100% and Defining Local

contained

photo by Cal Fire

     The good news came from Cal Fire, The Chimney Fire is now 100% contained.

     Started August 13 the blaze destroyed 49 residences, 21  buildings, more than 46 thousand acres and for a week threatened the historic Hearst Castle.

      At its peak nearly 4,000 firefighters were on the scene augmented by 7 air tankers and 16 helicopters.  Cal Fire has released and re-deployed all but a few hundred firefighters.

       Local command will now supervise weeks of mop up, repair of roads, fire breaks, work to prevent erosion and stream run off.

      In the communities of Lake Nacimiento, Paso Robles, San Simeon, Cambria and in the adjoining wine country are signs and posters thanking the fire fighters. Heroes they are.

      Now they move to another fire or if lucky get a break and some time at home.

normal?

photo by Jacque Griffin

      Summer vacation season ends with Labor Day weekend and many California central coast residents are waiting to see an end to this. Midwest refugee Jacque Griffin captured this image noting it was "news worthy."  Traffic jams are a rarity, unless tourists flood the town as they do over the Pinedorado Weekend.

    The evidence of this photo is a touchstone in a community "discussion" in villages like ours. What is the balance between the quality of life of residents and the tourist hoards that are good for the hospitality industry?"  What is that balance? It's tricky.

     In the decade we have resided here we've witnessed an uptick in visitors. Friends who have been here for up to 30 years have seen a larger change, in size and character of the village as well as the tourist influx. 

    People came to Cambria because of its village quality and size. The quiet, natural character and location away from dense population was a draw. Some growth is inevitable but what remains with in the parameters of sustainability and resource use. How do you retain the character that makes a village unique and appealing? Would the restaurants we enjoy be here if there were not the seasonal visitors? What about some of those store fronts? What is reasonable?

     Opinions vary. In this village there are those who like its authentic, creative, funky and genuine nature. But there are some who prefer to see it more upscale, more like Carmel.

      This gets worked out by the coming and going of those who live here or who move on.

   Water is a friction point of course. Residents have reduced use by 20% to 40% but watch as thousands of out owners come and tap into our limited resource. And many tourists think nothing about dumping trash, leaving dog waste unattended, carelessly flicking cigarette butts, or ash trays and of course one of the most grievous offenses, take our parking spaces!

     In some ways, we are all tourists. California is a state where we drive. There is so much to see and do and so in our personal patterns we become visitors in another village or city.

   Though we note the end of summer often opens vistas and space.

   And it is hard to visit Morro Bay without an obligatory stop at Ruddells SmokeHouse where his fish Tacos have earned world wide acclaim. Deservedly.  But here I go only encouraging more tourist hoards.

    See you down the trail.

    

Heroic

photo by SLOSTRINGER

extraordinary

    17 Helicopters continue to fly into harms way as they battle the Chimney fire that has now grown to 37 thousand acres. They are part of a small army at war with an unpredictable fire.

photo by EPN564

     The shot above is part of the staging area in Paso Robles for the Cal Fire army. 

     3,983 firefighters are on duty. They are equipped with 326 engines, 107 total crews, 7 air tanker planes, 62 water tenders and 46 dozers. Coordination and communication itself is an extraordinary task. Firefighters from around California answer the call. 
     The logistics of attacking wildfire are vexing-whom to put where and in what role. There is a meteorologist on duty, for example, as the fire creates its own weather. The air temperature along the borders of the fire will range from 70 to 90 degrees and the humidity wildly fluctuates as well. The heat of the burning scrub, trees and grasslands mix with different microclimates and the fire behaves erratically. 

     Signs, social media posts, conversations and letters to editors by central coast residents praise the firefighters and offer prayers and other encouragement. These men and women do long and extended hours of dangerous hard work and many of them have been moved from other fires. Some go weeks without being home or seeing family.

     The statistic sighted are according the AM Cal Fire incident report. As of this morning 1,830 structures are threatened in the Lake Nacimiento to Lake San Antonio area.

     

      As the fire has tracked north in the last several hours the threat to Hearst Castle has lessened. But crews remain deployed on the Castle grounds and all tourist activity has been stopped.

      As seen below a Kern County Unit assess the situation at the Castle. 

    As long as winds permit the 7 air tankers continue to route over the central coast and drop retardant. Coordinating their flights and those of the 17 helicopters is also a challenge.

 photo by Joe Johnston San Luis Obispo Tribune

 photo Captain Lucas Spelman Cal Fire

photo Captain Lucas Superman Cal Fire

    There is a frightening edge to a large fire that grows so rapidly. The graphic below prepared by Joe Tarica of the San Luis Obispo Tribune shows how it has grown day by day.

        As noted previously, we watch and wait. We also admire those thousands on the front line.

      We also appreciate the work of journalists and free lancer SLOSTRINGER for their efforts to keep us informed.

      See you down the trail.