Montgomery Woods fire update (6/28 at 11:50am)

Hello again,

Sorry to be so late getting news out - I just got back to the house. This morning I started out at 8:30 to find the fire crews and deliver some more coffee and juice (at least Shirlie and I are good at making coffee). Since then, I have had numerous conversations with neighbors and fire crews and with Sheriff Allman.

Good news first:

As I headed out on the first run, three fire trucks and two CDF pickups were arriving on our road. They have been periodically watching the fires beyond Tim and Jeanette's (#3940) and the bottom of Clay Young's (#3581) place all night. They are actually encouraged to see some of the "fuel" burned on the North-West side of the road. There was evidence that they had actually tried to do a couple of back burns there, but they didn't take, so all the burning was coming up from the Montgomery Woods fire.

The trees I saw burning last night have mostly fallen and are smoldering. Some are still in flame, but the crew is right there.

According to every official I met, our road is a key priority for them now. As they have been saying for several days, Running Springs Road is the best real break between the Montgomery Woods fire and the valley on the South-East. They are planning on dedicating more resources here, starting today, to try and make a stand here. No one really knows how the fire trucks will be allocated, but we should have between 3 and 10 fire trucks here.

Bad news:

The Montgomery Woods fire has grown significantly, and continues to grow every day. In the last 2 days, it has come 1/2 mile directly toward Running Springs Road. One crew chief said it was now 2,900 acres, whereas it was less than 1,000 acres a few days ago. It has made it up near the road (or to individual driveways at the end of the road) all the way out from Tim and Jeanette's to the end of the road.

At one point below/North of our house (#4450), a new fire has begun on the wrong side of the dozer fire break that they put in. The fire trucks cannot get there, so they have called for helicopter attack. There is a steady stream of spotter planes and helicopters, but so far the smoke has been too thick for them to lay anything down. They are serious in trying to create a line of protection.

Please email with any questions or thoughts. I will be out much of the day, but will try to keep information flowing.

Thanks to all the neighbors who answered the call this morning to come help.
It is gratifying to see and feel all the concern and energy of this wonderful neighborhood.

Rod

P.S. no new map today, but the site is still up at www.glenmaple.com/fire
with the map from yesterday.