KNP Complex Fire Update 9/18/2021 11:00 a.m.

Good morning. Sorry for the absence in updates. Honestly, many of you were presenting excellent information to inform our mountain community. Truth be told, the fire really hasn’t done much on our end of the fire. To this point, topography and weather have really been our friend. So if you don’t hear from me, it’s probably a good thing.

As far as the other portions of the fire go, I will limit my updates as it’s really of little concern to me. I do find some of the things that have happened up there to be interesting. I thought it was hilarious that they wrapped the base of the giant sequoia tree! Although this will do nothing to protect the tree, it brought huge attention to this fire and in turn made it a priority for equipment, etc. Let’s just hope some of that equipment makes it to our community.

Ok, now to the fire. Last night the fire had moderate to strong growth to the north. Our side of the fire is obviously still active, but the Fire’s edge has barely changed over the last few days. It is still around 4 miles from silver city, with a downhill burn to get there. On the southern edge, the fire continues to fill in the voids around the oriole lake area and burn along milk ranch. I continue to watch this southern flank closely, as I believe it will be the most likely route to the East fork. If I had to make an educated guess, I could see the fire progressing south between lookout point and slapjack creek. Let’s hope they utilize Conifer Ridge as a control feature before it goes any further south.

On 9/16, the park released a timeline on when they forecasted the fire to reach certain areas. They had forecasted the fire to reach mineral king via East fork within 72 hours. Although I agree on the East fork path, I strongly disagree with the timeframe.

Weather- the fire has been capped by an inversion layer trapping in smoke. This has limited the Fire’s growth and bought us time. Unfortunately, this has also limited the use of aircraft. This afternoon, as a strong low pressure system moves to the north, this will create air movement above the fire and allow the smoke to lift. Although this will allow for the use of aircraft, it will also increase the fire’s activity. I’m hoping the winds don’t increase too much.

Resources, equipment, and personnel have been in short supply. Now that the fire has been getting National attention, they are starting to have resources trickle in. Hopefully this continues. We currently only have 2 Tulare county hand crews assigned to prep our community. Although this seems so little compared to what other parts of the fire is getting, I am grateful that these two crews are assigned to our area. I have seen these crews work and have been very impressed with them!

The majority of personnel and equipment is assigned to the north end of the fire in the main part of the park. Cal fire and it’s resources are doing most of the work from milk ranch to the west in order to stop the fire from progressing to three Rivers.

The hard truth is, our community is not a priority. I’ve heard from people saying that the Park wants to burn us out, etc. I don’t believe this is the case. Resources are limited and they have to be used in areas with the greatest benefit. My hope is, as they start completing the fire line to the East and north of Three Rivers, they will shift that equipment and personnel our direction. Unfortunately, they will be limited in what they can do around our communities because the terrain is so rugged. Additionally, our roads and water supply will be a limiting factor. I do believe the early preparation that the two crews are currently doing is the best course of action.

Lastly, I am impressed with the incident management team so far. They seem to be very capable and committed to help our communities. With that said, it is so important to speak out at the community meetings, email officials, etc in order to keep us on the radar as a priority. Simply ask the question: what are they doing to protect our community?

--Matt G.