Tamarack Fire spreads east, crosses state line into Nevada

Burns 8 structures and over 50,000 acres

12:42 p.m. PDT July 22, 2021

Tamarack Fire map
Tamarack Fire map. The white line was the perimeter at 8 p.m. PDT July 21, 2021. The green line was the perimeter about 24 hours before.

From the Incident Management Team, Thursday morning, July 22:

There was active fire behavior [Wednesday] afternoon with crowning, short crown runs and prolific spotting as the winds  built up. Fuels remain extremely dry. The fire grew about 10,000 acres [Wednesday] to approximately 50,129 acres. It pushed to Hwy 395 and burned north and south along the highway but did not cross the highway. Active fire also pushed towards, but didn’t cross, Hwy 88 as firefighters were able to keep the fire south of the highway. Hwy 88 & 89 remain closed in the fire area to all traffic except incident personnel. A portion of Hwy 395 closed [Wednesday] for firefighter and public safety.

Over 800 people have been evacuated and over 500 structures are threatened. There are over 1,200 personnel working on the fire and more resources are on order. Firefighting operations continued throughout the night. Night operations include structure protection and firing operations when conditions are right.

The objective for managing the fire is full suppression, and all efforts will be directed towards meeting that objective with public and firefighter safety as the highest priority. Uncontrolled fire with extreme fire behavior continues to be a threat to surrounding communities, public, and firefighters.

Wednesday afternoon the fire was pushed by 15 to 25 mph winds gusting out of the west and southwest up to 33 mph while the relative humidity was in the low teens. The forecast for the east side of the fire Thursday afternoon calls for 82 degrees, 15 percent RH, and 15 mph winds gusting out of the southwest at 24 mph. This could put more pressure on the Highway 395 corridor.

To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Tamarack Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.

On Friday, conditions will be similar but with winds maxing out at 7 mph from variable directions.

Satellite photo fires in CA WA OR

The National Situation Report for Thursday reduced the number of reported structures destroyed from 10 to 8.

Resources assigned to the fire Wednesday evening included 27 crews, 96 engines, and 9 helicopters for a total of 1,213 personnel.


7:33 a.m. PDT July 21, 2021

Map of the Tamarack Fire
Map of the Tamarack Fire. The white line was the perimeter at 6 p.m. PDT July 20. The Green line was the estimated perimeter about 24 hours before. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 3:18 a.m. PDT July 21, 2021.

The Tamarack Fire spread further east on Tuesday, crossing the state line from California into Nevada (see map above). The fire started July 4 southwest of Markleeville, California and from that point has now spread 15 miles northeast and 10 miles to the north.

After it passed the state line near Leviathan Mine Road it continued east. During a satellite overflight at 3:18 a.m. PDT Wednesday July 21 it was about two miles west of US Highway 395 and 5 miles northwest of the junction of 395 and Highway 208.

Satellite Photo, Dixie and Tamarack Fires
Satellite Photo, Dixie and Tamarack Fires at 6:26 p.m. PDT July 20, 2021.

The Incident Management Team reports that 10 structures have been destroyed.

Tuesday night voluntary evacuations were issued “for all residents in Leviathan Mine Rd. and Holbrook Junction areas.” More information is at InciWeb.

A mapping flight at 6 p.m. PDT Tuesday determined that the fire had burned about 41,800 acres, but it continued burning later into the evening.

Resources assigned to the fire Tuesday evening included 27 hand crews, 99 engines, and 9 helicopters for a total of 1,219 personnel.

Typos, let us know HERE, and specify which article. Please read the commenting rules before you post a comment.

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.

70 thoughts on “Tamarack Fire spreads east, crosses state line into Nevada”

  1. This is why i retired from all the lack of leadership and the lack of i don’t care from US Forest Circus. You can convict people for campfires that get out of control and put them in prison but can’t convict US Forest Circus of letting it burn. Thanks for the brave firefighters on the ground that put there lives on the line everyday and may be killed because a bad decision that was made once again FS Supervisor, So what will happen if someone gets killed? Nothing, But if it was a civilian it would be prison time.

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    1. Just a couple thoughts !
      In this part of the country on a hot dry summer and winds that come up most afternoons every small fire has the potential of turning into an inferno.
      When the Tamarack Fire was small there were no resources available for ten days.
      When the Tamarack fire is a blazing out control inferno hundreds of Brave firefighters and a massive amount of Equipment and the Fire management that goes along with them are available in a few days.
      There is little willpower to prevent a disaster but plenty of willpower once the disaster has occurred.
      Somethings backwards in this senario and changes need to be made .

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  2. A quote from my son, “Yeah, we got here and rolled into night shift, pretty intense fire activity.” I reminded him it was the Sierra Nevada and the terrain is steep, granite in many areas. Not that I needed to but I reminded him that people and property should be the priority and let the rest burn.

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  3. As a former Woodfords Fire volunteer, it makes me sick to see everyone calling out Alpine County. I personally sat alone on a fire in 2009 for 33 minutes waiting for mutual aid from Douglas and El Dorado counties because I was the only volunteer available at 2 am. I know the stress and pressures of trying to fight fires in this area and I come down the volunteers who did what they could.

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  4. I live in Pioneer CA. Does anyone by any chance have the experience and foresight to know if I might be in danger of the tamarack fire? Or should I wait to start packing my things? The CA fair plan wouldn’t accept me because their was pine needles on my roof…

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    1. Hello Robert,
      In my (longtime local resident) opinion, you have little to worry about the Tamerack Fire, as it is a long ways from you and in the worst of circumstances I would think it would take a minimum of 3 days to reach greater Pioneer area and that would take a Foehn wind, which is not too common
      My advice is to clean up leaves, old lumber, small trees/brush and clean your gutters/gutter spouts!
      Brian O

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    2. Robert, Pioneer CA is in no danger from the Tamarack Fire. The fire is very quickly burning in the exact opposite direction. But please realize that Pioneer is in very hazardous fire country, just like every little town in the Sierra Nevada west slope foothill country. Beware of offshore wind-flow events.

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      1. Wow thank you so much! I was freaking out and thinking maybe I need to start packing! Lol. I’ll keep an eye on it though but thank you for putting it into perspective sir

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  5. Why didn’t the fire be extinguished a t the time, why did they watch, knowing the dryness of the forest. I now sit here listening to aircraft flying g over trying to contain the fire. Over 1200 personnel fighting, could have been done and over weeks ago. Just saying nothing but the greatest respect for the firefighters on the line. They do a great job trying to protect us. But why is the new idea is to manage a fire but not to just put it out. Seems a new management plan should be in place. To bad that thousands of acres and homes, livelihoods need to suffer because of the ineptitude of our federal, state agency’s.

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  6. I have been lurking around this site since last summer. First, I am grateful to Bill Gabbert for providing wildfire information on this blog. The increase in number and intensity of wildfires should be a priority issue, especially for those of us living in the western US. Regarding the Tamarack Fire, there seems to be concerns regarding the initial response in suppressing the fire from the USFS.

    Second, my son is currently traveling to the Tamarack Fire. He works on a USFS hotshot crew out of Prescott, Arizona. I appreciate all of the information you provide on this site.

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  7. It seems to me a few helicopter runs with buckets of water dipped from Lower or Upper Blue Lakes could have solved this in the beginning. There was plenty of water available less than a mile away from the lightning strike. So, you’re telling me that the USFS could perform fly-over monitoring but couldn’t manage to get a helicopter in to extinguish it? It would have been “one and done”. Their excuse that there was not much fuel was truly poor judgment! If you have ever been to Tamarack Lake (which I have been MANY times), you know that there is plenty of fuel and you also know that the afternoon winds can be very strong! It should have been extinguished and *NOT* just monitored. Water from both Lower and Upper Blue could have been used and was readily available! It’s a travesty that the USFS couldn’t have made that decision….smoldering fire & regular high winds spells disaster! Which is has been!

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    1. Water drops certainly would have impacted the fire but probably would not have extinguished the possibility of it popping up out of the duff or a tree root some time in the future. Boots on the ground are necessary. They are the insurance and the assurance that the fire is DEAD OUT. This probably would have been at least a 2 day assignment. LR

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    2. I was backpacking in the Hoover Wilderness during same weekend that this Tamarack Fire began. Storms and lightning provided an exciting backdrop to our multiday trip, as well. On July 4, our little group climbed a nearby peak and got a nice view down the canyon that we had used for our entrance to the Wilderness. And wow, lightning from the evening before, or perhaps at 2:30 early that morning when the final round of storms had moved through, had ignited a fire. It was a small blaze, but was putting up a respectable smoke column. We were fortunate to get to watch a helicopter perform bucket drops on that fire. Several passes were made, and we watched about 5 drops in all. By the time we moved off the peak, less than an hour later, no smoke was visible.

      The next day, we hiked out that same canyon wondering if we would see any signs of the fire. We did not; no fire, no smoke, no wildland firefighters. The fire was out. The bucket drops were successful. At the same time, this little patch of fire called the Tamarack was burning/smoldering not too incredibly far to the north in the Mokelumne Wilderness. The decision to let that fire be, without any suppression measures is extremely hard to comprehend. After two seasons of severe drought, after an incredibly dry spring, after a record hot June, during an early July heat wave, with fuel moisture at record levels of dryness, they mysteriously chose to put this ornery little fire on monitor status. And in Alpine County of all places.

      The relationship between the USFS and Alpine county was never great, but after the Acorn (Woodfords) Fire, 1987, that relationship became even more greatly strained. As a result, the USFS became hyper vigilant about jumping on and stomping out any little blaze in that area. It was high priority. I know this area well. I used to Ranger around the Carson District portion of the Mokelumne. I was the eyes in the field that radioed into Minden to inform Markleeville Guard Station about single tree smokes in the wilderness. Every fire was suppressed. The agency certainly did not want another Acorn incident on its hands. But I guess enough decades have passed to allow lessons to be forgotten and management behaviors to change.

      It’s a complicated issue. The forest ecosystems need fire. Perhaps you could argue that the greatest disaster here was the total fire suppression that has occurred for numerous decades allowing a buildup of fuels. Ironically, I recall one hike in particular when I dumped off the PCT and went cross country down Raymond Canyon. It was major pain in the ass due to massive quantities of accumulated deadfall. “Man this place really needs a fire,” I said to myself. That was nearly 30 years ago! I think that this Tamarack Fire is the one that finally got into that area.

      Sorry to get so long-winded and to Tamarack Hiker’s point, yep, bucket drops would have easily knocked this out. Follow that up with 3 sets of boots on the ground for thorough mop up, just to be safe. Location too rugged for firefighters? When did that become a thing?

      Reintroduction of fire into the ecosystem is required, but in this case of the Tamarack, in these conditions, it was the WRONG decision. I’m sure that those who made the decision would agree. But hey, at least the boots on the ground saved Markleeville. Can you imagine if that town had gone up in flame, a al Santa Rosa in the Tubbs Fire, or Paradise in the Camp. Now that truly would have been a disaster.

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  8. Why don’t they allow and encourage ordinary people to help clean out all the dead trees and other vegetation. Pay a few professionals to advise, assist, monitor the work and allow volunteers that help to take all the wood they can carry home with them to personally use or sell what they don’t need. When I drive through the forests in CA and northern AZ, I see some cleaned out areas but not many. If there is a fire how do the firefighters get their men and equipment through? The situation is so big we can’t expect the Forestry to do the job alone. We all need to help and in so doing save or make a few dollars.

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    1. From a desert walker to a desert rat, it is our planet and we all need to pitch in. Mother Earth is crying out to us…maintain more, build less.

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  9. Nothing new here. Forests have been burning forever. The only difference now is that humans have moved into the forests and into the paths of the fire. Burn and rebuild. Burn and rebuild. Insanity. If you can’t have a defensible space without calling in a small army to put out the fire, you probably should not have built there.

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    1. True Gary, Tahoe Basin is horribly overbuilt….man keeps building homes with the same fire fuel as in wood products.
      It does seem winds have become fiercer with time and more dry lightning and less rain when we need it. Man’s will is killing this planet.

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  10. I recently found some newspaper clippings I had collected when I worked on the Angeles and Los Padres. They covered 1969-1974, mostly from Southern California. Headlines were “worst fire season on record”, “record numbers of acres burned”, “hundreds evacuated”. Also, “need more firefighters, air tankers, dozers, money, engines”, “why didn’t they attack the fire earlier”, “why don’t our politicians do something?” And “heads need to roll”.
    Sound familiar? Nothing has changed except for a new generation asking the same questions. But the forests and brush lands continue to burn despite all the efforts of those before us and will obviously continue into the future.

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  11. Thanks to Shamus for providing the link to the interesting article about firefighting drones. Also, I would think in the near future robotics could play a part in mechanical thinning and maintenance.

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  12. This is what actually happened, from InciWeb:

    “The Tamarack Fire on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest was discovered on July 4. At the time, 23 other lightning fires were burning. It was a single tree burning in the Mokelumne Wilderness on a rocky ridgetop with sparse fuels and natural barriers to contain it. The steep, rugged, and remote terrain presented challenges to safely suppress this wilderness fire. With several higher priority fires in the area and due to the remote location, the sparse fuels and natural barriers, and the concern for firefighter safety, the decision was made to monitor the Tamarack Fire.

    The Tamarack Fire was monitored daily via air and fire cameras and exhibited very little fire behavior until Friday, July 16 when fueled by extreme winds and low humidity, it progressed rapidly downslope and spread throughout the evening. With this rapid change in the fire, fire resources were dispatched on Friday, July 16. Additional firefighting resources were also ordered, including very Large Air Tankers (VLAT), Single Engine Airtankers (SEATS) and helicopters. ”

    Do NOT Monday morning quarterback this, especially for political reasons or by sharing “facts” which come from untrustworthy sources. If you’ve never been involved with such a fire, I strongly suggest you keep your counsel – posting ignorantly here only makes the work of those trying to save lives and property much harder.

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    1. Did you see the “post” from “Paul?” “No {firefighters} put their lives on the line or else they get fired.” Jeez!

      I can loan some of these “keyboard quarterbacks” my magic wand too maybe that will help put out the fires 😉

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  13. PS. By the way: Thank God for this site, and the media, for keeping us enlightened about the fire. It’s close enough to us that it bears constant watching and this site has been a wonderful resource. I’m sure my thoughts are shared by the others possibly in the path of the burn.

    So many thanks.

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  14. Ok. Get a clue. Firefighters did NOT start this fire!

    There is a labor shortage; including firefighters. Because: Baby boomers retired in record numbers (early) last year, last years American population growth was the lowest in over 100 years, over 625,000 Americans have died from Covid 19, up to 2.4 million Americans are recovering from critical care / long-term effects due to Covid 19 (aka long haulers), worldwide over 4.1 million have died from Covid 19 and untold numbers are recovering from critical care as well.

    Safety first. Look at the first paragraph of the incident report; “rocky, steep, rugged, remote, several higher priority fires in the area and concern for firefighter safety,” the decision was made to monitor the fire. I would add that we had just seen record heat in the region for several days along with low humidity; to me it felt like someone had turned on a hot air dryer.

    Today they have over 1,200 firefighters working on the fire. SAFETY FIRST!

    In other news; the couple that started a “baby reveal” wildfire in San Bernardino last season were charged with involuntary manslaughter because a firefighter died when the wildfire overran his position. The firefighters name is Charles Morton of the Big Bear Hot Shot Crew; an 18 year veteran. Rest in Peace Charles.

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    1. I appreciate your comment regarding the safety of firefighters, “ Safety first. Look at the first paragraph of the incident report; “rocky, steep, rugged, remote, several higher priority fires in the area and concern for firefighter safety,”.

      After reading about recent wildfire related deaths, I advised my son, “The forests are going to burn. Your priority needs to be the safety of the crew you supervise.”

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    2. OK jedi , your claim to fame is way past your time here . Nobody has insinuated anybody die . Because of the failed decisions many on the front lines will be in harm’s way . You’d prefer to manipulate the concerns of those present . Your position is well taken , move away.

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  15. Many years ago they allowed more cattle grazing and most fires were grass fires. When all vegetation is allowed to grow uncontrolled at some time it will explode. Yellowstone should have been a lesson on this but was never learned.

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  16. Don’t understand why they didn’t monitor the small fire more closely, at the very least. Seems to me, that one helicopter could have suppressed the early fire, but then I’m not a USFS professional. I also notice how the information flow improved when the new management team took over.

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  17. Please no harsh comments on our Forestry dept. These men and women put their lives on the line everyday.This is a devastating year for fires and our wildlife.No criticism but Prayers please.

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    1. These people do not put their lives on the line every day. That’s the very first priority of firefighting….No one puts themself or anyone else in danger. If you do, you’ll get fired.

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      1. Mr. Graham. It sounds like you actually want people to die to stop a wildfire or you tried a very bad joke. Or, perhaps you would like to personally tell that to the families of the hundreds of firefighters killed over the past several years? (98 were killed in 2013 alone) However, I am not sure they would appreciate your “comment” either.

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  18. Just a unlearned thought on Forest management. Lot’s of money is needed to rethink and manage the Forests of the entire U.S. let alone just the West. How can anyone try to get that done when Congress can’t seem to agree on anything? They can’t even pass a budget in time to stop a Government shut down! I won’t mention any names here but, one former politician told the Governor of California that if he didn’t “rake” his Forest Floors, he would take money away from him. That’s the kind of thinking we have in some people’s minds!

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  19. It’s time for a complete rethinking about wildfire management. Putting the politics of global warming aside, huge wildfires in the western U.S. are becoming more frequent, destructive, and costly. What if 10% of the Federal Military Budget (we’re ending our mid-east wars this summer) was redirected to a new Wildfire Management Force, Western Region, with 500 aerial tankers, a thousand water pumpers, 200 bulldozers, 30 battalions of fire fighters, and so on. We could completely change the landscape of fire management in the west. It’s the right thing to do.

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    1. More air tankers, dozers etc is not going to change the landscape of wildfire in the west. We catch the fires we can and don’t catch the ones we can’t. Huge investments in suppression resources only kick the can down the road until we get the weather event when the fire deficit is paid back.

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    2. Peter,

      Your idea is solid, the resources are readily available, the troops would make meaningful contributions to the country while keeping our citizens safe, the US would directly benefit from this strategic refocusing of personnel and funding plus US companies could increase manufacturing and production of wildfire management equipment thus increasing domestic jobs.

      For all of the reasons above, your idea is doomed to fail and will be ridiculed by our inept Congress.

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    3. Good post, Peter,

      As someone who worked on the 1988 Yellowstone Fire (not on the front lines, but I was detailed to drive through the fire on inspection), I completely agree that the swollen and never-audited war budget, which has grown from about $360 B to $745 B under both parties, should be in significant part redirected to real threats to us – in this case, massive fires, drought, earthquakes (already two big ones here), and the like. THOSE are the real threats to our security and our lives. The USFS only has about a $20B budget, the National Parks only about $4B. Let’s boost those amounts.

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    4. Without doing fuels reduction/forest thinning at some point, even with all the equipment money can buy……..you would still have catastrophic fires.

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    5. Agree 100% with that, what a waste and the amount of particulate and CO2 etc released by these massive fires just exacerbates global temperature rise.

      A couple hits from the SEATS single engine crop duster retardant planes would have knocked that out.

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  20. I have contacted Congressman Tom Mcclintok of Calif. He has already penned a letter to the Chief of the USFS and wants answers. You can read the letter in it’s entirety. The USFS needs to change the way they fight fires in the west. I have also contacted my Senator in Wyoming.

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    1. Please bear in mind that the Trump Administration’s policies toward the US Forest Service (under the Dept. of Agriculture) was deeply disruptive and demoralizing. For one thing, they cut the budget for wildland fire management. It takes time for a new administration to correct the problems that they caused. Therefore, the Forest Service is still woefully under-budgeted and under-staffed. The day lightning stated the Tamarack Fire, it also ignited 22 other fires. All had to be managed and monitored. I imagine there was a triage situation, and they chose wrong which fires to address more aggressively.

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  21. Im hearing the Forest Sevice didn’t act when this was small and very manageable on July 4th. I believe an overhaul is due of the Forest Sevice.

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    1. Sir: the fire fighting resources are very stressed. this fire was monitored closely. result is unfortunate, but not the “fault” of the forest service. This year is terrible. Liz

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      1. They had 50 personal “watching” the fire. It didn’t get to 20,000 acres from 1/4 acre overnight. While I have the upmost respect for those risking their safety and health on the front line, USFS Admin better start providing some answers.

        This is during the same period where the public was ordered not to even have an open flame outside. In the middle of an intense fire season, why is there such mixed messaging from the USFS? July is not the time of year to be allowing natural fires to “run their normal course” as long as the public is not threatened.

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        1. I agree with you completely. The monitoring of this remote fire was an act of negligence and complete mismanagement on the part of the USFS. My heart is heavy as the people in control laugh and take this lightly – blowing it off as some kind of accident. They put people in prison for accidentally starting a fire, while the ones in charge get away with gigantic crimes like this.

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          1. Elena, lightning started the fire NOT the USFS. So far, no loss of life either. Try to check your anti USFS rant or get a shovel and volunteer. Volunteer firefighter requirements include: high school diploma, a medical check, EMT certification, 110 hours of basic training, lifting ladders, dragging large hoses, carrying a weighted mannequin to safety and more.

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            1. Well said USFS and all firefighters are putting their lives in danger. Let’s pray for them not criticize.

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      2. The very idea that you would “monitor a fire” during what is the beginning of a very difficult fire season is borderline criminal. I have fought fires in over 20 states over 4 decades..
        Maybe I am armchair quarterbacking….but I’ve seen this nonsense too many times.
        Cradle to grave beuracrats need some serious adult supervision at the upper management level.

        I see in another piece that a couple is being criminally charged for starting a fire with a gender reveal device.
        You tell me the difference between letting a “monitor” fire go on a 2 state rampage and a couple who make a stupid mistake…..which is really criminal ?
        It truly is time to hold the agency’s and their management responsible, just like we try to hold other entities responsible ( PG&E)

        There are summers and almost every autumn when the tamarack fire would have made sense to monitor…….this wasn’t the right time and if the folks running the show can’t figure that one out, they shouldn’t be in the job….period

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            1. I think calling his comments as “trollish” is unfair. Obviously, this fire is challenging. Otherwise, why would this post get so many comments? I will be watching because my son is now working this fire.

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        1. I agree 100%. With the extreme winds and above average temps we’ve experienced this summer, small fires should be extinguished immediately. This is not the year to “monitor” fires. The money being spent to suppress this fire is growing by the hour. Imagine how much money could have been saved had it been doused when first discovered. Money and resources used for other fires.

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        2. Note that their new nearby Summit fire immediately makes the comment that this fire (in same wilderness), caused by lightning, will get “full suppression” treatment. Barn door and horse p.r. Not the line firefighters I blame, but the local FS management.

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        3. Noble, I was in the fire service for 32 years and feel this was negligence on the USFS part! What happened to hit it hard and fast and make sure it’s out so this does happen????

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      3. When the Forest Service was “monitoring” the fire, two (actually one person-two for safety) people could have put that fire out in a day with a portable pump and a few hand tools.
        Makes me think of the debacle the environmental zealots caused with their “spotted owl” campaign ….sawmills gone-$10 2×4’s, way too many trees and dead trees per acre in our forests and the politicians were complicit or “asleep at the wheel”! I will say Congressman McClintock has been on the Forest Service to thin and clean up the National Forests for years.
        A huge issue is that management of our forests is DICTATED by “endangered species” with the end result is the wiping out of our forests……Congress needs to step in and correct this, while we still have some National Forests left to save.

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      4. It sure IS the fault of the Forest Service. PL5, resources stretched, with most incidents having several outstanding orders, and 2 months (or more) of fire season left. In the middle of a record breaking drought and record high temperatures. By watching it burn for weeks, they have no increase the risk to the suppression forced 100 fold. Not to mention the local communities. And then there is the domino effect of more threat to all the other communities with fire around them.

        And to top it off, in these conditions, the only management they would see with a “Management Fire”, would be a total decimation of the area. I don’t know—maybe they wanted to nuke all that country???
        There is no excuse. “Management” has been turned into a way for weak Line Officers to try to claim treatment acres, rather than introducing fire when conditions are right. You can’t go 100 years with no suppression and then fix it with one fire…..Anyone should know that–especially people who are trained in Forestry and Ecosystem Management.

        Geez, a 2nd year seasonal knows it.

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        1. Does anyone here actually know the terrain where this fire is? No? Yes. Most comments hair no sense given this fires specific location. I drive this road (89) all the time. From 395 to 88. Over Monitor Pass they the metropolis of Markleville. Do people realize this is California’s least populated county? 1,208 people. Kids go to high school in Nevada. To the east of this fire is rocky mountainous desert. To the west is granite. You see this is the very top of the Sierras. No trees just granite. It is not a big terrible disaster as is being reported. It could use a good burn to clear out the underbrush. It’s about time actually.

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          1. Steve, these “commenters” don’t care, they have no clue and they want blood for an agenda. If they had sent in a few firefighters to attempt the put out the fire and those firefighters had gotten injured or killed during a blowup; they would be wanting revenge for the fallen. It’s a now win scenario; particularly from “Vean” that thinks “monitoring” a fire and starting a fire via a “baby reveal” are the same thing.

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            1. Come on jedi master . We’re past your hyperbole . There’s real consequences to the failed actions of others whom we rely upon to make life and death decisions .

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          2. Based on earlier descriptions, the geographic area is interesting to consider for experienced wildland firefighters. It’s the Sierra Nevada. Keep that in mind.

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          3. Steve, no trees…..just brush?
            I think you need glasses!
            Anyway, I do agree that we need a lot more prescribed fires……but not in the middle of July after nearly a month of days pushing 100 degrees and a drought to boot!

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      5. BS…YOU SHOULD OF GOTTEN CAL FIRE & MARKLEEVILLE FD AUTHORIZED TO GO IN. THE ONLY THING THIN, IS THE FOREST SVC MANAGEMENT THINKING??.

        TIME FOR A CHANGE!!!!

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        1. Markleville Fire is a 100% volunteer fire department. Take your agenda elsewhere please.

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      6. How about a huey with a bucket of water . Nobody wants to be held responsible for their actions . Unacceptable.

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  22. Please be safe Everyone! Life is more important than things. Try your best but protect yourself!
    Thank You for keeping us updated.

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