Incident Start Date: 06/19/2021 Cause: Lightning Size: 640 acres Containment: 0% Incident Type: Full Suppression Vegetation Type: Brush and Timber
Agency: Inyo National Forest, U.S. Forest Service
Resources Assigned: Engines: 18 Helicopters: 7 Fixedwing: 4 Crews: 7 Watertenders: 4 Dozers: 2
Current Situation: The Inyo Creek Fire remained relatively calm overnight, with active flames visible in some sections of the fire. Winds were again diurnal down canyon from the west last night, however the fire held within retardant lines placed yesterday by air tanker resources. Winds will be a concern today as they are forecast to be from the South Southeast with gusts up to 30MPH. Evacuations orders for residents at Olivas Ranch, Whitney Portal Reserve, and all residents on Whitney Portal Road North of Horseshoe Meadow Road remain in effect today as well as all the Whitney Portal and Lone Pine Campground.
California Incident Management Team 13 Mike Wakoski, Incident Commander, was briefed yesterday and took command of the Inyo Creek Fire this morning. The fire remains in Unified Command with CAL FIRE due to state lands being threatened and the threat to structures.
Aircraft for today will include an Air Attack over the fire, 2 Type 2 Air Tankers that will be doing retardant drops, and a Lead Plane that helps to guide the Air Tankers. A Mobile Retardant Base is set up at Lone Pine Airport. This will help with aircraft being able to fill and return to the fire faster. 7 helicopters are also assigned to the fire and will be used to drop water on the fire to help slow its progress.
Closures: The Whitney Portal Road is closed at Horseshoe Meadow Road. The Forest is working with the Inyo County Sheriff on the road closure. At this time all hikers that have planned to exit the Mt Whitney Trailhead should use a different exit point such as, the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead or Onion Valley. Wilderness Rangers are camped at Trail Camp to try to get the word out to those that are still in the backcountry. It is still unsafe to attempt retrieving vehicles from Whitney Portal, an announcement will be made when it is safe to try to reschedule an escort.
More information and maps can be found on InciWeb at: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7564/