So what now?

Yet again that question with no answer comes calling...

Let's start by making the assumption that the Tassajara crew make it through the night safely and that there are no fires started by embers rolling down the hills.

The fire burned a large area today making a sweeping run from the Church Creek drainage up and over the road to Rocky Creek. Burning rapidly up and over Black Butte. Almost all of Tassajara Road from the dozer lines to Tassajara has been burned. Tassajara itself is surrounded by black.

The road is still surrounded in parts by fire and where the fire has passed by, there are large rocks and fallen trees blocking the way. We were told this evening that it will be at least a couple of days before the road is safe enough to send a dozer down the road to clear this debris.

So one answer is that it will be several days before anyone is physically able to drive down to Tassajara.

To get up to the dozer lines we have to get past the CHP roadblock at the edge of the forest, so what about the multiplying layers of legal and administrative closures that have to be lifted before we can freely use the road.

Well, here the story is more uncertain. The closures and evacuations will not be lifted until the fire is much less active and dangerous than it is this evening. We here at Jamesburg are behind a set of firelines that may be severely tested in the next couple of days if the forecast wind shift pushes the fire in this direction. This fire is still dangerous.