Caldor Fire

2004LB7

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Dec 15, 2010
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well, it's happened. my extended family owns some property and a cabin down in the El Dorado forest that we use multiple times a year. beautiful place right at the middle fork of the cosumnes river. we always thought due to the density of this forest and all the underbrush that if a fire was to break out it would be devastating. as some of you may know this fire broke out Saturday and has now grown to over 50k acres.

from the maps, it looks like it started roughly 3~4 miles west our property. as of last night the maps show the fire burn line encompassing our property. hopping with what little fire breaks we where able to maintain that the cabin has survived. the forest will grow back. but it's unlikely they will ever rebuild. insurance company dropped coverage due to the known risks in this forest and would not continue to insure the property

tree hugging forest management created too many obstacles to be able to log out there and logging rights expired before extensions and renewal were granted.

my guess knowing the area the fire broke out in is a camp fire getting out of control or possibly dry lightning but I would put my money on the former. that area doesn't have much traffic due to the lack of well maintained roads and dense underbrush. there is a possibility of the ATVers and dirtbikers possibly causing it. many of them seem to disregard property lines, OHV limits and other guidelines. they will go through or around fence lines with zero respect for property. so maybe one of them

My hotel that I work at is filling up with evacuees and most neighboring hotels are now full

it may be a while before we are able to get back up there to inspect the damage. keeping my hopes up and crossing my fingers all is well
 
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2004LB7

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property is now completely inside the burn zone. right now it is probably a 50/50 chance it is burned down or survived. Forest surrounding the cabin is likely gone or severely burned
 

2004LB7

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thank. it will likely be a week or two before they let us in to inspect the damage. most roads in that area are closed to all but fire fighters and police. so we will wait.

more people from evacuation areas are showing up at our hotels but having to turn them away as we are full. ☹️
 

2004LB7

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update. took awhile before I was able to get in due to EPA not properly surviving that area of land and taking their sweet time to sign off on everything. place is totally unrecognizable. like some war zone. large sections of land are just barren, dirt with black sticks pointing out with deep holes randomly throughout.

cabin is gone. nothing but a pile of ash and a cinder block perimeter.

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2004LB7

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So sorry. Are you going to rebuild?
I'm trying to convince them to just put a deck on the existing foundation, along with a small bathroom for the ladys in the corner and maybe even a flat or sloped roof with the sides all open. something simple that we can all help build. we hung out on the previous deck more than inside anyways so it makes sense. plus it will give us some shade, relief from any rain and a place to store our ice chests. I'm sure it would be a good while before anything is done. it definitely won't be another house/cabin
 

TheBac

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This sounds like something from DP years ago. Cowracer had to rebuild a small cabin on his property in the woods. It turned out pretty good.
 

2004LB7

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went back up this weekend to see how the property is holding up and if anything is coming back to life. oh, and BBQ some food 😁. looks not much different. mostly some ferns popping up but I doubt they will make it through the summer with no shade. with no ground cover or live roots to hold the soil the snow runoff and rains have caused severe erosion is some locations
 

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TheBac

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Probably wont come back in your lifetime, but it will eventually .Nature moves slowly, but it does move.
 
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2004LB7

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Probably wont come back in your lifetime, but it will eventually .Nature moves slowly, but it does move.
it will take a long time for the trees to come back but I think a few seasons we will see a bunch of green undergrowth and other plants as the sun can now reach the floor. a lot of new growth didn't make it as it was too dark under the trees. it will be hard for them as there is nothing to hold moisture in right now as it is just barren dirt for much of it
 

2004LB7

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Looking like we are going to have another bad fire season out west this year.
except they say that every year and when it finally happens they say "see I told you so". same for the "drought". every year is a drought year but they act like its the first time. gets exhausting