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Dixie Fire makes another advance toward Highway 395

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags ,

The fire was mapped Wednesday night at 859,000 acres

8:55 a.m. PDT Sept. 2, 2021

Map of the southeast side of the Dixie Fire, 3-D map at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1, 2021
Map of the southeast side of the Dixie Fire, 3-D map looking northwest at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1, 2021, showing the escarpment above Highway 395. The blue areas are previous fires.

The southeast side of the Dixie Fire grew substantially to the northeast Wednesday pushed by 10 mph winds gusting up to 20 mph while the relative humidity was in the single digits. During a 7:30 mapping flight Wednesday night it was 2 miles west of Highway 395, threatening to cross the road again. There is already a 5 mile-long fire scar where it reached the highway a few weeks ago, crossing it in several places near Honey Lake south of Buntingville.

The fire is approaching the edge of the escarpment where the terrain drops rapidly 2,500 feet down to Highway 395, seen on the 3-D map above. Firefighting on that steep slope would be very difficult.

Dixie Fire map, southeast side, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1, 2021
Dixie Fire map, southeast side, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1, 2021

“It’s almost to the escarpment now,” said CAL FIRE Operations Section Chief Tony Brownell. “We’ve moved a lot of engines and personnel around, we are down around 395, concentrating on structure protection. So when it does come off that hill we are going to be there to catch it and keep it out of structures the best we can.”

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

The fire has also reached the north edge of Lake Davis eight miles north of Portola which is on Highway 70.

The extreme fire behavior witnessed Wednesday is predicted to continue due to persistent winds and dry fuel conditions — near red flag warning criteria. The forecast for Thursday is for 7 to 13 mph winds out of the west-southwest gusting late in the afternoon up to 21 mph with the relative humidity in the teens.

Dixie Fire map, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1, 2021.
Dixie Fire map, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1, 2021. The blue areas are previous fires.

On the northeast side, which is still active about a mile south of Highway 44, approximately half of Lassen Volcanic National Park has burned.

The fire was mapped Wednesday night at 859,000 acres. At least 696 residences and 586 other structures have been confirmed as destroyed. Suppression costs have reached $432 million since it started near a PG&E power line July 14. Wednesday evening 4,039 personnel were committed to the incident.

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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.

One thought on “Dixie Fire makes another advance toward Highway 395”

  1. They should be careful fighting fire there, on the lee side of the escarpment. In 1989, the Eagle Fire was in that same area and had 3 separate entrapment events in the same day. One of these entrapments involved a fire whirl running over some engines. The fire whirl was likely caused by the lee side location and the turbulent wake flow there.
    The report is here:
    https://www.wildfirelessons.net/orphans/viewincident?DocumentKey=48b5a759-d2a1-4d8f-8a82-088bdfe97935
    A video of the fire whirl is here:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjo8_qIC5DU

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