USFS news releases

Taboose Fire Update

The Taboose Fire remains at an estimated 10,500 acres with 30% containment tonight. Firefighters continued working through today and will continue this evening.

Taboose Fire from 9-8-19/Photo USFS

Fire crews focused efforts on the northwest edge of the fire, reinforcing line by laying down retardant lines and setting out hose lays to hold the fire. The same efforts on the eastern side to protect the communities of Aberdeen, Birch Creek and Big Pine are in place. The fire was active today but remained within these firelines.

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Due to the wind event predicted from 5pm to 5am, all residents in these areas are asked to remain vigilant and to be prepared should the need for evacuations arise. Local residents are asked to enroll their cell phones with the Code RED system of the Inyo County Sheriff’s office: Public.Coderedweb.com.

Should there be an evacuation order, the Inyo County Sheriffs will notify residents with cell phones with CodeRED and use reverse 911 for landlines.
Fire Resources:
11 crews 30 engines 4 helicopters 3 dozers 2 water tenders 360 personnel
Closures:
Campgrounds: Goodale Creek and Tinnemaha are closed.
NEW: Sage Flat, Upper Sage Flat, Big Pine Creek, Big Pine Creek Group, Palisade Group and Clyde Group
are closed.
Birch Creek, Taboose and Aberdeen under voluntary evacuation advisories.
Trails: Birch LakeTtrail, Red Lake Trail and Taboose Creek Trail. Note: Hikers on the John Muir Trail are
safe but resupply out of Taboose Pass will need to be arranged at another pass.
South Fork of Big Pine Creek (including the Middle Fork), North Fork of Big Pine Creek and Baker Creek Trail.
Roads: Tinnemaha Road, Taboose Creek Road (at Aberdeen),McMurry Meadows Road, Cone Road and
Sugarload Road. NEW: Glacier Lodge Road from the Bernasconi Center west.
Evacuation Advisories for:
Aberdeen and Birch Creek communities
Mandatory Evacuation:
Baxter Ranch and Big Pine Canyon, including Glacier Lodge, the Glacier Pack Station and the Big Pine Creek
Recreation Resident tract.
Please respect these closures and avoid the nearby fire area for your own safety and that of the firefighters

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From Monday morning

The Taboose Fire remains at an estimated 10,500 acres with 10% containment this morning and fire behavior moderated overnight. Last night firefighters made excellent progress and worked to construct line to the north and east and continued to improve line along the east and south.

Photo courtesy of USFS

Today, fire crews will continue suppression efforts by constructing fireline with a focus to completing line along the north. They will continue to patrol and mop up line along the south and east flank with continued support from retardant and water drops from air tankers and helicopters.

Today’s primary concern is the red flag warning for high winds in the forecast for this evening through tomorrow morning that could push fire growth. The conditions in the forecast are very similar to the wind event experienced two nights ago.

 A Community Meeting is planned for today at 12:30 pm at the Big Pine Town Hall, 150 DeweyStreet, to provide an update for residents about the fire.

Yesterday, Inyo County Sheriff’s Office coordinated with Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park to evacuate stranded hikers at Red Lake and the parks’ helicopter was able to extract the hikers when the smoke cleared from the area in the afternoon.

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Baxter Ranch is under a mandatory evacuation and Birch Creek, Aberdeen and Taboose Creek Campground are under voluntary evacuation advisories. Tinnemaha Campground is closed and being used for incident response.

Tinnemaha Road, Taboose Creek Road (at Aberdeen), and the McMurry Meadows Road are closed. Birch Creek Trail, Red Lake Trail, and Taboose Creek Trails are closed. The forest continues to work with Inyo County Sheriff and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks to locate hikers in the area. Four vehicles were destroyed at the Red Lake Trailhead. The public is advised to avoid these closures and the nearby fire area for their safety and to aid in safe response for firefighters.

The fire is being managed in unified command with Inyo National Forest, CAL FIRE and Inyo County Sheriff’s Office. CA Incident Management Team 11 had been inbriefed and assumed command of the incident.

There are 367 personnel assigned to the incident and includes cooperators from BLM, CHP, National Park Service, Big Pine Fire Department, Bishop Fire Department, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and numerous others.