Winds are calm near the fire. 11am is when they start back up normally.
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All local resources released from the incident around 0100 this morning.
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28 seconds in: “Objectives are to keep the fire west of Highway 1, East of the Pacific Ocean…”
I know long range spotting has been a thing recently, but that seems a bit extreme. Glad to hear they’re keeping the fire from crossing the largest body of water in the world.
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The Great Pacific Fuel Break continues to hold.
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Strong work by LNU, local agencies, and night air ops, taking advantage of moderating conditions, resulting in a pretty light 209:
As of 1700hrs 7/31 Per 209:
142.5 Acres @ 37% Containment
Observed Fire Behavior:
Minimal-Smouldering
Critical Resource Needs:
12hr: Golf’s and Charlies for Mop Up
72hr+: Reduce the amount of resource needs and continue to mop up and transition to a 3-5 day plan.
Estimated Incident Containment: 8/5/2026
Total Number of Personnel: 284
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Minimal growth since last night’s IR flight. 151.5 acres as of this evenings IR flight.
Fire history in the area is minimal. Last fire in the same area was the 1993 Gerstle (766ac) just to the South of Fort Ross in 2020 was the Meyers (2360ac).
Outside of those two incidents there is no recorded significant fire history on the coast since the 1950’s when the logging industry was booming.
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What about a fire in the Sea Ranch area at Thanksgiving…early 90s…a north wind situation? Was that the Gerstle Fire?
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November 1993, 450 acres near Gerstle Cove, Salt Point SP. At the time it was kind of shocking to a young firefighter that you could have a fire on the coast that large. Now not so surprising….
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After the great asbestos forest of CZU burned a few years back, anything will burn.
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The Coast has SOOOOOO much biomass.
The fires in France are a cautionary tale about what happens when the marine layer that usually keeps things from burning temporarily goes away. Fort Bragg and a lot of other places that don’t think they have real WUI issues are going to learn this the hard way.
Found some interesting research on how the Landes Forest (SW coast of France) creates its own marine layer - in our reporting on the fires there, here.
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Coastal fires… Remember the May 31, 1987 BEU Morse Fire at Pebble Beach.
tr-007_Compressed~01aug26.pdf (3.7 MB)
Additionally, ORC Emerald Fire, February 10, 2022, https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2022/2/10/emerald-fire/
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