3-D map of the Tiger Fire at 9:30 p.m. MDT July 2, 2021, looking northwest.
The Tiger Fire three miles northwest of Black Canyon City, Arizona was very active Friday night. In the six hours after it was mapped at 9:30 p.m. it ran north for almost two miles, according to data collected by a satellite at 4:04 a.m. Saturday (see map above). It was burning aggressively in the footprint of the 4,900-acre Rattlesnake Fire of 2015.
Early Saturday morning the Tiger Fire was about 2 miles west of Interstate 17 and 5 miles southeast of Crown King. At 9:30 p.m. Friday it had burned 5,567 acres, but the later additional spread could have added more than 1,000 acres.
Map of the Tiger Fire. The white line was the perimeter at 9:30 p.m. MDT July 2, 2021. The red areas represent heat detected by a satellite at 4:06 a.m. MDT July 3, 2021. North is at the top.
The lightning-caused fire was reported at 2 p.m. on June 30.
Resources assigned to the fire Friday evening June 2, included 2 hand crews, no fire engines, and 2 helicopters for a total of 63 personnel.
Firefighters are scouting the west side to plan locations for potential fire lines to control the growth. On the east side they are identifying old mines and other hazards and looking at values of risk for future structure protection.
Due to severe drought the vegetation, or fuels, are dry or dead which can accelerate the spread of the fire.
In a Saturday morning update the Incident Management Team said, “Access into the Castle Creek Wilderness is limited by the steep terrain making it unsafe for firefighters to fight the fire directly at the edge. The incident management team is being strategic on the placement of firefighting resources to ensure safe ingress/egress. Protection of life is the highest priority.”
Tiger Fire. Posted on Inciweb around July 2, 2021.
Dotta & Sugar Fires, as seen from the camera on Beckwourth Peak, looking northeast at 7:42 p.m. July 2, 2021. The fires were being pushed by strong outflow winds from a thunderstorm cell.
Two lightning-caused wildfires are burning near Portola and Beckwourth, California north of Highway 70. A Red Flag Warning will be in effect at 11 p.m. Saturday night for more lightning and strong winds.
(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Dotta and Sugar Fires and the Beckwourth Complex of fires, including the most recent, click HERE.)
Map showing the location of the Dotta & Sugar Fires detected by a satellite at 3:54 a.m. PDT July 3, 2021. The red dots are the most current.
Dotta Fire
The Dotta Fire was reported at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday June 30, seven miles northeast of Portola. As of Saturday morning it has burned 533 acres. Evacuation warnings are in effect. During the satellite overflight at 3:54 a.m. Saturday it was about a mile west of Dixie Valley Road.
Dotta Fire map, 8 p.m. July 2, 2021.
Sugar Fire
The Sugar Fire started July 2, six miles east of Portola. It is very near the Plumas National Forest boundary, but the Forest has responsibility for suppression in that location, according to CAL FIRE. On Friday the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office evacuated several structures that were threatened. The latest report Saturday morning is that it has burned 250 acres.
Sugar Fire, soon after it started from lightning. Photo posted by Plumas National Forest, July 2, 2021.Sugar Fire, Friday evening, July 2. Photo by Plumas NF.
House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee hearing, June 29, 2021.
In a hearing Tuesday before the House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee the topic was “The state of federal wildland fire science: examining opportunities for further research and coordination.” And just as promised, many topics were recommended for additional development and research.
There were four witnesses:
Dr. Craig B. Clements, San Jose State University
Dr. Jessica McCarty, Miami University
George Geissler, Washington DNR
Fire Chief Erik Litzenberg (Ret), International Association of Fire Chiefs
If you don’t have two and a half hours to watch the video below of the entire hearing, you can watch the prepared five-minute presentations of the four witnesses and get a good idea of the topics that were discussed. They begin at 26:30.
I made a list of the topics that were mentioned as needing more research:
Better systems for fire detection and modeling.
Systems for tracking the real time location of firefighters and other resources.
Increase the budget for the Joint Fire Science Program, which was cut in half during the last four years.
Fire weather.
Deploy on fires what would be the equivalent of hurricane hunter aircraft for real time monitoring of fires and weather at fires.
Treat fire weather the same as other severe weather phenomena.
Continuous real time high resolution imagery of fires.
Operational community-based coupled fire atmosphere models.
Better geospatial and temporal resolution for monitoring fires.
Improved and standardized warning system for fires.
If you would like to see another point of view, check out a July 1 interview with Mark Finney by Saul Elbein in The Hill. Mr. Finney is a Research Forester with the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. Early in the piece Mr. Finney said more prescribed fire was needed.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
Equilibrium: What do you feel is missing from an approach centered on suppressing big fires?
Finney: The issue is, reactive management rarely works. My analogy is health care — if all health care was emergency rooms and ambulances, you’d have a health care disaster on your hands.
Because there’d be no preventive care. You’d have ambulances everywhere, people getting rushed off. But by the time you have emergency care, it’s too late.
People get engaged in looking for better satellites or mapping or sensors thinking: If we get better at reacting, we’ll solve the problem.
But that’s not true. If nature picks the time, place and conditions to start a fire, and you run around and deal — then you’re a moron. You’re just playing defense. You can’t win any contest by playing defense.
As we enter what are usually two of the busiest months of the wildland fire season in the West, the forecast for wildland fire potential issued July 1 by the National Interagency Fire Center predicts that California and virtually the entire northwest one-quarter of the United States will have above normal fire potential in July and August.
The data from NIFC shown here represents the cumulative forecasts of the ten Geographic Area Predictive Services Units and the National Predictive Services Unit.
Below:
An excerpt from the NIFC narrative report for the next several months;
Additional NIFC monthly graphical outlooks;
NOAA’s three-month temperature and precipitation forecasts;
Drought Monitor;
Keetch-Byram Drought Index.
“Drought expanded and intensified over the West with more than 90% of the West now in drought. More than half of the West is in the highest two categories of drought. Numerous all-time record high temperatures were set in the Pacific Northwest, northern Great Basin, and Northern Rockies at the end of June as part of a historical heat wave. The first surge of monsoonal moisture arrived in the Southwest, Colorado, and southern Great Basin during the last few days of June.
“Climate outlooks indicate warmer than normal conditions are likely for much of the CONUS, especially the West, through summer. Much of the Rockies and the northern half of the West are also likely to have drier than normal conditions through September. Near normal precipitation is likely with the Southwest Monsoon in July, which should help alleviate drought conditions and significant fire activity, but drought is likely to expand and intensify across much of the West through the summer.
“Much of the Southern Area is likely to have below normal significant fire potential through the summer with mostly near normal significant fire potential in Eastern Area and Alaska into fall. Above normal significant fire potential is likely to remain in portions of northern Minnesota into August.
“Above normal significant fire potential will expand northward into the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain Geographic Areas through August with areas closer to the monsoon likely returning to near normal significant fire potential in July and August. Most of the Pacific Northwest, Northern Rockies, and northern Great Basin are expected to have above normal significant fire potential in July and August with areas beginning to return to normal significant fire potential in September and October. Most of the mountains and foothills in California are forecast to have above normal significant fire potential through September with areas prone to offshore winds retaining above normal potential through October. Leeside locations, saddles, and divides in Hawaii are likely to have above normal significant fire potential into October.”
Outlook for precipitation and temperature July, August, and September. Made June 17, 2021. NOAA.
The Incident Management Team for the Salt Fire 19 miles north of Redding California announced Saturday they estimate that 27 residences and 14 outbuildings have been destroyed in the fire.
Evacuation orders and warnings are still in effect. For the latest information on evacuation orders and warnings, visit https://211norcal.org/saltfire/
The fire has moved into Campbell Creek and toward the Crane Mountain area.
9:49 a.m. PDT July 3, 2021
Map of the Salt Fire. The red line was the perimeter at 5:45 p.m. July 3, 2021. The yellow line was the perimeter about 24 hours earlier.
The Salt Fire 19 miles north of Redding, California added another 2,424 acres on Friday by spreading about a mile to the north and moving about 1/10 of a mile in some locations on the east side. The fire has now burned 7,467 acres.
From the Incident Management Team Saturday morning:
Evacuation orders and warnings remain in place for communities near the fire. Crews will work today to prioritize structure protection on the fire, including north and west of Gilman Road, and around Salt Creek. Other priorities include protecting private timber lands within the fire area, and maintaining the Interstate 5 corridor.
Firefighters mop up along Interstate 5 on the Salt Fire, July 2, 2021. InciWeb photo.
Updated 3:15 p.m. July 2, 2021
Map showing the current Salt Fire and other fires that have occurred nearby in the last 13 years.
The inversion that trapped smoke overnight on the Salt Fire north of Redding, California has at least partially broken at mid-afternoon on Friday, improving visibility and allowing more active fire behavior — as you can see in the photo below. Overnight the relative humidity rose to 60 percent but sank to 16 percent by 1:19 p.m. Friday with winds out of the southeast at 6 mph with gusts to 15.
The above map is rather striking, showing other fires that have occurred nearby in the last 13 years. The year 2018 was extremely busy for firefighters in Northern California. In order for the Salt Fire to spread much to the north it would have to burn through three year old vegetation, where it would be relatively easy to suppress, if it burns in those areas at all. To the southeast, however, on a four mile path to an arm of Shasta Lake, there is no recorded occurrence of fire between the 2012 Salt Creek Fire and the 2018 Hirz Fire.
Salt Fire as seen from the Sugarloaf camera, looking northeast at 2:31 p.m. July 2, 2021.
Updated 7:44 a.m. PDT July 2, 2021
Map of the Salt Fire. The yellow line was the perimeter at 6 p.m. PDT June 30. The red line was the perimeter at 5 p.m. July 1, 2021.
The Salt Fire 19 miles north of Redding, California was active Thursday afternoon putting up a large plume of smoke. By 5 p.m. it had spread two miles to the north and about a half mile east during the previous 23 hours. During a 5 p.m. mapping flight Thursday the main fire had not crossed Interstate 5 or the Sacramento arm of Shasta Lake. At that time it had burned 5,043 acres. A satellite overflight at 3:24 a.m. Friday indicated that it had continued to spread during the night to the north for an additional half mile.
An AlertWildfire camera west of the fire showed nothing but smoke at 7:24 a.m. Friday, indicating there was an inversion, similar to the conditions Thursday morning. Later, as the atmosphere and the fire heat up, it will likely break up like it did Thursday, leading to better visibility and possibly another smoke plume.
While the Type 1 Incident Management Team is transitioning to assume command of the fire, not much information is available. This is typical — an existing team does not want to step on the toes of the new group, and the incoming team is still getting their feet on the ground. Team transitions can also lead to problems in managing the fire out in the field, but good teams are aware, and take steps to minimize any issues that could compromise the safety of the firefighters.
Map of the Salt Fire. The white line was the perimeter at 6 p.m. PDT June 30. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 1:24 p.m. July 1, 2021. (scroll down to see a map with a wider view, to get context)
The Incident Management Team announced at 3:30 p.m Thursday that the Salt Fire 19 miles north of Redding, California had grown during the day to approximately 4,500 acres. As the temperature increased and the relative humidity went down, the fire activity picked up.
The firefighters plan to keep the fire east of Interstate 5 and the Sacramento arm of Shasta Lake.
Salt Fire as seen from the Sugarloaf camera, looking east at 4:42 p.m. PDT July 1, 2021.
The status of Interstate 5 is variable depending on fire conditions. For a while overnight all lanes, north- and southbound, were closed. Thursday afternoon lane closures were in place but traffic was getting through. Check with Caltrans for current conditions.
Map of the Salt Fire (the white line) at 6 p.m. PDT June 30, 2021.
The Salt Fire 19 miles north of Redding, California spread rapidly after it was reported at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 30. It is burning just east of Interstate 5 and the upper reaches of Shasta Lake near Lakehead, spreading north towards Sacramento Peak. Rapid to extreme growth occurred on the fire Wednesday due to terrain, weather, and dry fuels.
Spot fires ignited on the west side of Interstate 5 but firefighters were able to suppress them before they grew large. The Shasta-Trinity National Forest is the lead agency handling the fire with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection assisting.
The Salt Fire was mapped at 2,800 acres Wednesday evening. It has been designated as a Type 1 incident — the highest level of complexity — and a Type 1 Incident Management Team has been ordered. California Team 2, with Incident Commander Mike Minton, is expected to inbrief Thursday afternoon.
At least 500 residences will be threatened within the next 72 hours. The Shasta County Sheriff’s was expected to assess Thursday morning how many structures have been destroyed.
The fire is very near Shasta Lake, but firefighters had to request water tenders because the lake is so low that there are few places from which to draft water to refill fire engines.
Caltrans reported at 8:20 a.m. Thursday that northbound I-5 was closed approximately 10 miles north of Redding, at Fawndale. Southbound I-5 has reopened. This is a dynamic situation and changes have occurred. Check with Caltrans for the current conditions.
An MD-87 air tanker drops on the Wrentham Market Fire in northern Oregon, June 29, 2021. Photo by Amanda Huelle.
Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act Wednesday morning in response to the 10,000-acre Wrentham Market Fire that broke out in Wasco County Tuesday. The fire is seven miles east of Dufur, Oregon and 11 miles southeast of The Dalles.
The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office ordered evacuations affecting 70 to 100 residents.
Map Wrentham Market Fire
The fire is on Wrentham Market Road burning wheat and brush in the Columbia Rural Fire Protection Area. About 20 residences are threatened and 1 barn was destroyed. Aviation resources used on the fire have included helicopters, as well as single engine and multi-engine air tankers.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal’s Red Incident Management Team assumed command at 9 a.m. June 30 and will work to bring additional resources from counties around Oregon to assist in the response.
Three task forces, totaling 41 people, 12 engines, and 3 water tenders from Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill Counties, arrived Wednesday morning. The fire was reported Tuesday afternoon.
The declaration made by Gov. Brown cleared the way for the State Fire Marshal to mobilize firefighters and equipment to assist local communities battling the fire.
