PROTECTING TREASURES
Sequoia Complex up to 63,000 acres
The Sequoia Complex fires, which include the Castle Fire and the Shotgun Fire in the Golden Trout Wilderness, had grown to 62,887 acres as of Tuesday morning.
On Monday, the edge of the fire reached into the Freemont Grove area and the fire also reached Pierpoint, but the fire at Pierpoint was quickly contained. Mountain Home State Forest and Balch Park campground has also been closed.
The Castle Fire had burned 62,389 acres and the Shotgun Fire had burned 498 acres. There have been 11 injuries that have occurred as a result of battling the fire.
There have been 1,433 people who have been evacuated and 838 structures are being threatened. As of Monday morning there were 13 hand crews, 49 engines, 19 water tenders, eight dozers, eight helicopters and 792 personnel battling the fires. As of Tuesday morning the fires were 7 percent contained.
On Monday emergency forest closures were issued for the Pacific Southwest Region, affecting eight national forests, including the Sequoia National Forest and the Inyo National Forest.
On Monday afternoon northwest winds pushed active fire on the eastern flank of the fire towards Little Horse Meadows. Structure protection groups remained ready through Monday night at Beach Meadows.
Along the southern edge, fire was held along the Kern River towards Lion Meadows. Due to the fire being pushed on the southeast corner, direct firefighting tactics on the ground and retardant from air resources were used in this area.
On the western flank of the fire, operations personnel began the work of scouting the fire’s edge that reached into Freeman Grove. A new fire start in Pierpoint diverted five fire engines. The Pierpoint fire was only 1/10th of an acre and was 100 percent contained.
The forest service stated scouting on the western flank will continue to access how far the fire has progressed into the Freeman Grove area and form a tactical plan for firefighting activity. Direct fireline in this area isn’t possible due to steep, rugged ter
rain and the risk of firefighters’ safety.
Personnel were working to assess how to tie indirect fire containment lines together from the north and south on the western edge of the fire. “The western edge of the fire remains the highest priority for the incident management team due to the values at risk in nearby communities,” the forest service stated.
The southside of the fire was expected to be affected by winds from the northwest. The forest service stated on the northeast flank, resources would work to limit impacts to local resources within the Golden Trout Wilderness area.
The shotgun fire continued to burn slowly in rocky drainage and was being monitored by aircraft.
As far as the weather on Tuesday, the forest service stated conditions would be slightly more favorable for firefighters with the temperature dropping 7-9 degrees. Winds were still expected to gust up to 14 miles an hour.
It was expected smoke from the Creek Fire in the Shaver Lake area which has also forced the closure of Sierra National Forest would shift north of the Sequoia Complex by Tuesday afternoon.
The following places were still under an evacuation order: Camp Nelson, Coy Flat, Mountain Aire, Pierpoint, Alpine Village, Sequoia Crest and Redwood Drive, Ponderosa, Cedar Slope and Pyles Camp. An evacuation warning was in place for Doyle Springs.
Those who need assistance with evacuating can call the Red Cross at 1-800-RED-CROSS or visit https://tinyurl.com/ yafetgkj
Tulare County residents are encouraged to sign up for emergency notification alerttc.com.
Highway 190 is closed 16.2 miles east of Porterville at Rio Vista Road. Other road closures include: Highway 190 and the County Transfer Station — M107 and Mountain Road 50 — Johnsondale Bridge and Sherman Pass.
A temporary flight restriction has been issued for airspace around the Sequoia Complex. Drones are prohibited.
Priorities of protection include the following: Ponderosa, Cedar Slope, Alpine Village, Sequoia Crest, Redwood Drive, facilities within Trout Meadow, structures along the Lloyd Meadows Road, Pyles Boys Camp, grazing cattle west of North Road, Freeman Creek Grove and other Sequoia groves, the President George H.W. Bush Tree, Camp Whitsett, archeological values, Peppermint Fire Station, Mountain Yellow-legged Frog and Little Kern Golden Trout Critical Habitats, Pacific Fisher habitats.