Willow Fire prompts evacuations
BIG SUR >> The Willow Fire in the Los Padres National Forest prompted the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office to issue an evacuation order Friday for Tassajara Road northwest to China Campground that includes tributary forest routes and the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.
According to Lynn Olson, a public information officer with the U.S. Forest Service Monterey Ranger District, by late Friday morning, the fire had burned more than 200 acres after firefighters first responded to the blaze about 8 p.m. on Thursday night.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
“There are about 300 people on it, hiking in and doing a size-up,” Olson said Friday morning. “Air support is coming.”
Olson reported that the fire is spreading at a moderate rate and is 0% contained.
Besides the evacuation order from the Sheriff’s Office for Tassajara Road, residents along Arroyo Seco Road from Millers Ranch at the Carmel Valley Road junction west to the Arroyo Seco Campground are under an evacuation warning, as well as Tassajara Road from China Camp Campground northwest to Kincannon Canyon.
That warning stops at the Los Padres National Forest boundary and does not include Kincannon Road or tributaries of Jamesburg or Cachagua Road.
The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center evacuated most of its residents at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
“The (Zen Mountain Center) Fire Crew will remain in order to run ‘Dharma Rain’ (Tassajara’s sprinkler system) and to prepare the monastery in case the fire reaches the valley,” San Francisco Zen Center President Sozan Miglioli said in a prepared statement. “Tassajara has been working on special fire prep projects during the pandemic shutdown and the fire crew has been in place and training for several months. Our water supplies are good and we are well prepared for this situation. Right now there are four engines at Tassajara (two from Cal Fire and two from the Forest Service). They are helping our Fire Team to prep.”
There is a road closure at Tassajara Road at Carmel Valley Road as well as Arroyo Seco Road at Carmel Valley Road.
“We’re just getting on it and gathering information,” said Olson. “Firefighters are already there, that’s the important part.”
Andrew Madsen, a U.S. Forest Service public affairs officer, said five hotshot crews are part of the response, as well as an assortment of aviation equipment including fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters since the fire is burning in steep, rugged and brushy terrain.
“We’re hitting it hard with retardant and hope to catch and hold it to be as small as possible,” said Madsen, who added winds could become problematic.
On Friday afternoon, winds were out of the southwest at 5-10 mph with gusts up to 20 mph.
“It’s very dry and fuels are very receptive to fire under these conditions,” said Madsen.
According to the National Weather Service, nearby Arroyo Seco reached 108 degrees Thursday. The Los Padres National Forest is part of an excessive heat warning in effect Friday. The weather service said fire fuels, or vegetation, near the wildfire are exceedingly dry — even by June standards — given the ongoing drought.
The forecast for Arroyo Seco calls for a high of 103 degrees Saturday before cooling begins Sunday into Monday.
The fire is situated south of the 2020 River and Carmel fire burn scars and north of the Dolan Fire scar from the same period. The Willow Fire is burning along the southeast edge of the 2016 Soberanes burn scar and was under the excessive heat warning for Thursday and Friday.
The Soberanes Fire burned about 132,000 acres, the River Fire about 48,000, the Carmel about 7,000 and the Dolan Fire burned about 125,000 acres.
Parks Management Co. reported that the Arroyo Seco Campground and Day Use were closed until at least Monday due to the Willow Fire.
Rep. Jimmy Panetta said Friday on Twitter he is closely tracking the Willow Fire.
“I am in touch with the U.S. Forest Service and local elected officials to ensure we all work together to secure the resources we need to keep our communities safe,” he said.
Go to bit.ly/3gFEpvw for the latest evacuation information. Sign up at alertmontereycounty.org for emergency alerts or text “MCWINTER” to 888777 to receive text message alerts.