The wind is really blowing hard on the east side of the Sierra. Here is a list of the incidents listed on the Inyo NF's dispatch log:
1. Unknown sized wildland fire has burned into the residential area of Paradise located near the Mono/Inyo County line on old 395. Fire name: "Round" (Round Valley is located to the immediate south of Paradise). Mandatory evacuation now in progress, and the Sheriff's Department IC is a deputy that used to work for the Forest Service with me prior to my retirement. A single IC, both fire and LE does not exist at this time. Report of a vehicle explosion somewhere in the subdivision. Multiple utility poles going down in the area. Unknown fire IC with limited traffic on Cal Fire San Berdo Local 3, Silver Peak repeater. Some mention of helicopter availability. This is a human caused fire that apparently started outside the community. Engines ordered from as far as Carson City, NV and Kern County. Evacuation center being established at the Crowley Lake community center.
2. Unknown sized wildland fire south of Bridgeport, the county seat, that has burned the SCE distribution facility for Bridgeport. Fire name: "Point Ranch." Power outage for entire town, including the county's 911 and communications center, which is now on generator power.
3. Wildland fire near the east side of the Mammoth Airport knocked down at about 1/2 acre. Fire name: "Airport." Units still on scene.
4. Multiple powerlines down near the west side of the Mammoth Airport.
5. Powerline down near Mono City, north of Lee Vining.
6. Overturned FedEx truck, unknown location.
7. Overturned 5th wheel trailer, unknown location.
8. U.S. 395 closed north of Walker, CA. Large cottonwood trees immediately adjacent to the highway have fallen into the roadway.
9. New fire start near the community of Swall Meadows, north of Paradise, located a mile off old 395 and south of the Tom's Place area.
U.S. Forest Service is staffing up as many apparatus as they can however, 4 Type III engines down for mechanical, presume for annual inspections. Lousy contracted mechanical service is likely causing multiple engines to be taken on at the same time. When the Forest Service had their own mechanic only one engine was taken down at a time.
BLM has 3 engines on the Round Fire, two Type III and one Type VI.
Interagency frequency use for command does not appear to be well coordinated. S.O on theirs, Cal Fire on their own, Bishop FD has Round Fire traffic on their Silver Peak repeater (located 12 miles northeast of Bishop), USFS with some traffic on theirs and the Mono County Fire Net and some use of the county's mutual aid repeater system being used by the SO for tactical evacuation traffic. Dispatchers doing a lot of relaying between agencies. This is sad given that with the exception of CHP and Caltrans, everyone else in on VHF-High and all those agencies have all the frequencies of the other agencies in their radios.
Some type of overall area coordination is needed, possibly by the Mono County Sheriff. This sheriff has been in office about a month now and is a retired LAPD officer who held many tough command and management positions such as SWAT and others.
Precipitation is expected this evening, with rain below 8,000 feet and 8-16" of heavy wet snow predicted above that. Winds in Mammoth have not been that high and seem to be calming in spite of a wind warning that doesn't expire until 0400 Saturday.
1. Unknown sized wildland fire has burned into the residential area of Paradise located near the Mono/Inyo County line on old 395. Fire name: "Round" (Round Valley is located to the immediate south of Paradise). Mandatory evacuation now in progress, and the Sheriff's Department IC is a deputy that used to work for the Forest Service with me prior to my retirement. A single IC, both fire and LE does not exist at this time. Report of a vehicle explosion somewhere in the subdivision. Multiple utility poles going down in the area. Unknown fire IC with limited traffic on Cal Fire San Berdo Local 3, Silver Peak repeater. Some mention of helicopter availability. This is a human caused fire that apparently started outside the community. Engines ordered from as far as Carson City, NV and Kern County. Evacuation center being established at the Crowley Lake community center.
2. Unknown sized wildland fire south of Bridgeport, the county seat, that has burned the SCE distribution facility for Bridgeport. Fire name: "Point Ranch." Power outage for entire town, including the county's 911 and communications center, which is now on generator power.
3. Wildland fire near the east side of the Mammoth Airport knocked down at about 1/2 acre. Fire name: "Airport." Units still on scene.
4. Multiple powerlines down near the west side of the Mammoth Airport.
5. Powerline down near Mono City, north of Lee Vining.
6. Overturned FedEx truck, unknown location.
7. Overturned 5th wheel trailer, unknown location.
8. U.S. 395 closed north of Walker, CA. Large cottonwood trees immediately adjacent to the highway have fallen into the roadway.
9. New fire start near the community of Swall Meadows, north of Paradise, located a mile off old 395 and south of the Tom's Place area.
U.S. Forest Service is staffing up as many apparatus as they can however, 4 Type III engines down for mechanical, presume for annual inspections. Lousy contracted mechanical service is likely causing multiple engines to be taken on at the same time. When the Forest Service had their own mechanic only one engine was taken down at a time.
BLM has 3 engines on the Round Fire, two Type III and one Type VI.
Interagency frequency use for command does not appear to be well coordinated. S.O on theirs, Cal Fire on their own, Bishop FD has Round Fire traffic on their Silver Peak repeater (located 12 miles northeast of Bishop), USFS with some traffic on theirs and the Mono County Fire Net and some use of the county's mutual aid repeater system being used by the SO for tactical evacuation traffic. Dispatchers doing a lot of relaying between agencies. This is sad given that with the exception of CHP and Caltrans, everyone else in on VHF-High and all those agencies have all the frequencies of the other agencies in their radios.
Some type of overall area coordination is needed, possibly by the Mono County Sheriff. This sheriff has been in office about a month now and is a retired LAPD officer who held many tough command and management positions such as SWAT and others.
Precipitation is expected this evening, with rain below 8,000 feet and 8-16" of heavy wet snow predicted above that. Winds in Mammoth have not been that high and seem to be calming in spite of a wind warning that doesn't expire until 0400 Saturday.
Last edited: