Friday O-Dark Thirty Report on Stonyford Fire - Things Looking Up

Photo (July 12) above:  Backfires at the Harvey place

Photo (July 12) below: Backfires and crews at the Ray place 

This is HQ’s Friday “O-Dark Thirty” report.  According to our man on the ground, Jeff Applegate, a

lot of the front country went up in smoke in the backfires today.

 

 Gilmore and Crackerbox went up in flame today, but he Handlebar Ranch (owned by Taz Harvey and family, off-road motorcycle and auto racer) and the 4Q Ranch (owned by Phil Ray, dirt-track legend and owner of Modesto KAW) should now be safe.

 

 They used air dropped ping pong balls, very pistols,  and drip torches for the burn out.  Everything is going according to plan on the east flank.  Two spots are burning very hot on their own...Lower Letts area and the area to either side of Trail 22 directly north of the Little Stony Day Use area.

 

There is a large contingent of resources in the Little Stony Area, so HQ is confident  they will protect that staging area.  Fire is now estimated at 18K and continues to grow.  48% containment as of last night. 

Looking better, but a lot of damage has been sustained to our trail system.

HQ wants to thank all of its readers for their thoughts and prayers regarding the fire threats to life, property, and the natural resources.   We also want to salute the firefighters and tanker crews for working very hard in the extreme hot weather.

Stonyford Fire Update - July 12 @ 11:00am

Photo (July 11 - afternoon): Looking at OHV Area from

Lodoga/Stonyford Rd.

Here is HQ’s July 12 am report based on intel from a 1900 briefing last night.   Fran Peace from Congressman Wally Herger’s Office was in attendance. 

 With luck they will keep the fire below Miner ridge, saving the Goat Mt. area.  Also, Little Stony is spared for now. That's the good news.  The bad news is that the fire will double in size.  They will start firing out along Stonyford/Lodoga Road today at 1100 (HQ will have its reporter on scene for that), bringing the fire on around the new cat-line to the Goat Mt. Road.  This will burn out all the front country fuels that are a threat to East Park Estates, Century Ranch and homes along the main road.

It appears their plan for the canyon is to use fire (probably a helitorch)  to light off as much as will burn along the rim of the main canyon, which would include all trails and side canyons up to Big Sullivan or Pine Ridge.  They cannot burn out from the road because of serpentine and spotty fuels, but want to remove as much vegetation as possible on the north side of L. Stony Road to prevent rekindling in the event of a wind or weather change which could send the fire possibly to the south side of Little Stony canyon (a bad thing) and on to Lovelady, Goat Mt. and Lake County.  

Everything up to Mill Valley, south to Crackerbox and on the north along the M10 corridor is slicked off. The fire is currently 16,800 acres, but it is estimated to be closer to 30K when finally contained if the plan is executed flawlessly. 

HQ believes the media has not covered what the fire's impact will have on special events such as motorcycle enduros and casual OHV use this fall and winter.  As many of you know, the Fouts Springs OHV Camping area often becomes the largest “city” in Colusa County during the Christmas/New Year Holiday Season with up to 2-4 thousand people camping and riding there.  The fire may have a serious impact on that activity this year.

HQ thanks local Stonyford resident and former FS OHV program manager, Jeff Applegate, on the Grindstone RD  for his excellent feedback on the progress of the fire.

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North Wind Puts Little Stony Campground in Danger - July 11 - Noon Update

Photo above: Fire Heading Towards Little Stony Campground

Photo below: BRC's Brian Hawthorne at Little Stony on a CA Trip

a few years ago

Due to a recent shift in the winds at about 11:15 am today, the smoke and fire is now being driven south by north winds and is heading for Little Stony OHV Camp/Staging Area.   Stay tuned as HQ believes this situation has grown worse in the last hour or so.     

HQ thanks its team of local reporters and residents who are helping us keep off-road fans of the Stonyford area informed on this critical situation.

Will bring updates as they come in.  Please leave a note if you think these updates are of value.

Stonyford Fire Update - July 11 @ 8am

Recent Photo Taken from OHV Trail Intersection of Fire Advancing Towards

Sullivan Ridge

Jeff Applegate tells HQ there are no big changes overnight.   It looks like they are going to use Crackerbox as a fire line since it sounds like Gilmore has burned over on top.  Fire is still advancing toward Goat Mt. and Little Stony Canyon.  It has apparently slopped over M5 in several spots and is moving south.  Big and Little Sullivan ridges and everything to the south is threatened.    Also, Cal Fire has been using a DC-10 on the Sites Fire burning West of Maxwell towards Stonyford.   FS says the plane is not practical to use on the Mill Fire.  Little use of air tankers due to smoke.  Mostly helicopters around the perimeter to aid hand crews and dozers.  A type 2 fire team has taken over management of the fire as of yesterday. 

Again, HQ believes this is a huge blow to the recreation community as this unit is a premier destination OHV area that sees visitors from throughout the U.S and Canada and is an important element in the state-wide OHV recreation matrix.

PS - Phil Ray's Ranch survived so far.