Monterey Car Week and Soberanes Fire

I don't want to deprive them of business but I think since they have reasonably sized parking lots they will be full of fire trucks. There are even fire trucks on the way from Los Angeles! You do not want to park in the way of a firetruck, sometimes they are in one helluva hurry...I love Big Sur but it is a fragile environment, and any disaster makes it the wrong time to visit (another time the main road collapsed and it took them a couple years to fix it)

 

Carmel Valley itself is not threatened, nor is there any Evacuation Warning for that area. The northern edge of the fire has the greatest containment with the southeast perimeter (i.e., along Las Padres National Forest) the least. I get daily updates from Pebble Beach and am a 5min walk from Quail Lodge.

I just passed a couple trucks from San Luis Obispo. Since the LA area fire is almost fully contained, many crews have been released and headed north to assist. The reason Rancho Canada has been adopted is because the existing main staging area (Toro Park) can't handle all the personnel assigned...they were "bursting at the seems" to quote a representative of the effort. Besides, Rancho Canada West golf course was closed earlier this month (financial reasons, nothing to do with the fire situation), so it's a nice piece of available land to use.

Refer to this thread for more info and where to get updates...
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/california-nevada-northern/528676-if-your-trevel-monterey-car-week-includes-big-sur.html
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There's almost daily info meetings at the local middle school. They show status of containment lines and talk to priorities. This is where it's clear that the northern perimeter is almost fully contained. These perimeter lines are not drawn on the maps posted by Cal Fire or the daily updates I receive by email (from Cal Fire).

This morning neighbors had breakfast with a fire chief who confirmed that the Carmel/Carmel Valley area situation is getting better and better, partially because of the thicker marine layer we are and will continue to experience at least for the next several days. As the marine layer thickens, it suffocates even the fire burning on the higher ridges. Up until now, the marine layer only covered the lower 1000ft or so, meaning that active fire continued on ridges above that elevation...of which there are many, especially heading south. They've set up a base camp inside Santa Lucia Preserve (aka `The Preserve') at its southern end, allowing them a shorter route to the northern portions of the fire area. Only the very southern most portion of The Preserve has been under any evac order. All of The Preserve properties are $6-10m, 7-30+ acre lot properties...so a lot of $$$ to protect.

Often in the morning you can smell smoke, but by early-mid afternoon it's clear (at Quail Lodge) and I open my windows to `air out' my place, with no scent of smoke in the air. Later in the afternoon, as in right now, the marine layer starts marching its way inland, cooling things down.

A little geography. It used to be that Carmel Valley pretty much began at the mouth of the valley where it meets Hwy-1. That changed so that now Carmel Valley doesn't actually start until you get out to Carmel Valley Ranch, or about 7mi inland from Hwy-1.

As for your friends, it's good to be prepared and identify & gather things you'd want with you if you had to evacuate (I have too), but an evacuation order is ALWAYS preceded by an evacuation warning. So there's really no need to pack the car so you can make a mad dash out of the area if a warning hasn't even been issued yet...just my opinion.

 

The other post, ref'd in my post #3 in this one, has links to where to get updated Cal Fire info. This thread become redundant, although I know your intent was a good one. I'll continue to post updates in the other thread.

 

Terrible smoke from morgan hill, gilroy and south. Monterey was clear but Carmel valley was smoked. It was a waste of time going Down as you can't see much.

 

curently ash/soot in the air at monterey airport.
smokey last night in pacific grove near asilomar beach.
officials are suggesting limiting outdoor activities and those with asthma conditions to be cautious.

 

My own neighborly fire station...new base camp set up this morning to handle influx of personnel and equipment. But they've taken over field Bonhams uses for their parking lot (the adjacent green field is where Bonhams auction tents are set up). Since they haven't even delivered materials for Bonhams, it makes me wonder if Bonhams will be at another location (couldn't find any news about that).
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Here is a photo showing the smoke and the ash covering the jeep and everything else taken at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca today. It changes direction every day!
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According to CalFire it looks like the wildfire is up moving away from the Carmel area. I haven’t heard anything to the contrary that would indicate Bonhams, the Quail, the raceway or anyone else has had to change plans.

 

Yesterday I spoke with someone who is very familiar with the logistics of setting up for Car Week. According to him, he's aware of no changes made by anybody. Yes, there will be smaller crowds due to those people who don't want to risk health issues (a personal decision).

Late yesterday afternoon, the mandatory evac order for the area closest to Quail, in the southern portion of The Preserve 3mi away, was lifted...a good sign.

The primary reason for the added mandatory evac order in the Tassajara area several miles to the south of Carmel Valley Village was because firefighters were conducting controlled back burns, a common practice to starve an advancing fire of fuel. It wasn't because the fire was almost on top of Tassajara. By the way, Tassajara is 15-20mi from the nearest car week activity venue.

 

I live near Laguna Seca. Other than ash and the light smell of smoke, the peninsula does not really appear to be affected by the fire. Today was better…depends upon the wind direction.

 

updates? Im most worried about my breathing as it affects me quite a bit. Either way I'll be there but I guess I may end up inside more than I bargained for.

 

Which, if you look at the schedule, is the day of Pebble Beach. I'd rather have it be earlier in the week, but I have no control....
In case I interpreted it wrong here's the ref.

Monterey August Weather 2016 - AccuWeather Forecast for CA 93940

bring your raincoat and willies to the concours

 

20% chance translates into essentially ZERO. We are months from when the chance of rain is worth paying any attention to. However, it isn't unheard of to have drippy fog early in the morning, but nothing that would interfere with anything but perhaps your hairstyle...

 

This is a picture from my balcony this morning.

Monterey is beautiful….depending upon the wind direction. Earlier this week we had a couple days with a lot of smoke. Today, no smell of smoke. Hoping for the best for car week.
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