September trip to Fairview

[stever]

Planning to be up to Fairview Sept 15-18.
Would appreciate updates on burn areas and whatwhere to avoid.
Thanks in advance

[Pescador]

I'll be up at Fairview on the 21st this month. I hope smoke is gone by then. I hear the Lion fire is making it pretty smoky in the KRV.

[admin]

It's Sunday, 11:40 am and you can now just make out the mountains across the lake. Smoke is horrendous through the morning and until the winds come up to take it out. If you have respiratory problems, it may cause some difficulty. Lots of seniors having difficulty with it. And, their 'controlled burns' are never exactly all that controlled. Smoke is going to last awhile.

[happycamper]

The smoke & haze warning on the weather page of this site is almost boiler plate stamped permanent, but primarily mentions the lower elevations around Kernville. Have you heard anything concerning the air quality at or above Johnsondale or Ponderosa?

[admin]

We have been told by Lion Fire managers that the smoke will continue for quite some time, 'maybe months'. Winds and weather will be the ultimate factor. It is the morning hours that are biggest concern. Seems to lay in the valley until winds come up. As before, it's around 11:30 am right now and I can barely make out the mountain across the lake. The fire, started by lightning strike, is in the Golden Trout Wilderness area, so all areas at lower elevations will have smoke.

At the Kernville fire meeting, concerned residents were told this about the smoke issue: "The best thing to do is use air-conditioning. If you don't have an air conditioner go visit a neighbor who does Please don't use swamp coolers because they bring smoke in. And the smoke impacts are during the day between 5 AM and 1 PM as the Valley heats up. At nighttime keep the house cool and don't turn the water cooler on till noon."

Yup, real intelligent. Most people in the Kern River Valley area have swamp coolers and no air conditioning. With temps in the upper 90s to around 104° people have had no choice. It's either live with the smoke or live with the heat. Lots of seniors having problems. It's one thing to have an uncontrolled, controlled fire, but it's another thing to have so many people suffering because of it.

Here is link to Lion Fire Incident information with fire map. http://inciweb.org/incident/2400/

We will post information that we receive and/or observe about any local conditions affecting our readers and their plans, good or bad. That is what makes us the most popular source for visitor information since 1995. Mike