Wildfire Today

Tamarack Fire spreads east across Hwy. 395 in Nevada

Bill GabbertJuly 23, 2021August 3, 2021WildfireCalifornia, managed fire, Nevada, Tamarack Fire18 Comments

Burns more than 65,000 acres

12:26 p.m. PDT July 24, 2021

Tamarack Fire map. The white line was the fire perimeter at 9:30 p.m. PDT July 23, 2021. The green line was the perimeter approximately 24 hours before. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 4:00 a.m. PDT July 24, 2021.

Calmer winds Friday allowed firefighters on the 65,152-acre Tamarack Fire 14 miles southeast of South Lake Tahoe to make progress, especially on the north and northeast sides of the fire. On Saturday they are expecting similar conditions which should allow additional containment efforts.

The Incident Management Team recorded a very informative video Saturday morning, featuring Operations Section Chief Pat Seekins.

1:40 p.m. PDT July 23, 2021

On Thursday the Tamarack Fire, pushed by strong winds, spread east across US Highway 395 in spite of firefighters’ best efforts to stop it at the highway with a burning operation. Within a few hours it burned about 2,500 acres east of the highway, becoming well established on that side.

On Tuesday the fire burned from California into Nevada. A mapping flight at 7:25 p.m. Thursday determined it had grown by about 7,000 acres to a total of 58,417 acres.

It crossed 395 a mile or two north of Holbrook Junction, which is the intersection with Highway 208. Friday afternoon the FlightRadar24 service showed a great deal of air tanker activity southeast of the junction. That would indicate that the fire had spread into the area between 208 and Topaz Lake, but it remains to be confirmed.

There are 1,353 personnel working on the fire and more resources are on order. Firefighting operations continue around the clock, with additional crews added to the night shift. Night operations include structure protection and firing operations when conditions are suitable.

Firefighters have continued to keep the fire south of Highway 88, which with Highway 89 were both closed in the fire area Friday morning to all traffic except incident personnel. A portion of 395 was also closed Friday morning for firefighter and public safety.

On Thursday an additional 1,369 people were evacuated primarily from the Hwy 395 corridor, bringing the total number of those evacuated to 2,439.

The Incident Management Team has created an interactive map that is intended to have evacuation information for residents.

Bootleg Fire grows to nearly 400,000 acres

Bill GabbertJuly 22, 2021WildfireBootleg Fire, Oregon12 Comments

27 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, Oregon

2:02 p.m. PDT July 22, 2021

Bootleg Fire map. The white line was the perimeter at 8 p.m. PDT July 21, 2021. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 3:48 a.m. PDT July 22, 2021.

The Bootleg Fire 27 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, Oregon grew Wednesday to 399,359 acres in spite of the higher humidity and reduced wind speeds. The less extreme fire behavior gave firefighters the opportunity to construct and improve firelines. The forecast for Thursday afternoon should enable those activities to continue, but a warming and drying trend is expected into the weekend.

As of July 21, $41.5 million has been spent on the fire and 184 structures have been destroyed.

“Fire crews and support personnel have made significant progress in containing this fire in the last few days.”said Joe Prummer, Incident Commander trainee of Pacific Northwest Incident Management Team 2. “However, we still have a long road ahead of us to ensure the safety of the surrounding communities.”

Bootleg fire — July 21, 2021. InciWeb photo.

As the need for night operations on the southern zone decreases, those resources are being moved to the day shift or sent home for rest as they time-out.

The latest evacuation information can be found at a website maintained by Klamath and Lake Counties.

Resources assigned to the fire Wednesday evening included 49 hand crews, 199 fire engines, and 20 helicopters for a total of 2,268 personnel.

Smoke forecast, 9 p.m. MDT July 22, 2021

Bill GabbertJuly 22, 2021Uncategorizedsmoke1 Comment

Smoke Forecast, 9 p.m. MDT July 22, 2021

Vertically integrated smoke is at any altitude. In some cases it might be only at high altitudes and may not be very noticeable at ground level.

Dixie Fire reaches Butt Valley Reservoir

Bill GabbertJuly 22, 2021July 22, 2021WildfireCalifornia, Dixie Fire2 Comments

Continues to spread north and east, 8 miles south of the Chester Airport

Updated at 9:39 a.m. PDT July 22, 2021

Map of the Dixie Fire. The white line was the perimeter at the end of the day on July 21. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 3:48 a.m. July 22, 2021.

The Dixie Fire in Northern California burned up to the Butt Valley Reservoir and grew closer to Highway 89. A mapping flight Wednesday night found that it was 5 miles southwest of Lake Almanor, 8 miles south of the Chester Airport, and was still 13 miles northeast of Paradise.

We have two maps of the Dixie Fire today. The wide view or vicinity map, is above, and below is a zoomed-in version, plus a satellite photo.

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

CAL FIRE said Thursday morning that it has burned 103,910 acres, an increase of about 12,000 acres in 24 hours. Strong winds Wednesday night helped keep the fire active. The agency’s website for fire information was down for a while at 8:51 a.m. Wednesday but was back up later.

Satellite photo Dixie Fire — Satellite photo of smoke from the Dixie Fire at 6:46 p.m. July 21, 2021. NASA, GOES 17.

Evacuations are in effect — the Butte County Sheriff’s Office has a link to the details.

Eight structures have been destroyed. Resources assigned Wednesday evening including 22 helicopters, 337 engines, 83 dozers, 55 water tenders, and 71 crews for a total of 3,919 personnel.

Incident Management Team releases information about the origin of the Tamarack Fire

Bill GabbertJuly 21, 2021August 3, 2021WildfireCalifornia, managed fire, Nevada, Tamarack Fire41 Comments

The fire crossed US Highway 395 Thursday afternoon

9:10 p.m. PDT July 22, 2021

On Tuesday the Tamarack Fire burned from California into Nevada, and Thursday afternoon it made another big push to the east and hit US Highway 395 with some intensity north of Holbrook Junction. At first it was just a spot fire across the road but it grew very rapidly and at 4:10 p.m. aerial firefighters estimated it had burned 2,500 acres east of the highway.

Several large air tankers including a DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker assisted firefighters on the ground in an attempt to stop the spread of slopover across the highway.

Tamarack Fire crosses Hwy 395 in the afternoon of July 22, 2021. IMT photo.

The Incident Management Team has created an interactive map that at some point is supposed to have evacuation information for residents.

2:32 p.m. July 21, 2021

The Incident Management Team that is suppressing the Tamarack Fire posted on InciWeb their view about how the fire was managed during the first 12 days after it started. The statement was presumably approved by the U.S. Forest Service, the jurisdiction responsible for suppressing and/or managing the fire which was on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

“The Tamarack Fire on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest was discovered on July 4,” the statement says. “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.”

Below is a still image of a Forest Service Facebook post with a video of the fire when it was a quarter acre on July 10, six days after it started. “Fire poses no threat to the public, infrastructure, or resource values,” they wrote.

The Tamarack Fire spread further east on Tuesday, crossing the state line from California into Nevada. From its origin, it has now spread 15 miles northeast and 10 miles to the north, burning 10 structures and approximately 40,000 acres.

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

Gender reveal party that started El Dorado Fire leads to charges for involuntary manslaughter

Bill GabbertJuly 21, 2021UncategorizedBig Bear Hotshots, El Dorado Fire, gender reveal party49 Comments

A wildland firefighter was killed in 2020 while working on the fire that burned more than 22,000 acres in Southern California

The couple that used a smoke bomb to indicate the gender of their unborn child has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and 29 other crimes, law enforcement officials announced Tuesday.

Investigators found that the El Dorado Fire was started by a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party at a park in Yucaipa, California September 5, 2020. A firefighter was killed on the fire that burned more than 22,000 acres and required the expenditure of nearly $40 million in suppression costs.

Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. and Angela Renee Jimenez pleaded not guilty Tuesday, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson announced at a news conference.

The couple was also charged with three felony counts of recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury, four felony counts of recklessly causing a fire to inhabited structures, and 22 misdemeanor counts of recklessly causing fire to property.

The judge released them on their own recognizance even though the prosecutor recommended they each be held on $50,000 bail.

Mr. Anderson said the couple could receive sentences ranging in years from the low teens to the low twenties.

The U.S. Forest Service reported that Charles Morton, a 14-year veteran firefighter, died September 17, 2020 as he was burned over while battling the El Dorado Fire.

Mr. Morton was a squad boss on the Big Bear Interagency Hotshot Crew.

Another Big Bear crewmember disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the days following the death of Mr. Morton. Carlos Alexander Baltazar’s car was found abandoned on Highway 18 near Delta Avenue by the California Highway Patrol on September 20, about 75 yards from his backpack. He was reported missing by his family on September 24. His sister said on the driver’s seat was his ID, a money clip with $200, and on the passenger seat was a knife. His family said he was upset over the death of Mr. Morton, who they described as “his boss.”

As far as we can tell, Mr. Baltazar still has not been found.