VIIRS & MODIS Satellite detections.
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The lookout at shut-eye peak stayed as long as they could tracking fire movement and got out safely.
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Creek AA unable to make it into the fire to much smoke. Returning to Fresno.
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I don’t know yet how accurate the outlying pixels are in VIIRs - 0300 hrs, 9/7/2020, but I just measured this 127,000 acre polygon, and if you cut off a lot of the widely-spaced hits on the west and south flanks, it is still 100,000 acres.
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Anyway you cut it, it’s still a big chunk of tough country for roughly 36 hours of burning
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Agree. The burning and flame lengths seen on WildFireAlerts at 0100 and again under 1 hour all night long showed fire behavior you would expect to see during the burning period in an afternoon. Some of the most impressive (extreme) fire behavior I’ve ever seen.
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Info as of 1130hrs today: (More details on Inciweb)
45,000 Acres, 800 Personnel Assigned
Closures: Hwy 168 closed at Huntington Lake Road and at the top of the four lane Cressman’s. These are hard closures CHP road block in place.
Mandatory Evacuations in place for the communities of Big Creek, Huntington Lake, Shaver Lake and Cascadel Woods.
Evacuation warnings now in effect from Cressman Road - Auberry Road from the top of the four lanes to Powerhouse to the San Joaquin River. Also included are Jose Basin, Alder Spring, Mono Wind Casino, Meadow Lakes and Mile High
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What alarms me more than anything else is how the Creek Fire managed to literally cut through not one but TWO relatively fresh burn scars from previous wildfires in the French Fire (2014, left) and Aspen Fire (2013, right) on opposing sides of the San Joaquin River.
I admittedly joked yesterday that if they tied the Creek Fire into the lines cut for those fires that it’d be a done deal by next week. But the fact that the Creek Fire managed to evidently explode through sparse regrowth and burned out vegetations that were barely 6/7 years old must indicate that fuel moistures all over the Sierra National Forest are critical.
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6-7 years is more than enough time for a brush field to grow, shouldn’t be that surprising. Even the lines for those fires would be mostly overgrown. Moisture levels aside, unmitigated growth in that fuel transition type likes to burn every 5 or so years just look at So. Cal. Not to mention the drought and beetle kill since then. 5 years after this fire, if nothing is done, it will be the same.
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The fire has crossed Stevensons Creek and this will cause a big issue in Shaver Lake.
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Fire across Stevenson Creek drainage and up on Flume peak. Backing into Mill creek drainage. Likely to run up Mill creek and head down the eastern aspect of Stevenson peak and toward Rock Haven and Shaver Lake subdivision.
Probably not enough line in there, so contacting Shaver structure protection group with the heads up.
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Add in the high amount of heavy down material in those burns it was going to burn hot.
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This fire is moving with a purpose I do not think at this point that any amount of dozer line put in will slow it down. The creek fire is moving like the Rim Fire did.
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For comparison, here is the rough satellite (VIIRs) heat perimeter (3am 9/6/2020) in black with the 10pm infrared mapping from 9/5/2020 in red and yellow.
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Units are starting to do some defensive firing operations at the “switchbacks” I believe they are talking about Highway 168 at the top of Stevenson Creek. They are talking about sending downhill traffic down Rock Creek road, which ties in to Dinkey Creek. Sounds like they are still working to evacuate a lot of people above Shaver Lake. (Florence Lake, Huntington Lake etc)
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Yes, the ones usually referred to as the “switchbacks” were the switchbacks right at the base of the dam, at the top end of Stephenson Creek
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That’s what I was thinking. With the potential of spotting to the East and every direction at this point this is getting squirly. Not a fast road either. I would think of dropping trailers and Moyer homes at China Peak, hunker down for the next 24 hrs. Plenty of room in this parking lots for civilians. Not perfect but safe.
Also new start in MMU
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