Basin Complex Fire Big Sur LPNF

[digitaljim6]

There is only one command net that I have heard. The three listed outputs are tied together but they probably each have their own input. I've reported what I can hear so I don't know what the other two inputs are, or if there are more than 3 outputs.

Not sure if 163.1 is being used as an input to something or just as a simplex. I didn't have time to make a road trip to King City to find out.

There is at least one other Victor in use for rotor-wing ops but I haven't found it yet, probably because they are low-altitude compared to the fixed-wing resources. It is likely that there is more than one.

Due to terrain and access closures, I can't get close/high enough to do a proper study. Nothing on UHF that I can hear from my az/el, even mobile at some hilltop locations. The command net repeaters are all below ridgetop in my direction.

The entire Monterey Ranger District is closed. Highway 1 is closed for a 40 mile stretch beginning and ending many miles north and many miles south of the perimeter. The coast range is a cliff in that area so even with full access, it is difficult to hear something that might be only a few miles inland.

Being so close to the coast, and to an area that has regular fog in the summertime, the suppression efforts are being hampered by poor visibility in the smoke-filled drainages or IFR conditions caused by the fog. There are often days when only a few hours of aerial ops are possible.

This incident is only about 4,000 acres smaller than the Indians fire, but is only 18% contained compared to the Indians 97%. I suspect that the Basin foot print will exceed the Indians by tomorrow morning. There has been a lot of firing so the black area grows quickly.

Here is the TFR for the Basin Complex:

!FDC 8/5736 ZOA CA.. FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS BIG SUR, CA. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 91.137(A)(2) TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT WITHIN AN AREA BOUNDED BY 362222N/1215427W OR THE BIG SUR /BSR/ VORTAC 296 DEGREE RADIAL AT 17.2 NAUTICAL MILES THEN TO 362710N/1214310W OR THE SALINAS /SNS/ VORTAC 187 DEGREE RADIAL AT 13.8 NAUTICAL MILES THEN TO 360210N/1212757W OR THE BIG SUR /BSR/ VORTAC 119 DEGREE RADIAL AT 12.2 NAUTICAL MILES THEN TO 360210N/1213448W OR THE BIG SUR /BSR/ VORTAC 145 DEGREE RADIAL AT 9.2 NAUTICAL MILES THEN TO 361810N/1215359W OR THE BIG SUR /BSR/ VORTAC 284 DEGREE RADIAL AT 14.4 NAUTICAL MILES BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POINT AT AND BELOW 10000 FEET MSL TO PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR FIRE FIGHTING. LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST TELEPHONE 805-961-5727 OR FREQ 135.9750 (BASIN COMPLEX FIRE), IS IN CHARGE OF THE OPERATION. OAKLAND /ZOA/ ARTCC TELEPHONE 510-745-3331, IS THE FAA COORDINATION FACILITY.

 

[ScannerDude244]

There is only one command net that I have heard. The three listed outputs are tied together but they probably each have their own input. I've reported what I can hear so I don't know what the other two inputs are, or if there are more than 3 outputs.

Not sure if 163.1 is being used as an input to something or just as a simplex. I didn't have time to make a road trip to King City to find out.

163.1 I think it is a input I never hear King city base call back on that freq when the planes call in. but I can pick up king city air base on air-ground freqs loud and clear.

 

[SCPD]

163.1 I think it is a input I never hear King city base call back on that freq when the planes call in. but I can pick up king city air base on air-ground freqs loud and clear.

They might be using it as a simplex. The Redbook just came out in January so the use of 163.100 and 168.350 as a repeater pair is pretty new to most federal agencies.

Thanks digital for the report on the command frequencies. This is the first time I've heard of three different command repeaters being tied into one incident wide command net. After thinking about the terrain I saw in my last trip to that area I have concluded that if any fire would cause 3 repeaters to be tied together it would be the Basin Complex. The interesting aspect of the setup for this incident is the use of the new Federal Interoperability Incident Response Plan frequencies. I suspect that we will be hearing more and more on them.

I'm glad I purchased two PSR-600's, one for use as a base station, and one for the "out of town" car. I have enough memory capacity to put in all the federal and state interoperability frequencies in a separate scan list by themselves, and have another scan list for just the NIFC and other large fire frequenices in each of the 21 V Files I will eventually write for the mobile.

 

[digitaljim6]

Updated 7-11-2008 PM

Beside the standard LPF Forest Net 170.550 (169.900 in) and Tacs 170.475 and 172.350; and USFS R5 Tacs 173.9125, 173.9625, 173.9875, 168.050, 168.200, 168.600; and R5 Project 164.150:

Basin Command:
..Outputs
....170.0125 IR VHF 1
....167.100 NIFC C5
....168.475 NIFC C6

..Inputs
....assume 165.250 IR VHF 1, not verified
....169.750 NIFC C5
....173.8125 NIFC C6

West Air-to-Ground 172.5125
West Victor 135.975

East Air-to-Ground 167.950
East Victor 130.200

Air Tactics 172.4625

King City Helibase Deck 163.100 (may be linked to a Victor frequency)

West Aircraft Briefing 128.425
East Aircraft Briefing 128.475

Others (not verified):
164.7125 (IR V-Call)
170.6875 (IR VHF 8 - may be Indians fire)
172.6125
169.700 (NOT 167.900)

 

[ScannerDude244]

Updated 7-11-2008 PM

Beside the standard LPF Forest Net 170.550 (169.900 in) and Tacs 170.475 and 172.350; and USFS R5 Tacs 173.9125, 173.9625, 173.9875, 168.050, 168.200, 168.600; and R5 Project 164.150:

Basin Command:
..Outputs
....170.0125 IR VHF 1
....167.100 NIFC C5
....168.475 NIFC C6

..Inputs
....assume 165.250 IR VHF 1, not verified
....169.750 NIFC C5
....173.8125 NIFC C6

West Air-to-Ground 172.5125
West Victor 135.975

East Air-to-Ground 167.950
East Victor 130.200

Air Tactics 172.4625

King City Helibase Deck 163.100 (may be linked to a Victor frequency)

West Aircraft Briefing 128.425
East Aircraft Briefing 128.475

Others (not verified):
164.7125 (IR V-Call)
170.6875 (IR VHF 8 - may be Indians fire)
172.6125
169.700 (NOT 167.900)

i'm going to fire up my other radio today now that fire is closer to me.

I'll also take some pictuers of the C130's and that Martin Mars that plane is big !

 

[ScannerDude244]

Martin Mars at lake San Antonio last Saturday

 

[Kirk]

Wow, awesome photo.

 

[Benmin]

Nice Shot

Great Photo, Thanks for sharing..

 

[ScannerDude244]

The Boy Scouts' Pico Blanco a 'moonscape'

PICO BLANCO — After more than 50 years of helping to mold boys into young men, Pico Blanco, the Central Coast’s oldest Boy Scout camp, is hoping the communities it serves will return the favor.

Pico Blanco, the popular summer camp for Scouts, is burned out. Despite major efforts from firefighters to keep the Basin Complex Fire from encroaching onto the scout camp near Big Sur, flames managed to jump fire lines earlier this month and ravage the place.

Albert Gallegos, Scout executive for the Boy Scouts of America Monterey Bay Area Council Inc., said Thursday the organization is turning to the public for help with donations in the recovery process.

"We expected to see spots ... burned," said Gallegos, referring to the Scouts inspection team visit on July 16. "What we didn't expect to see down at the camp was the whole brush and its landscaping gone .... It was almost like looking at a moonscape."

Gallegos said many of the camp facilities, including the new Hayward Hall dining lodge and Haynes Charitable Foundation Water Treatment System, were saved, but fire crews were unable to keep flames from destroying their above-ground water lines, two outhouses and the camp ranger's home.

He said the home's generator and water tanks were also razed.

He said he was nonetheless extremely grateful for the firefighting efforts.

David Jensen, an information officer assigned to the east Basin Complex Fire, said Thursday they are awaiting word from the fire crews working at Pico Blanco.

"They're assessing the whole area right now and haven't released any information to us," Jensen said. "We're trying to get it open to the public as soon as possible."

Meanwhile at Bottcher's Gap, a green-colored gate bars the public from driving three miles to Pico Blanco.

As the faint sound of a tree falling in the distance could be heard, Jason Meyer, information officer attached to the east Basin Complex Fire, said conditions at Pico are still too hazardous for use. Fire crews have been working to remove fallen and smoldering trees and loose rocks from camp trails.

Since Wednesday, the Basin Complex wildfire has grown nearly 4,500 acres to consume 147,114 acres. It is now 72 percent contained.

The scene at Bottcher's Gap was a complete change compared to just two weeks ago, when choking smoke clouded the area as firefighters worked on back burning efforts to keep the flames from spreading.

Four days after lightning ignited flames in the Big Sur area, Scout leaders decided it would be prudent to move camps and Scouts to other locations from San Francisco to San Diego.

In anticipation of the wildfire reaching Pico, Gallegos said, Scout leaders decided June 25 to relocate for safety reasons. Boulder Creek Scout Reservation in the Santa Cruz mountains was chosen as the alternate site for summer programs such as the Cub Scout Resident Camps and the National Youth Leadership Training.

Meanwhile, an insurance claims representative is scheduled to visit soon, Gallegos said. Right now, he said, the organization is estimating the recovery to cost more than $500,000.

Gallegos said they count on the camp's summer income of roughly $250,000. Because of the fire, he said, that money will not be recovered. The camp will remain closed for the rest of the year, Gallegos said.

He said the organization's council will be working closely with the U.S Forest Service on rebuilding efforts, including erosion control, reseeding, clearing brush and repairing trails.

"Ecologically, this fire is going to be very good for this area," Meyer said. "This fall, you're going to see new growth."

While saddened by the damage the fire has wrought over the camp, some of those involved in the organization, such as Salinas resident and Cub Scout leader Jason Cook, remain certain the camp will rebound. Cook, who was supposed to go to the camp for the first time with his 10-year-old son last month, said they were relocated to the Boulder Creek Scout Reservation in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The disappointment felt at not being able to experience the famed camp for the first time, he said, vanished as they were regaled of the experience by older members who had been there before.

"The spirit of the camp is what makes the camp and we felt connected to it even though the poor thing was burning away," Cook said. "The place has come through a dangerous situation .... Because it's such a historical place for people, the cub scouts, I'm sure, will gladly refurbish this place and the fire will remain just a piece of history."

http://www.thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080725/NEWS01/807250304/1002

 

[SLOweather]

Heard a SLO City engine getting dispatched this afternoon to East Basin this afternoon on Mutual Aid.

I also heard that a thumb-drive virus was running rampant in the Fire Camp network, and at least one local IT tech was dispatched to help clean it up.

 

[SCPD]

ScannerDude, thanks for sharing that news with us. I'm going to follow up and see if I can spare a little money to send their way. I attended a very special Boy Scout camp in the Sierra when I was twelve and fourteen. I came back and worked on the staff for a summer when I was twenty. My experiences there changed my life and are the reason I chose the career I ended up in. We have a camp staff alumni family camp out there each year, where we work for a couple of days with maintenance projects around the camp.

Two weeks in a boy's life can do more to guide him than we can appreciate on the face of it. I was a scout leader for 12 years and our troop went to Camp Kern, on the south shore of Huntington Lake in the central Sierra. Some of the young men that were in my troop were changed by their experience there. Some of the boys in my troop are now officers in the military and some are teachers. Scouting is a great experience and quite rewarding when you see how some of those snotty nosed, crappy attitude kids have turned out.

I've never visited this camp, but would like to after hearing how many are describing it. I'm glad to hear that there are adult leaders who want to keep it going after this setback.

 

[SLOweather]

I also heard that a thumb-drive virus was running rampant in the Fire Camp network, and at least one local IT tech was dispatched to help clean it up.

If you know anyone that works in fire camps, read on.

Here's an update on the thumb drive trojan horse. The techs (2 went) returned today after 60 hours of work over the weekend cleaning every computer and thumb drive in the Indians/Basin camp.

The trojan installs itself as the autorun file on the drive. This is particularly insidious as, once the drive is inserted, it installs itself before your AV program even has a chance to find it. It then takes over the machine, installing a keylogger, crippling AV and other nefarious programs.

The trojan has probably been in camp since early June. Based on what I know of the fluidity of personnel in the current fire climate, I'd bet every fire camp in the state is infected.

They cleaned hundreds of thumb drives, lots of personal laptops, and servers. Half of the satellite Internet bandwidth was co-opted in this way.

This is the second time in a week I've heard of this. Be skeptical of every unknown USB flash or mechanical drive you are presented with.