I attended the PCT TrailFest last weekend, and had the opportunity to talk with Agency folks from Forest Service, BLM, and Park Service.
Everyone is nervous.
The potential fire situation is the worst anyone has ever seen.
I talked to the District Ranger for the Big Bear area, and asked about his forest. "Grim" was his response. About a million dead trees. Dry as a bone.
The fire up in the Feather River Canyon, "Chips fire", is reported to have "exploded" yesterday.
If you are going to be in the backcountry, be EXCEEDINGLY careful with fires, if you are where they are allowed and legal----keep them small, so embers aren't flying into the brush. Don't have a fire in a significant wind. Have water nearby so you can actually do something if things get out of hand. Make sure your stove is on a durable surface, and that the burnable debris has been cleared for 5 feet in all directions.
I have talked to a hiker who inadvertantly started a small fire. To say, a year later, that his spirit was crushed, hardly says it. His emotion would be like that of a parent who left their child in a hot car.
There is a suggestion that the Chips fire was started by a PCT thru-hiker in an established campsite. We'll see.
To follow the progress of fires:
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/
