[pct-l] FW: Chimney Fire

Fri Jun 3 14:31:02 CDT 2016

URL for the fire report is http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4757/ 

The fire was at the entrance to the Chimney Creek campground literally feet from the PCT.  It is listed now as man caused.  What that man ( or woman ) was, or how it was started, is unknown.  The trail itself is not damaged from eye witness reports.

The PCT is closed from 652 to 702 ( Walkers Pass to KM ).  BLM is enforcing that, and will escort you out ( or worse ).  They escorted those already on the trail out day 1.

Those who have been to the campground before ( some many times each year ) say that hikers are not the only ones there, but are the majority of those there, maybe even the vast majority.  That does not mean it was a hiker this time - again, not known.

9 mile road was closed for two days.  It is now open for local traffic and emergency vehicles.  The fire is basically not growing, but they are still working on hot spots.  They expect to open 9 mile road to all traffic early next week.

Mel

-----Original Message-----
From: Pct-L [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Gail
Sent: Friday, June 03, 2016 9:00 AM
To: tbrokaw at montmush.com; Gary Schenk <gary_schenk at verizon.net>
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net; pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Chimney Fire

Whether or not the fire was caused by a hiker, we still need to be careful. 
It's my understanding that the fire wasn't on the PCT, so it's doubtful it was a hiker, unless they were at Chimney Peak CG, which is where I heard the fire started.  In that case, it could be anyone using the CG.  Tom brought up the use of alcohol stoves.  No matter how careful one is, they are still not safe.  If you have to wait for it to burn out, you are also wasting fuel.  Maybe they work great on the AT, but the PCT is so dry in so many areas, that they have been banned.  Please obey the ban.  I, for one, am tired of riding through burned areas.  It's getting old.  I've also missed some areas because of fire bans; some I was lucky enough to ride through before they burned, like the Lake Fire.  Maybe this is self-serving; perhaps some of you love hiking through those burned areas!  I am hoping this Chimney Fire gets stopped before KM and 9-mile road. Golly

Sent from Mailbird
[http://www.getmailbird.com/?utm_source=Mailbird&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sent-from-mailbird]
On 6/3/2016 8:49:51 AM, tbrokaw at montmush.com <tbrokaw at montmush.com> wrote:
We don't yet know what (or who) caused it. But we do need to get illegal & unsafe stoves off the trail!!! Everybody hates rules. But we only have them because we refuse to do the right thing. We hikers should politely but firmly deal with these situations on the trail when we see them.
Regardless of how careful someone is with an alcohol stove, they are illegal on some parts of the trail. And for good reason. I watched a fellow hiker last year struggle to put out his alcohol stove when finished cooking lunch. 
He was not able to shut it down & eventually it just burned itself out. 
Worse still, he was burning carburator cleaner since he was unable to purchase alcohol. This incident occured in a tiny clearing surrounded by heavy manzanita. I hate to think what a hot fire that could have been!
This trail & the wonderful wilderness it passes through deserve a little more TLC from all of us.

Tom Brokaw
Corporate Project Manager
Monterey Mushrooms
777 Maher Ct
Royal Oaks, CA 95076-9014
C: 831-535-2181
O: 831-274-5520

From: Gary Schenk
To: ,
Date: 06/03/2016 07:06 AM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Chimney Fire
Sent by: Pct-L

http://www.pcta.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Chimney-Fire-PCT-6.2.16.jpg

Yes, lots of illegal fire rings on the PCT nowadays. I see fire rings in places were only people hiking on the PCT would camp. Still, we shouldn't jump to the conclusion that drunken AT knuckleheads coming out to the PCT expecting to have a campfire every night start these blazes.

Not everyone using an alcohol stove is careless. A couple of years ago at Snow Lake in Oregon I watched Peanutbutter Platypus carefully clear an area and then make a small trench around her alcohol stove before making her dinner. That's the way to do it.

Over Memorial Day we hiked from Kennedy Meadows and out over Olancha Pass.
It's amazing that 40 years later trees have yet to make a comeback from the Clover fire. Same with the Manter fire, those trees are not coming back until we get another ice age.

Kennedy Meadows Store deck is full of hikers. Two weekends ago on the trail up to Baden-Powell you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a thruhiker. It's overwhelming. Let's hope they are all careful with fire.

This puts a big blank spot on the trail. With the trail, Nine Mile Road and Canebreak Road closed along with Sherman Pass still closed, that's going to be one tough spot to get around on foot.

Gary

-----Original Message-----
From: marmot marmot
To: Gary Schenk
Cc: pct-l
Sent: Fri, Jun 3, 2016 6:26 am
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Chimney Fire

You bet it sucks!!!
And there's some hiker that I heard about out there who is carrying 3 stoves(to test them). Two of which do not have shut off valves(alcohol and esbit,I heard). I didn't meet him so let it go. No longer. When are people going to figure it out? Is this another fire caused by camper/hiker stupidity? Last year I was part of two frustrating struggles to attempt to get hikers to put out campfires ----at Little Jimmy and in the Sierra. We had to send in the Ranger to Little Jimmy. Couldn't get any official help at the other. As you walk through all the burns think about it. I believe there were 5 just in section F. Very sad. I made a comment about it and one hiker said that he hadn't even realized it was a burn. Because first I did the trail over 20 years ago I remember walking though the more shady Piutes.
Marmot

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 3, 2016, at 5:29 AM, Gary Schenk wrote:
>
> The Chimney fire has closed the PCT from Walker Pass to Kennedy Meadows.
Canebreak Road and Nine Mile Canyon Road are closed. Origin fire is the Chimney Peak Campground. 1000 acres and 10% contained.
>
> This sucks.
>
> Gary
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubscribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
> All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
> Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.

_______________________________________________
Pct-L mailing list
Pct-L at backcountry.net
To unsubscribe, or change options visit:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l

List Archives:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.

_______________________________________________
Pct-L mailing list
Pct-L at backcountry.net
To unsubscribe, or change options visit:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l

List Archives:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.
_______________________________________________
Pct-L mailing list
Pct-L at backcountry.net
To unsubscribe, or change options visit:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l

List Archives:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.