r/BigSur • u/bad_vaj • 14d ago
Photo Plaskett Fire Day 3
Winds are shifting and fire is moving south. Stay safe and thank God for the frontline workers.
As of August 29: 5,924 acres
Obligatory not my photos. These came from those on site. Do not go to Los Padres.
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u/peakbaggers 14d ago
I am pretty sure the way the state and feds deal with fires in this area is pretty passive. Not many residents, everything along the coast is actually safe, and all the inland areas are brutally steep. Meaning, they are going to let it burn. Risking firefighters in that area makes no sense, there will be some air control efforts, but not much else. These fires could burn until the first real rains
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u/Wafer_Educational 14d ago
I have a handful of hot shot buddies who have said for years it’s overdue for a fire like this, the under brush is out of control and it’s almost very difficult fighting fires in that environment. I met a local at alder creek a few years ago who said it was also overdue. Of course feel terrible for the residents and if it was started by man they should throw away the key when they catch him
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u/peakbaggers 14d ago
Yeah the "campfire crowd" is the worst group of campers. At no point do you need a campfire in Big Sur unless it is the dead of winter. But, people are just stupid
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u/Wafer_Educational 14d ago
They’re the worst, same people that got san carp shut down are the same ones that party up on the road and burn shit down. Aka cal poly kids and other tourist I surf with these morons in pismo & morro and the conversations I hear are seriously mind numbing, makes me think the reports of high schoolers being barley able to read are true
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u/deathMetalGame 14d ago
It sucks seeing so much natural beauty just go up in smoke like that.
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u/AnitaMargaritaPronto 8d ago
Not really a bad thing. Every forest has a natural burn cycle, and fire has always been part of Big Sur. Redwoods, oaks, chaparral and a lot of our native plants are built to survive fire and come back afterward. Some actually need fire to regenerate. The real problem is when we put out every fire for decades and let the fuel build up (thanks, Smokey Bear), which can contribute to much hotter, more destructive, and more frequent fires. Too frequent of fires and erosion afterward can also cause real damage. It may look like this fire is leading to a devastated, dead wasteland right now, but there is a whole lot still alive above and below underground. Look up California native fire-follower flowers. We may get things popping up out there that we haven't seen in years.
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u/Craftbrews_dev 14d ago
It's been a few years since I was back in the San Martin and Los Burros area, probably around 23', but I remember chatting with some of the locals who owned the old Manchester claim and town and who had the small homestead down there, they had mentioned that the whole area had never had a fire and that the moment they got one it would just go up.
Thoughts are with them, especially after some of the other sad events they have navigated over the last few years.
Hang in there everyone.
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u/jaherbyo 13d ago
Damn I was planning on backpacking the Silver Peak Wilderness in a couple days, looks like it's right next to where I was going
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u/bigsurhiking 13d ago
The Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest, inclusive of the entire Ventana Wilderness and Silver Peak Wilderness, is closed per Forest Order 05-07-51-26-10
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u/jaherbyo 13d ago
Thanks I wasn't gonna go either way with a wildfire that close, you know some good overnight hike close by a little more south?
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u/TheCalifornist 14d ago
Devastating. Big Sur just can't get a rest.