(a) July 17 2017 LDPCSD meeting. Back to the continuing saga of the Lake Don Pedro Community Services District. Let’s see, what’s in this offering? Misrepresented district information to customers, public and other government entities, fire hydrant status in a designated high fire severity zone, how much arsenic removal is going on with the groundwater, and of course, the infamous TRANSPARENCY AWARD provided to a victim special district. A Transparency Award which will actually be used more as camouflage for the continued deceit of innocent property owners in the Lake Don Pedro subdivision who have been subsidizing a special benefit water service for decades. Yup, I truly wonder sometimes how this nation has survived thus far considering some of the characters who claim to be serving the public good. Rather, they are serving themselves with public goods! Very disheartening.

 

My best to you and yours, Lew

1120 hours: 

Yes, I know, the utility pole is rather distracting – but heck, it’s there!  (Sometimes such view “obstructions” can come in handy in locating specific areas or objects in an image)

How much is smoke?  Could any of it be just clouds? Again, I don’t know, but from here it doesn’t look good.  If containment is 65% I would suspicion much of the remaining 35% is represented in this image.

BELOW: Turkey Vulture fly by —  just right of utility pole transformer yesterday —

— see?  Real helpful sometimes eh?  lol (Actually missed the shot with the tanker aircraft in the background)

 

65% !

as of July 25th, 2017 @ 0715hrs

<CALFIRE DETWILER UPDATE TUES JULY 25 2017>

 

[Again, looks can be deceiving from a distance, but the horizon sure looks much better than yesterday! Lew]

 

 

 

 

<CALFIRE DETWILER UPDATE @ 1730hrs Monday>

 

<MyMotherLode News Update>

 

 

Saw the smoke column earlier – (some friends fishing at Lake McSwain also advised of the continuing multiple flights overhead to the area)  doesn’t look good from here but rather than speculate – check out this website that Mariposa County District II Supervisor Merlin Jones and his wife Mimi Jones started a while back.  These folks live in that very area.

 

<MARIPOSA COUNTY DIST2 WEBSITE UPDATE >

 

 

 

 

 

 

<CALFIRE INCIDENT UPDATE July 24 2017>

 

 

<CALFIRE 7/23/2017 UPDATE>

 

<MyMotherLode News Update >

 

 

 

Forgot I shot this yesterday….156 interval images @ 1 minute apart looking towards Hunters Valley Mountain as the smoke was drifting to the south.

Flipping through the 156 on the computer I noticed the below.  Can you see an aircraft in each of the below images?

(BELOW) Birds or that flight of several helicopters from Castle ?

Just the ones I could see because there was a heck of a lot more air traffic than that!!!

______

Sat July 22nd, 2017 approx 1600hrs:  Looking towards Hunters Valley Mountain (above left of date stamp)

BELOW

Approx 1600hrs /apparently a smoke column NE (between 60-70 degrees)  in background over white house (Hunters Valley Mountain is to the right outside  image)

SAT, July 22nd, 2017 @ 1550hrs

 

Looking towards Merced, CA 

(BELOW)

LOOKING TOWARDS MARIPOSA, CA

(BELOW)

CALFIRE UPDATE 1330 hrs

1546HRS:

30% was fantastic news and judging by the increased visibility in this area (although hardly representative of what may be going on miles away) I am apprehensively (such fires have many twists and turns) optimistic that percentage (30%) will increase with the next official CALFIRE update.  Let’s pray it does.  Thank you all for your service.

CALFIRE: DETWILER 30% Contained

 

 

FRIDAY 7/21/2017 @ 1100hrs:  CALFIRE/KCRA CH3 reports: 58 homes destroyed, 11 homes damaged, 60 other structures lost, 15% containment with 74,083 acres burned.

<CALFIRE INCIDENT REPORT >

 

___________

 

LOCAL UPDATE:

MyMotherLode NEWS

___________________

DO NOT WANT TO BE AN ALARMIST….HOWEVER….

THE OTHER DAY I WONDERED: COULD THE DETWILER FIRE BURN TO THE SOUTH AND AROUND LAKE McSWAIN AND THUS THREATEN THE LAKE DON PEDRO SUBDIVISION?

NOT LIKELY.  OK.

BUT NOW KNOWING IT HAS MADE IT TO THE HORSESHOE BEND REC AREA—-

WHAT ABOUT IT CIRCUMVENTING LAKE McCLURE TO THE NORTH AND AROUND HORSESHOE BEND RECREATION AREA AND PROCEEDING WEST WITH THOSE STRONG WINDS TO THE LAKE DON PEDRO OWNERS ASSOCIATION SUBDIVISION AND VINICITY?

STILL PROBABLY NOT LIKELY BECAUSE

\ THE SUBDIVISION IS QUITE A DISTANCE AWAY….

……BUT –  SO WERE COULTERVILLE AND MARIPOSA A FEW DAYS AGO!

NEVER SAY NEVER!

HOPE FOR THE BEST – PREPARE FOR THE WORST.

 

 

 

_____________

Thurs/July 20th, 2017 @ 0830hrs:  Just heard on KCRA CH3 television news: +70,000 acres, 45 structures destroyed (unknown number of residences),  10% contained and over 3,000 personnel working to stop the Detwiler Fire.

______________________

THURSDAY July 20th, 2017 @ 0745 hrs

BELOW: From the Lake Don Pedro subdivision looking Southwest towards Merced

LOOKING TOWARDS MARIPOSA  (Southeast)

Pencil point approximate area of fire @ HORSESHOE BEND this morning

 

THURSDAY July 20th, 2017 @ 0620hrs – Just returned home after a short “field trip”.  The photo below was taken from Alamo Drive in the subdivision looking towards Coulterville:

Looked like it was around the HORSESHOE BEND area of Lake McClure – so took a quick trip up HWY 132 to check it out.  Yup, CHP had 132 closed right after the right turn into Horseshoe Bend so I pulled in to see if there was any view of the fire.

BELOW:  HORSESHOE BEND BOAT LAUNCH AREA/LAKE McCLURE around 0400hrs:  Fire was slowly advancing AGAINST THE WIND!  Ash was lightly falling like snowflakes – the sound of that roaring fire in the background with an occasional “pop” of vegetation exploding due to the heat was quite a contrast to the rhythmic relaxing lapping of lake waves on the shore.

JUST BEFORE SUNUP A WATER TANKER ARRIVED TO

FILL UP WITH LAKE WATER

 

ONE OF THOUSANDS WORKING TO DEFEAT THE DETWILER FIRE –

THANK ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE – BE SAFE!

 

BELOW:  Heading back to Lake Don Pedro subdivision via HWY132

RESULTS OF THE BANDERILLA FIRE IN THE SUBDIVISION LAST WEEK

 

Thursday, July 20th, 2017 @ 0300hrs

Awoke to heavy smoke again so I got up to close windows.  The red glow on the horizon to the Northeast appears larger.  Just checked the CALFIRE INCIDENT Web page which reported the loss of more structures.

Many years ago while camping up here on my Lake Don Pedro property I woke up in a tent to the smell of heavy smoke from a Yosemite National Park fire in the early hours of the morning.  Although I cannot say with any certainly, I do believe this Detwiler Fire is much worse.  Outside versus inside difference aside, this seems much worse.  Even my eyes are stinging.  I cannot imagine what sort of hell lies just beyond those mountains.

 

Detwiler Fire Information

1311 hrs:   45,724 acres, 8 structure losses with 7% containment.  Very depressing but apparently the town of Mariposa and the other threatened communities evacuated have thus far escaped the fire.  Let’s pray they continue to do so.

_______________

LOOKING TOWARDS MERCED 0745hrs

LOOKING SOUTHEAST TOWARDS MARIPOSA CALIFORNIA

(BELOW PHOTO)

PETE KAMPA’S RECENT TRANSPARENCY AWARD

(FOR RECONFIGURATION OF OUR FORMER SURFACE WATER

TREATMENT PLANT INTO A GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION FACILITY FOR LAND DEVELOPERS

NOT ENTITLED TO MERCED RIVER WATER UNDER WATER LICENSE 11395?)

 

 

myMotherLode NEWS

OK, OK….Detwiler, regardless of what the map I had said.  Perhaps we’ll find out for sure today?

Woke up coughing this morning as I gave the air conditioning a break last night by leaving the windows open.  Probably won’t do that again – much cooler temperature but heavy smoke in the Lake Don Pedro subdivision.

PHOTO BELOW:  Looking Southeast towards the town of Mariposa approximately 25 miles away.

That’s the LAZO DRIVE hill to the left above wire, and a bird to the right which will also be subject to visual flight rules today.

                             SUNUP in Lake Don Pedro.

 

Everyone will be carefully watching the town of Mariposa California today – when and where it can be seen.

 

My best to you and yours, Lew

Just before midnight…..time exposures

Well this will be the last of this post – almost midnight.  later, Lew

2315 hrs    TIME EXPOSURES LOOKING EAST (HUNTERS VALLEY)

ABOVE:  Zoom of Hunters Valley

______________________

BELOW:

Looking Southeast towards MARIPOSA CALIFORNIA approx 25 miles away

________

KCRA CH3 NEWS VIDEO  LINK

 

______________________________

1711 hrs…..

VERY SHORT VIDEO OF HUNTERS VALLEY FLARE UP also taken @ 1644 hrs  (NOTE: this is my old Olympus camera with the two obvious dark spots….what the heck!   Still works….I’m rotating the cameras so while one is downloading I can monitor the fire with the other.

Wish I could get on the roof easier?????

SHORT VIDEO OF HUNTERS VALLEY FLARE UP

20170718_03

 

 

1628hrs

_______________________________

BELOW TAKEN @ 1625 hrs looking east towards the DETWILLER FIRE in Mariposa County California

 

1620hrs…..Governor Brown announced State of Emergency for Mariposa County – over 20,000 acres.

Most recent Tarantu-Rattle image from Lake Don Pedro subdivision (west of Detwiller Fire, Mariposa County)

Hunters Valley zoom photo of apparent flare up of fire activity-

7/18/2017 @ 1553 :  From LDP subdivision looking easterly

7/18/2017 @ 1522hrs…sorry…UPS stands for Uninterrupted Power Supply (gives you a couple of minutes of “backup battery power” to properly close computer programs during a power outage – or TV, whatever sensitive equipment could be damaged). It really is bothersome to me when folks use acronyms without definition like I just did – sorry but my excuse was impending power failure!  lol  Just turned off the AC to protect the compressor from potential damage if this keeps up.   PG&E is of course swamped with all the fire related outages.  The sheriff’s incident report was heavily represented with welfare checks for people and animals.  (Naturally my first thoughts are of the human beings affected, but do not forget the untold number of domesticated and indigenous animals running in fear of the approaching fire – if not confined.)

ANYWAY…..

View of DETWILLER FIRE from my place in the Lake Don Pedro Subdivision…..

 

[OLD POST]  …power is flickering now – UPS to computer signaling!   1517hours – later!  1537hrs – power OK so far.  Better cook a quick frozen pizza just in case!