The "Pleasure Fire" broke out on the Quail Ridge peninsula on Friday, September 16, about 5 PM. On Sunday morning, it was declared 100% contained. The fire consumed 180 acres. It started on BOR land at the lakeshore, traveled through DFG land, and onto BLM land. No private, QRWC, or UC lands were burned. The entire burn area was inside of the Reserve. See attached map for a rough representation of the burn area.

There was a considerable fire personnel presence - 8 engines, 9 fire crews, 3 helicopters, 4 bulldozers, water tenders, and early plane support. We tried to encourage minimal impact, but as you can imagine with that amount equipment there was disturbance. Most of the bulldozer disturbance was isolated to the roads in order to allow for safe movement of the fire engines and crew busses. However, the Ridge road was widened by bulldozers to serve as a fire break. This was necessary to isolate the impact and stop the fires spread onto other lands including private parcels and Markley Cove.

It is believed that the fire was started by a boater who had a barbeque on the lake shore. The fire moved quickly through oak woodlands and chamise chaparral, pushed uphill by a southeast wind. The extreme topography and difficult access made control very challenging. Initially crews were shuttled by boat from Pleasure Cove, hence the name "Pleasure Fire". Darkness fell quickly and with it the air support was lost until Saturday morning. The engines and crews worked throughout Friday night to keep it controlled.

A plan was developed to backfire from Decker Canyon up Fish and Game Hill. However, we were very lucky and had favorable conditions overnight. There was high humidity, a low pressure system, and the wind died down. The fire "layed down". With daylight, the returning helicopters were able to stop the head from spreading further by dumping water from the lake. Hand crews were able to work around it. The backfire that would have doubled the size of the burn was not necessary.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera for any of this. The attached photos are mostly aftermath.