the containment lines. Steep uneven terrain and hazard trees are still a threat, so firefighter and public safety are top priorities. Complete Fire containment is imminent and some resources are being released to assist other fires.
Forest Restriction: As a reminder, the following is restricted in all areas of the Los Padres National Forest with a few exceptions. Wood and charcoal fires, fireworks, Smoking, and recreational target shooting are prohibited. Hunting is not allowed in the fire closure areas. Operating or using any internal or external combustion engine without a spark arresting device properly installed, maintained and in effective working order is prohibited. A forest closure covers the Front Fire area within and adjacent to the roads and trails north of State Highway 166. Details on restrictions and exceptions can be found by viewing: https://www.fs.usda.gov/
Update by Los Padres National Forest Service
Los Padres closure order bars public from Front Fire area
Los Padres National Forest officials issued a forest order closing the Front Fire area on the Santa Lucia Ranger District to the public effective today, August 22. Forest Service law enforcement officers will strictly enforce the closure order, which carries a penalty of $5,000 and/or six months in jail.
The order will expire when the Front Fire is fully contained and controlled.
The boundary of the Front Fire Closure Area begins at the Adobe Trailhead along Hwy. 166 and continues north on Adobe Trail (31W03), including Logan Ridge OHV Trail (17E05), and then along Twin Rocks OHV Trail (17E12) to Rockfront OHV Trail (17E14) and continues to Baja Campground. The closure continues north on Upper 35 Canyon OHV Trail (17E13) to the Los Padres National Forest boundary at Section 1 then heads east along the Forest boundary to Deadman Flat. It then continues south along the Forest boundary and then west along the Forest boundary to Gifford Trailhead, then continues along Hwy. 166 to the Adobe Trailhead.
Closure of the fire area is necessary to help ensure public safety, to keep the area clear for fire equipment traffic, and to allow for the scorched landscape to begin the rehabilitation and recovery process.
Los Padres remains under Extreme Fire restrictions which prohibits campfires and recreational target shooting in all areas of the Forest. Hunting during open season is not affected by Extreme Fire restrictions, however hunting is not allowed within the fire closure area.
Update by edhat staff
Update by edhat staff
The fire has burned approximately 900 acres and is 29% contained. There are 618 fire personnel on the scene with 5 helicopters assigned to the fire.
The fire is burning in grass, brush and chaparral along the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo County line. Favorable weather is helping firefighters. Firefighter and public safety are top priorities. Other priorities include protection of Red Legged Frog habitat, major power lines and archaeological sites.
The Los Padres National Forest Service reports 3 firefighter injuries, but further information on these injuries have not been revealed.
There are no evacuations, but 5 structures are threatened, although no one has been evacuated.
National Forest lands in the fire area north and west of Highway 166 are closed. The Los Padres National Forest is currently in Extreme Fire restrictions which prohibits campfires and recreational target shooting in all areas of the Forest until the end of the declared fire season. While hunting is not affected by the ban on recreational target shooting, hunting is not permitted within the closure area.
Update by edhat staff
The Front Fire has been re-estimated to have consumed 875 acres. The drop in acreage is a result of better mapping.
There are approximately 487 fire personnel on scene with 5 helicopters assigned to the fire.
It is currently 30% contained.
Update by edhat staff
As of this morning, the fire has consumed 1000 acres. There are approximately 700 fire personnel working the Front Fire. Several air tankers, including a DC10 are assigned to the fire, as well as a number of helicopters.
As a precaution, officials are closing the Sierra Madre Road area and are requesting campers and hunters to leave in the event the fire crosses the highway.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Santa Barbara County Firefighters search for hotspots while assisting the @LosPadresNF with a fire off Highway 166 near the Rock Front Ranch. The #FrontFire ** This is not a SBC incident **Click the link for more information: https://t.co/1T3BH14ofC pic.twitter.com/GAtcZVILEo
— SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) August 20, 2018
Update by edhat staff
The Front Fire off State Route 166 in between Santa Maria and Cuyama is now estimated to have reached 600 acres.
Approximately 250 fire personnel are on the scene, including units from the Los Padres National Forest Service, CAL Fire, and Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
The Front Fire was first reported at approximately 1:37 pm. It is located at in the Rockfront OHV area of the Los Padres National Forest in the Santa Lucia Ranger District.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
A Cal Fire official tells me the #FrontFire is now 600 acres. 250 people from Cal fire, @LosPadresNF and @SBCOUNTYFIRE currently on scene. This vegetation fire is near the Rock Front Ranch off highway 166 pic.twitter.com/DBhIt6C8lP
— Nathalie Vera (@NathalieVeraTV) August 20, 2018
Brush fire on the north side of Highway 166 in front of Rock Front Ranch near Santa Maria. There are numerous reporting parties. Cal Fire is responding.
The fire is moving towards the Highway and is now being managed by the Los Padres National Forest Service.
It appears to be 20 acres in size as of 1:50 p.m.
Aircraft will be in the air soon surveying the area, checking to see if anyone is in immediate danger.
3500 mm 166 Best info on CHP website….
This fire is 40-50 Acres and growing with structures threatened…
Code 33 Lawenforcement agencies responding…
Firefighter witnessing fire suggests reverse 911 for Pine Canyon and Tepusquet Areas also 4 miles West of Rock Front Ranch check and see if Rancho Gomez is occupied…
Possible reverse 911…
Copter 2 enroute to the fire…
Talking about the possiblity of closing highway 166 not for sure as of yet…Forest Service Air Tac responding.
Hearing SBSO talking about closing highway 166 for Firefighter and responder equipment only…If it’s not closed yet it will be.
CHP Not doing closures at this time.
Last I heard the fire was headed East there were no structures in the way….Hopefully all will be well soon…
That 20 acres sure went fast.
700 acres at 6:00 with zero containment. Hwy 166 is closed from 101 to New Cuyama.
We flew along the coast and got some pix of that and Morro that I’m about send to Ed. In case they’re not working night shift to cover this even tho it may not be threatening any structures, I’ll also post on SBitZ.NET and maybe the pix will be on Edhat tomorrow. Anyway, it looked to me like it was down to a small plume at 7pm or so. The plume was white (good sign) and low (meaning not exceptionally large and hot fire at that point – good sign). Daylight we’ll hopefully know more, and no people or structures will be threatened. Wonder if we’ll survive the peak fire season mostly intact, then have El Nino to worry about. 🙁
Yes, and the I.R. satellite from an hour ago shows no high-sensitivity low-resolution heat detection. This would indicate nothing more than spot fires. Containment of course means robust containment lines and all on-site heat detections (smouldering stumps, etc.) doused. Still plenty of smoke in that area on the Broadcast Peak webcam a couple of hours ago though, but maybe tomorrow the smoke will start to thin. At least from that nearby fire. The air quality map shows our region not getting better than “Moderate” yet.