California: American Fire, west of Lake Tahoe

American Fire
American Fire
American Fire. Photo by Todd White.

The American Fire was very active during the day on Thursday and well into the night, adding over 2,000 acres as it spread to the northeast up Secret Canyon toward Ford Point and Whisky Hill. The map below shows the location of the 7,367-acre fire.

The fire is 22 miles west of Lake Tahoe, 9 miles south of Emigrant Gap, and 22 miles southwest of Truckee.

map American Fire
The red line is the perimeter of the American Fire at 9 p.m. PDT, Thursday, August 15, 2013. The pink line was the perimeter early Thursday morning. (click to enlarge)

A 10,000 gallon water tank and a 10,000 gallon mobile retardant plant for helicopter operations has been established at the Blue Canyon Airport just south of Interstate 80.

One mining structure has been destroyed and there have been two minor injuries.

The local weather can be monitored at the Seed Orchard weather station west of the fire where the relative humidity was 19 percent at 7:33 Friday morning. The forecast for the fire area calls for 75 degrees, relative humidity of 17 percent, and 13 mph winds gusting up to 20 mph around noon.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

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