King Wildfire going crazy

[Dostie]

http://www.esri.com/services/disaster-response/wildlandfire/latest-news-map

This fire has exploded. Tuesday evening it had burned approx. 12k acres. By Thursday morning that number was 71k acres. Gulp, headed for Truckee and it looks to be almost halfway there.

[bobs]

Wow, it's right there at some significant sized communities off of US50. I wouldn't be too worried about Truckee, which is on the other side of the Sierra Crest, and Donner Lake is a fire barrier as well. Not to mention I-80. You've got to be pretty smoked out up there around now though.

Just noticed that the Yosemite backcountry fire actually reached Tenaya Lake.

[tahoebc]

That sucker traveled 10 miles in 14 hours and is at French Meadows and Hell Hole Reservoirs right now, hopefully the cooler temps and humidity today will slow it down a little bit. Another 10 miles or so it will be knocking on Alpine & Squaw's back door



Photo taken yesterday by Steve Ellsworth

[Baaahb]

Due to the uncertain path of the King Fire, the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit has closed the McKinney Rubicon Trail and is advising against travel into the Desolation or Granite Chief wildernesses. The Eldorado National Forest has issued a forest closure for its Desolation Wilderness trails and trailheads. In particular, hikers and equestrians should consider cancelling plans for overnight travel into the Desolation and Granite Chief wildernesses.

nasty nasty nasty

[jfb]

Photo taken yesterday by Steve Ellsworth

Great photo but YOWZA that's a bunch o smoke.

[tahoebc]

Photo of the asswipe that intentionally set the fire being held on 10 million dollar bond

[Dostie]

LA Times story on how the face above came to be arrested offers few details to substantiate the accusation. Like some of the more heinous crimes of our times, this sort of arson I don't understand. I'm guessing it is a personal vendetta, but can't tell from the info provided.

Sure hope the wind backs off. The stories I'm reading about the excessive heat (written from desks back east) and drought causing the uncontrollable blaze are convenient rumination lacking insight. The WIND is the real factor here, not the heat. The drought isn't helping but without the wind they might already have it contained. Here's hoping the firefighters get a break soon.

Photo courtesy LA Times

[bobs]

Like some of the more heinous crimes of our times, this sort of arson I don't understand.

Yeah, that, plus the utter stupidity of committing an act that makes him responsible for a disaster that might well have happened anyway, sooner than later, set off by carelessness or lightning. I mean seriously, you want to see a big forest fire in California? Just sit and wait.

I'm hoping for the best, and there's reason for optimism: vegetation thins not far to the east of the fire's NE front, and there's a divide then major canyon to the north (and I recall Red Star Ridge, just north of French Meadows Reservoir where the fire's near or at now, burned pretty hard just over a decade ago). I just read that officials don't consider the Tahoe area to be threatened. Hang in there with the smoke though (sat photo shows Norden to Truckee in the thick of it, yowza), and I'm hoping that communities along 50 stay safe.

[riser3]

LA Times story on how the face above came to be arrested offers few details to substantiate the accusation. Like some of the more heinous crimes of our times, this sort of arson I don't understand. I'm guessing it is a personal vendetta, but can't tell from the info provided.

Trying to take out some rival grow ops? Or maybe that was the Boles fire in Weed, CA.