Posted by Steve Sieren on July 20, 2009 at 2:38 AM
Unfortunatly there is a fire in Bishop Canyon. Aspendale had to be evactuated. 200 acres have burned and I'm not sure of the current status after the drive home listening to the radio earlier today at 2pm. Hopefully updates in the morning are better.
The article states there were 26 lighting started fires on Saturday.
Posted by Steve Sieren on July 20, 2009 at 2:41 AM
Another small fire on the way home near Independence.
Hope they get them contained.
Posted by Cory Freeman on July 20, 2009 at 9:33 AM
Glad you posted this steve, I was just going to do the same to let you all know. Sat afternoon dry lightning started a small fire which quickly grew to 3000+ acres by last night. the canyon is closed to traffic. Check my blog and webcam as well as sierravisions for info and links to info.
I've changed the url address of the webcam so you'll have to update your bookmarks for future use.
It's good to see you. The circumstances aren't so good, though.
This is very bad, and I'm sad to see it. With the steep terrain, flashy fuels, low humidity and high temps, this thing is gonna keep running. Pray for the fire fighters!
Thanks for the info.
Be safe out there.
-P
Posted by Steve Sieren on July 20, 2009 at 1:20 PM
Cory, Thank god for your webcam. Looks like it's out!!
I just left the Bishop Pass trailhead Friday morning, close call. Hopefully the aspens weren't all destroyed. That could hurt the October tourism revenue for Bishop.
Deep in a canyon seems like a good place to be during a lightning storm but I guess not looking at the 2nd photo.
Thanks for the update here, Cory.
I saw this happen once down at Whitney area. Although it burned all night without any attempts to put it out at the higher elevations, it did not burn much from what I could see with some small field glasses.
Yikes. Here's today's update. Looks like things could be worse. I was hoping to go up there this October... will have wait until we hear how the aspens faired
The fire is burning in Pinyon Pine, Juniper and Sage. Good progress is being made, but all evac orders remain in place. The fire started near Intake II on 168 West.
Here's a great site for current CA Fire Incidents; InciWeb-CA Incidents. It is updated frequently.
Just got back driving through owen's valley, and didn't actually see that much evidence of the fires from 395.. which is good I guess? We also got a good dose of rain on the way out, but mostly south of bishop. Guess we'll have to see where the aspen's have survived! It's been a record hot year, hopefully this isn't just the beginning.
Posted by Cory Freeman on July 21, 2009 at 9:35 AM
Looks like they got a real good handle on the fire late sunday evening into mon morning. Sounds like they are tentatively letting people back in the canyon starting wed or thurs. I'll let you know how the aspen groves faired. I'm more worried about some places in the buttermilks.
Posted by Steve Sieren on July 21, 2009 at 11:16 AM
Fire usually brings in lupines afterwards since they strive in ravaged areas. Just like in the Lower Rock Creek area it looks like Matilda Poppies that bloom a little later in spring and summer.
Forks Fire Update...The following is from InciWeb:
"The fire is 85% contained and mop up is in progress. Ful containment is expected on Friday, 7/24."
"At 5:00 Tuesday July 21, the Bishop Creek Recreation Area re-opened to the public. Highway 168 is-open to all traffic and the voluntary evacuation order for Starlite has been lifted. The popular recreation area was closed and evacuated over the weekend due to the Forks Fire."
"At 5:00 Tuesday 7/21 all campgrounds re-opened except for Bitterbrush Campground, which is currently being used as a staging area for the fire suppression efforts. Although Highway 168 is open to traffic, all drivers are urged to drive with extreme caution and to watch for falling rocks and debris from the burn area. Dirt roads that access the burn area will remain closed to all access while suppression efforts continue and needs for burned area rehabilitation are being assessed."
"During these final suppression efforts emergency vehicles will be travelling the roads and could be parked alongside the highway. Please slow down and use caution while driving around any emergency vehicles or firefighters."
......
It will be interesting to see the extent of the changes that will occur as a result of the fire. Grasses, lupine, fireweed and other plants that thrive in disturbed areas will likely reappear next spring. Sage recovery will take a couple of years to begin to re-establish. Pinyon and Juniper will take many, many years to return, if at all. This all depends upon how much sterilization of the soil took place due to heating, and the amount of precipitation the area receives. Given the drought we are currently experiencing, recovery may be quite slow.
Cory, can you access the area and perhaps post a couple of images of the burn?
Be safe out there everyone, and be extra careful with any ignition sources.
-P
Posted by Cory Freeman on July 22, 2009 at 9:08 PM
I plan on going up there this weekend to check things out Preston, as long as I have access. I heard on the radio yesterday that some of the dirt roads were going to be closed so the mop-up crews and forest service could do there thing. I'll get some pics and let you know.
Posted by Steve Sieren on July 27, 2009 at 7:48 PM
I came back down from there on Friday just from South Lake and you could see the north side of the canyon where the forks are burned up and over the ridge where the big large pipe is. A tiny bit was burned near the road where it crossed the road but not much. Most of the damage looks like it's on the other side of the ridge. I'm still curious to see how much burned up there.
Thanks for the info. I have looked at the country on the other side of canyon wall from above the Buttermilks over by Basin Mtn.. There are some stands of aspen, but mostly juniper, pinyon, and sage.
You might be able to view a fire map on the INF website (I haven't tried). There are a few old mining/off-road trails back there, but they are really rough, and the area is very remote.
I am hoping Corey can in there and shoot some images. I'd like to see what happened back there, as well.
-P
Posted by Cory Freeman on July 28, 2009 at 12:55 AM
Check this out for my initial assesment. Unfortunately I couldn't get back there as fire crews were in mop-up and have the dirt rds. closed, as of last fri. 7/24.
The area that burned had a lot of jeffery trees and some aspen groves which I'm afraid have all burned up. Hopefully the forest service will open up access to the area soon.
Thanks for the update. From the images, it looks like the fire burned pretty hot. That's too bad about the Jeffreys and those aspen groves back up there. :-( That was pretty country. Hopefully it will recover somewhat, but the large trees will not repopulate any time soon.
It looks like Aspendell faired well. I bet the folks there were pretty scraed they'd come home to ruins. The fire fighters did a great job, bless them!
Discussion
16 repliesThe article states there were 26 lighting started fires on Saturday.
http://yubanet.com/regional/Forks-Fire-Causes-Evacuations-in-Bishop-Creek-Canyon.php
Hope they get them contained.
I've changed the url address of the webcam so you'll have to update your bookmarks for future use.
cory freeman
sierra impressions photography
bishopweather.com
It's good to see you. The circumstances aren't so good, though.
This is very bad, and I'm sad to see it. With the steep terrain, flashy fuels, low humidity and high temps, this thing is gonna keep running. Pray for the fire fighters!
Thanks for the info.
Be safe out there.
-P
I just left the Bishop Pass trailhead Friday morning, close call. Hopefully the aspens weren't all destroyed. That could hurt the October tourism revenue for Bishop.
Deep in a canyon seems like a good place to be during a lightning storm but I guess not looking at the 2nd photo.
I saw this happen once down at Whitney area. Although it burned all night without any attempts to put it out at the higher elevations, it did not burn much from what I could see with some small field glasses.
Here's a great site for current CA Fire Incidents; InciWeb-CA Incidents. It is updated frequently.
-P
"The fire is 85% contained and mop up is in progress. Ful containment is expected on Friday, 7/24."
"At 5:00 Tuesday July 21, the Bishop Creek Recreation Area re-opened to the public. Highway 168 is-open to all traffic and the voluntary evacuation order for Starlite has been lifted. The popular recreation area was closed and evacuated over the weekend due to the Forks Fire."
"At 5:00 Tuesday 7/21 all campgrounds re-opened except for Bitterbrush Campground, which is currently being used as a staging area for the fire suppression efforts. Although Highway 168 is open to traffic, all drivers are urged to drive with extreme caution and to watch for falling rocks and debris from the burn area. Dirt roads that access the burn area will remain closed to all access while suppression efforts continue and needs for burned area rehabilitation are being assessed."
"During these final suppression efforts emergency vehicles will be travelling the roads and could be parked alongside the highway. Please slow down and use caution while driving around any emergency vehicles or firefighters."
......
It will be interesting to see the extent of the changes that will occur as a result of the fire. Grasses, lupine, fireweed and other plants that thrive in disturbed areas will likely reappear next spring. Sage recovery will take a couple of years to begin to re-establish. Pinyon and Juniper will take many, many years to return, if at all. This all depends upon how much sterilization of the soil took place due to heating, and the amount of precipitation the area receives. Given the drought we are currently experiencing, recovery may be quite slow.
Cory, can you access the area and perhaps post a couple of images of the burn?
Be safe out there everyone, and be extra careful with any ignition sources.
-P
Thanks for the info. I have looked at the country on the other side of canyon wall from above the Buttermilks over by Basin Mtn.. There are some stands of aspen, but mostly juniper, pinyon, and sage.
You might be able to view a fire map on the INF website (I haven't tried). There are a few old mining/off-road trails back there, but they are really rough, and the area is very remote.
I am hoping Corey can in there and shoot some images. I'd like to see what happened back there, as well.
-P
The area that burned had a lot of jeffery trees and some aspen groves which I'm afraid have all burned up. Hopefully the forest service will open up access to the area soon.
Thanks for the update. From the images, it looks like the fire burned pretty hot. That's too bad about the Jeffreys and those aspen groves back up there. :-( That was pretty country. Hopefully it will recover somewhat, but the large trees will not repopulate any time soon.
It looks like Aspendell faired well. I bet the folks there were pretty scraed they'd come home to ruins. The fire fighters did a great job, bless them!
-P