High Sierra Topix

Taboose Fire Wildfire
News – 09/18/2019
Taboose Fire grows in wind driven event
Evacuations and closures in effect

Last night, the Taboose Fire jumped its containment lines when sustained 40-50 mph winds caused spot fires. The fire is estimated to be 4,000 acres with 10% containment. Last night, firefighters focused on structure protection for the nearby communities. Extreme fire behavior has been observed. The Birch Creek community is under mandatory evacuation. Tinnemaha Campground is closed and being used for incident response. Fish Springs and Aberdeen are under evacuation advisories. Taboose Creek Campground is under an evacuation advisory. Tinnemaha Road is closed. The Birch Creek Trail, Red Lake Trail, and Taboose Creek Trails are closed. The forest will work Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks to locate hikers in the area. The fire is being managed in unified command with CAL FIRE and Inyo County Sheriff’s Office. A Type II Incident Management Team has been ordered. Numerous orders for fire crews, air tankers, and other resources are in place. Today, winds remain in the forecast and are the primary concern for fire response as is the steep terrain of the Eastern Sierra. The fire started the evening of September 4 at approximately 5,000 feet in elevation in sagebrush. It located southwest of Big Pine and northwest of the community of Aberdeen. The cause of the fire is under investigation, however it is likely lightning-caused.

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Deb Schweizer
Inyo National Forest

What is the correct date on that news?

Sorry - should read 09/08. The locate-and-extract operation is currently underway (12:25).

Taboose Fire Updated 9/8/2019, 8:31:16 PM

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6570/

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/6570/50985/

Evacuations and closures in effect

The Taboose Fire was mapped 10,500 acres with 10% containment. Aircraft was able to fly and accurately map the fire today. Today, the fire showed significant growth, predominately to the west and north. Crews focused their efforts to protect nearby communities, constructing containment line on the north, east, and southern flanks. They were aided by retardant and water drops from air tankers and helicopters. Thick smoke obscured some of the fire’s edge on its west and north flanks. Fire behavior was active today. The typical evening down canyon winds associated with the Eastern Sierra remain a concern for tonight. Crews will patrol fire lines and continue working to protect neighboring communities. There is a red flag warning for high winds in the forecast for Monday evening through Tuesday morning. 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. A Type II Incident Management Team has arrived and was briefed on the fire at 6:00 pm. The team will assume command of the incident tomorrow at 7:00 am. The fire started the evening of September 4. It located southwest of Big Pine and northwest of the community of Aberdeen and its ranging from 5,000 ft in elevation in sagebrush and has spread up hill to 10,000 ft. in mixed conifer forest. The cause of the fire is under investigation. However, it is likely lightning-caused.

Per Inciweb Taboose fire 10,500 acres and 10% contained. "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."

Has anyone heard how long they plan to have the Taboose Pass Trail closed this summer for clean up? I was planning a trip up it this summer/fall, but may have to adjust plans.

Anyone have an update on weather the taboose pass trail will be open this summer? Was planning on resupplying via that pass, not sure if that will be ok or not.

I'm on a trip that is exiting Taboose Pass in late August. We have the permit, so the trail is open.

Taboose Pass and Red Lake permits (the fire area) do not appear to be available at any time throughout the permit system window for this season, on recreation.gov.

+1. Although we can't reserve permits starting at Taboose Pass, it appears that we can reserve permits *exiting* via Taboose. This may be an oversight in the recreation.gov system.

I'd be genuinely curious to hear any recent/credible reports about the conditions on the Taboose Pass trail, and what are the odds it will re-open sometime this year.