Basin Fire- View from Hastings

      Threats to Hastings are now very much reduced. A new management team has taken over, and the word is that they know the web exists and unlike during the main fire, they are using the web. Apparently the USFS InciWeb page for the Basin Complex fire now opens and has content! Check it out for updates and official news. Another constant source for local information on the fire in the upper Carmel Valley continues to be the web presence of Life in the Fire Lane. 

   Things have calmed down. Structure protection engines were no longer needed on Hastings Thursday 7/17. Friday saw firing near Hastings with constant afternoon air traffic. The East Basin Spike Camp (a portable camp for 2000 fire fighters) is located about 1.5 mi. east of Hastings, stretching from Corral Viejo to Tassajara Road. The Carmel Valley Road cuts through the middle of Hastings, and is very busy with truck traffic. Supply trucks arrive often from King City and constantly from Monterey, crews  and engines move to and from the firing operations to the east, and helicopters and heavy bombers are overhead. Immediately after the spike camp was set up, we had contractors out sight seeing. This was a bit rude as most gates were open during the emergency. But that seems to have been controlled. Since then, afternoons have seen large plumes of smoke from the firing operations which have gone well to the south and east towards Arroyo Seco. Today, we saw more smoke from the work south and west of the Los Padres dam. Mail deliveries returned on Thursday as well. Dean, Margaret and Catherine have retuned, even if briefly, to clean up the Roberston House and continue with the bird observations. We expect to be back to relatively normal work on Monday. Aircraft activity stops near sunset, and the typical summer pattern of a westerly sea breeze and fog up the valley has returned.

    We continue under a "voluntary" evacuation, with a check point set up at Sleepy Hollow (mile 14 or so) on the Carmel Valley Road. Non-residents or people who are not working in the area are turned away. The various jurisdictions have had issues with passes and traffic control. Certainly the road between the spike camp and the firing operations (Piney Canyon, Miller Lodge, Arroyo Seco, etc.) needs traffic control. It has been a blessing not to have the whining rice-rocket motorcycles attempting speed records on the Carmel Valley Road through Hastings this year during the annual Moto GP, US Grand Prix motorcycle race at Laguna Seca Raceway. 

    We really appreciate the huge efforts our local fire fighters have made. Many have worked 15 hour days for weeks. The Cachagua Fire Protection District has been just fantastic. We all purchased commemorative shirts. In particular, we would like to thank our local Battalion Chief, Jaime del Valle (and Hastings steward) for his long hours and care and attention to Hastings during the fire. Eric Walters contributed many photos of the fire to the local weblog by Kelly Erin O'Brien  and was typically most helpful around Hastings. 

    The Basin Complex Fire will continue to require fire suppression efforts, but these are largely shifting away from Hastings. We will continue to be vigilant and keep in mind that historically, the big fires come in late fall.