Today, September 13, 2016, marks the fifty-fourth day that the Soberanes Fire has been burning in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest, Garrapata State Park, areas south of the Carmel Valley and areas surrounding Big Sur. Sadly this fire was caused by an illegal, unattended campfire on the Soberanes Canyon trail in the Garrapata State Park. Active fire behavior continues in the south and southeast portions of the fire within the steep, rugged and inaccessible terrain of the Ventana Wilderness Area.
Firefighters continue working to contain the 107,050-acre wildfire and containment is now 60%. 1,272 personnel are assigned to this fire. The Soberanes Fire remains within containment lines.
A cold upper low has brought much cooler temperatures for today. However, there will still be some dry air at fire level. Winds will tend to be from the south or southwest with gusts into the teens miles-per hour range which can spread fire quickly. If weather is favorable, the containment line will be extended and expanded.
NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite collected this natural-color image using the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument on September 12, 2016. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS’s thermal bands, are outlined in red. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC. Caption by Lynn Jenner with information from Inciweb.
Suomi NPP is managed by NASA and NOAA.