YREKA, CA—In Siskiyou County, more lightning occurred on Wednesday, July 11, as about 118 more down strikes hit the forest. Luckily, some rainfall came with this lightning storm. Overall, about 55 fires were started by storms this week, with approximately 32 of the fires active as of Thursday morning. The other 23 fires have been either contained or controlled. Most of the fires are less than 10 acres in size; however, some fires are just now being looked at due to their extremely remote and rugged locations.
As of Thursday, July 12th, the Klamath National Forest formed the Elk Complex in the Happy Camp Ranger District that has a number of the lightning-caused fires close to private property, as well as many others scattered throughout the district. A Type II Incident Management Team, with Kent Swartzlander as Incident Commander, is taking over management of the Elk Complex starting at 6:00 pm tonight. Three of the known fires within that complex are causing some concern (the Elk Fire, about 10 acres; the King Creek #2, about 40 acres; and the Tom Martin, about 10 acres). The Tom Martin Fire is about one and a half-miles south of the small town of Hamburg along Highway 96. No structures are threatened at this time, and an air tanker is being used to help the firefighters on the ground.
The Oak Knoll Ranger District has five confirmed fires, with three of them controlled. Of the two active fires, the China Fire is one mile north of China Peak, and is using an air tanker to help firefighters tackle this blaze. It is currently about 10 acres in size. Smoke from this fire may be seen from the Yreka and Fort Jones area, as well as from along Highway 96 near the town of Klamath River.
The Scott River Ranger District has seven fires in total, with five of them staffed at this time. Two of the fires are within or near the eastern edge of the Marble Mountain Wilderness. The Back and Sky Fires are about 10 and 25 acres in size, respectively. Heavy fuels and extensive mop-up are the concerns for these fires.
As of the morning of Thursday, July 12th, about 16 fires have been reported on the State Responsibility Areas protected by California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE); the largest is about 10 acres in size. All of these fires are contained.
The CAL FIRE information line is now available at (530) 842-2266. This number will have information on the fires managed by the Forest Service and CAL FIRE in the county, and will be updated as the situations change.
YREKA, CA—Lightning filled the sky over most of Siskiyou County on Tuesday, July 10, and employees of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and the Klamath National Forest (KNF) are busy working on the fires that started from over 1,200 down strikes from the storm.
As of the morning of Wednesday, July 11th, about nine fires have been reported on the State Responsibility Areas protected by CAL FIRE; the largest is about 10 acres in size. Six of these fires are contained. On the KNF-managed lands, about 30 fires have been reported, with most being less than one acre in size. There are about two fires over 20 acres in size. Many of the fires have firefighters walking in to staff the fires, and smoke jumpers have been ordered for the larger fires.
“It’s a dry year, and though we received rain on some of the forest, it wasn’t enough to stop any of the larger fires from spreading.” said Patty Grantham, Deputy Forest Supervisor for the KNF.
Reconnaissance flights are in progress this morning, and more fires may be found once the day warms. More lightning is predicted for today with increased precipitation.
As a reminder, CAL FIRE suspended dooryard burning permits as of July 1st. Though fire restrictions for the KNF are not in place yet, forest vegetation is very dry. All who are in the forest are asked to be extremely careful with fire.
The CAL FIRE information line is now available at (530) 842-2266. This number will have information on the fires managed by the Forest Service and CAL FIRE in the county, and will be updated as the situations change.
Fire retardant drop in the Happy Camp Complex fires. Photo by Ken Black of the Deadwood Strike
August 24, 2006, 11:00 am
From the Northern California Joint Incident Information Center
Current Situation: A weak low pressure trough over northern California will move east today and high pressure will build in behind it. Low humidity with gusty winds is expected. The air mass in northern California remains stable and dry with temperatures in the upper 80s and mid 90s.
Visitors need to be aware that there are numerous road, trail and area closures in place. Before heading out, please contact the local Forest Service Unit or log onto Inciweb.Org for additional information about fire-related restrictions and closures.
No active Fire Weather Watches or Warnings are in effect today in Northern California.
The Joint Incident Information Center will no longer be staffed. However, the daily summary will continue to be updated and e-mailed to the current mailing list. Please visit Inciweb.Org for information related to all incidents and to obtain local contact information.
Northern California Region Active Totals
Major Incidents / Complexes: 4
Acres Burned: 54,448
Cost of active fires: $49,763,305
Personnel Committed: 1,328
Firefighter Injuries: 22
Fatalities (Aerial Firefighting Personnel): 2
Resources Committed
Engines: 16
Firefighting Crews: 29
Dozers: 3
Helicopters: 17
Overhead Personnel: 532
Between July 23rd and August 24th a total of 8 large fire incidents have occurred in the Northern California Region. Those large fires have burned more than 74,122 acres costing over $72,738,673 in suppression efforts.
INCIDENT SUMMARIES
Orleans Complex: Six Rivers National Forest; 15,710 acres; 70% Contained; Estimated Containment Date: 9/30/06; Total Personnel: 366; Cost to Date: $15M; Type 2 Incident Management Team (Sinclear) is assigned. Limited interior burning continues, primarily in the upper portions of Pearch Creek drainage. Firefighters continue to hold containment line on Highway 96 and Salmon River Road. Cultural resources remain threatened. A public meeting will be held tonight at 7p.m. at the Karuk Community Center in Orleans to introduce the incoming Incident Management Team. For more information on this fire, please visit http://inciweb.org/incident/370.
Bar Complex: Shasta-Trinity National Forest; 20,289 acres; 46% contained; Estimated Containment Date: 9/15/06; Total Personnel: 523; Cost to Date: $15M; A Type 1 Incident Management Team (Dietrich) is assigned. Fire continues to move easterly toward Limestone Ridge and south from Pony Butte/Salmon Mountain Ridge. Residence and historic mining sites continue to be threatened. Heavy smoke remains over the communities in and around Weaverville and as far away east as Redding. For more information, please visit http://inciweb.org/incident/357/
Uncles Complex: Klamath National Forest; 14,631 acres; 35% contained; Estimated Containment Date: 10/3/06; Total Personnel: 106; Cost to Date: $9M; A Fire Use Management Team (Hahnenberg) has been assigned and will continue to manage the incident under suppression strategy while planning long term fire assessment. Fire fighters are working diligently ahead of the fires to protect historic and recreational structures. For more information on this fire, please visit http://inciweb.org/incident/348/ .
Happy Camp Complex: Klamath National Forest; 3,818 acres; 85% contained; Estimated Containment Date: 9/1/06; Total Personnel: 333; Cost to Date: $9M; A Type 2 Incident Management Team (Garwood) is assigned. No increased fire activity. This will be the last incident summary for Happy Camp Complex unless there is substantial change. For more information on this fire, please visit http://inciweb.org/incident/361/.
This fire started on Indian Creek Road,
about 1/4 mile north of last year’s “Larry’s Fire”
Photo by RK McCall
by Linda Martin
What appears to be another human-caused fire broke out about a mile north of Larry’s Market on Indian Creek Road, and will continue to burn throughout the night.
Local firefighters, USFS, and CDF crews already weary from a day’s work at the Stanza Fire scene were called to extinguish the flames that quickly climbed the hill east of the road and spread into the hills north of Happy Camp at about 5 pm this afternoon.
A few nearby homes were evacuated, however residents are being allowed back in and no other evacuations are expected at this point. The fire is mostly contained; a fire line has been established with a few spot fires being carefully attended to.
Helicopters doused the area with water from the creek, and fire retardant was spread by air-tankers as law enforcement worked to open Indian Creek Road just before sunset.
Thanks to the combined efforts of various agencies and the work of over 1000 firefighters, our Stanza Fire is now at 100% containment.
Ronald Raley, Incident Commander of the Interagency Incident Management Team 5, and Alan Vandiver, our new District Ranger, wrote the following letter to the community:
On behalf of the incident personnel assigned to the “Stanza” fire and California Interagency Incident Management Team 5, we want to thank you for your patience and support of the firefighting efforts.
Our primary objectives are to provide for firefighter and public safety, and to manage the assigned resources in the most effective and cost efficient manner. We realize our presence here has created impacts on your community, however as our incident personnel return to their home units or new assignments, we hope you’ll remember the good things - The fire is contained and the community is safe.
Our condolences to family and friends of the three firefighters killed while working on the Stanza Fire Sunday morning. The fire, ten miles south of Happy Camp, has been burning out of control for nearly a week in an area near Sulphur Springs. It has grown to over 1300 acres due to the difficulty of fighting it in steep, rough terrain.
The accident occurred at about 1:30 Sunday morning when a Forest Service water tender rolled off the road and down a steep 800′ embankment. There were two survivors, both from Northern California.
Those killed were John Self, 19, of Susanville; Heather DePaolo, 29, of Redding, and Steven Oustad, 51, of Westwood.
Fire threatened to consume the hill
just south of the Klamath River in Happy Camp.
by Linda Martin
A fire hovered on the hill overlooking Happy Camp late today and fire-fighting efforts started at about 5 pm. The town’s people took to the streets to keep an eye on this threatening sight.
By sunset firefighters had the blaze contained and at 11 pm about fifty people were still on the scene expecting to be there all night. A few hot spots still burned within the fire line.
Earlier in the evening, two helicopters poured a steady rain of Klamath River water on the blaze and a plane dumped fire retardant chemicals several times, cutting down the fire before it had a chance to consume the treetops.
The fire appeared at the terminus of the Town Trail. Possible causes are an abandoned cigarette, campfire out of control, or arson, although there is no official determination on this yet.
The Town Trail, a popular hike up steep terrain, ends with a view overlooking all of Happy Camp. By evening firefighters could be seen descending the steep hillside in a line, apparently holding onto a rope, and the sound of chainsaws filled the valley.
The Frontier Lodge with the fire in the background.
The fire was just about out by sunset and local
fire crews were on the scene but several small
areas continued to burn as late as 11 pm.
After an abnormally dry summer, rainstorms have begun to refresh the forest around us. Most of California has reached low fire danger status, but the Forest Service lists the Klamath National Forest as still having a moderate danger of fire as of November 1, 2001.
There have been a total of 227 fires so far this year in our forest. They burned 10,122 acres. Most of the fires, 200 of them, were started by lightning strikes. The remaining 27 fires were started by human error.
Forest fires about 12 miles downriver from Happy Camp are only 20% contained. The fires are three of over sixty fires started in the Klamath National Forest by dry lightning strikes in the early morning hours of Saturday, September 15. There was only .27 of an inch of rain with this lightning storm.
The Swillup Fire is burning in the area of Cottage Grove and at this time has covered about 900 acres. The Crawford Fire is upriver closer to Independence Bridge and encompasses about 70 acres. The Red Hill Fire, deep in the Siskiyou Wilderness area, covers about 30 acres.
Smoke blankets Happy Camp today due to weather conditions keeping this layer of air close to the ground. The fires do not threaten Happy Camp at this time and there are no plans to evacuate residences in this area. No structures have been affected by these fires.
Over 900 firefighters are on the job, with 7 air tankers, 7 water tenders, 9 helicopters, 7 bulldozers, 16 engines and 32 hand crews. Burning is currently erratic with winds of up to 12 MPH blowing southwest, and away from Happy Camp. The Swillup Fire has been especially challenging due to rugged, steep terrain, inaccessibility, and heavy fuels, according to Forest Service reports.
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