A very toasty Labor Day weekend registered some incredible temperatures, especially on Sunday, which was a record-setter across Southern California, and high winds propelled several fires, including the Dolan Fire in the northern region of the Los Padres National Forest. It flared up this morning in the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road area near Big Sur, burning the fire station completely to the ground and forcing 14 firefighters to take to their fire shelters. Three were airlifted to a hospital in Fresno, with one in critical condition and two in fair shape, said Andrew Madsen, a spokesperson for Los Padres. Over the course of the day, the fire rapidly grew from 40,000 to 73,000 acres.
The fire weather has been most severe in inland areas, as indicated by the rescues of about 400 people since Sunday from recreational areas in the path of the Creek Fire in the Sierra National Forest. Eight national forests have been closed by authorities, who are evaluating the closure every day on the basis of weather conditions. Signs warning hikers and campers of the dangers have been posted, said Madsen, and forest personnel are driving along trails and dirt roads to try to reach people who are already backpacking and camping in those forests, which are Los Padres, Sierra, Stanislaus, Sequoia, Inyo, Angeles, San Bernardino, and Cleveland. The use of gas stoves, campfires, or any other potential ignition source is now prohibited in all the national forests in California, and all federal developed campgrounds and day-use sites have been closed.
The unbearable heat that descended on Santa Barbara and the rest of Southern California started on Saturday and continued through the night, hitting 102 degrees on the San Marcos Pass at 3 a.m. on Sunday, subsiding to a relatively cool 98 degrees at six o’clock in the morning before rising into triple digits again once the sun rose.