Wildfire Today

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Wildfire Today

Tag: California

KNP Complex of fires grows, crosses Highway 198 in Sequoia NP

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags ,

Park personnel are concerned about threats the fires pose to groves of giant sequoia trees

10:17 a.m. PDT Sept. 15, 2021

KNP Complex of fires 3-D map 7:05 p.m. PDT Sept. 14, 2021.
KNP Complex of fires 3-D map, 7:05 p.m. PDT Sept. 14, 2021. The green areas are the approximate locations of giant sequoia groves. The white lines were the perimeters Monday night.

The KNP Complex of fires more than doubled in size Tuesday, growing by more than 4,000 acres to bring the combined size of the Paradise and Colony Fires up to 7,039 acres.

The southernmost blaze, Paradise, is now well established on the north side of the Generals Highway and the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River.

To see all of the articles on Wildfire Today about the KNP Complex of fires, including the most recent, click HERE.

There is concern that the giant sequoia trees could be more vulnerable to fire than usual during this drought and the very low fuel moistures. During a Tuesday evening mapping flight the Colony Fire was about a half mile west of the Giant Forest grove but it has to cross the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River to get there. The Paradise Fire was a little over a mile south of the grove.

The incident management team predicts that by the end of the day on Thursday the two fires will have merged at Generals Highway. The Colony fire will likely run uphill in Yuca Creek to the north and uphill to the Giant Forest of sequoias.

KNP Complex of fires map 7:05 p.m. PDT Sept. 14, 2021
KNP Complex of fires map, 7:05 p.m. PDT Sept. 14, 2021. The green areas are the approximate locations of giant sequoia groves. The white lines were the perimeters Monday night.

The weather is not in favor of the firefighters on Wednesday. There is no rain in the forecast and good ventilation will favor fire growth. Afternoon and evening winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 40 mph are expected. A cooling trend will take place beginning Thursday and continue through the weekend.

6:47 p.m. PDT Sept. 14 2021

Tuesday afternoon the KNP Complex of fires, comprised of the Colony and Paradise Fires, was mapped at a total of 5,861 acres.

An Evacuation Order, meaning evacuate now, is in effect for the community of Sycamore within Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. Other areas are under a warning that they may have to evacuate. The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office is maintaining a map showing these areas.

In addition to spreading to the north, the Paradise Fire has grown to the south, crossed Paradise Ridge, and is backing down the other side, according to the Deputy Fire Management Officer for the park who participated in a briefing in a community meeting Tuesday evening.

An incident base will be established near Horse Creek Campground and will include a mobile fire retardant plant for helicopters. This is 11 air miles southwest of the Paradise Fire off of Generals Highway.

10:56 a.m. PDT Sept. 14, 2021

KNP Complex of fires map 3-D
KNP Complex of fires 3-D map, looking northeast. The red lines are the perimeter mapped by a fixed wing aircraft at 8:33 p.m. Sept. 13, 2021. The red dots represent heat detected by satellites as late as 3:41 a.m. PDT Sept. 14, 2021.

Two lightning-caused wildfires in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park that started September 9 in southern California were very active Monday, more than doubling in size. The KNP Complex is comprised of two fires that were previously separated by the Generals Highway, 198, and the Middle Fork Kaweah River. The Paradise Fire is on the south side and the Colony Fire is on Colony Peak north of the river and the highway.

Continue reading “KNP Complex of fires grows, crosses Highway 198 in Sequoia NP”

Hopkins Fire burns structures in Mendocino County, California

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags ,

Multiple homes destroyed in Calpella

8:54 a.m. PDT Sept. 13, 2021

Hopkins Fire map
Hopkins Fire map. The icons represent heat detected by satellites as late as 4:53 a.m. PDT Sept. 13, 2021.

Multiple homes burned Sunday in the Mendocino County community of Capella Sunday afternoon in Northern California. Capella is on the Redwood Highway between Redwood Valley and Ukiah west of Lake Mendocino.

The fire was reported on the west side of Eastside Cappella Road off Hopkins Street at 2:01 p.m. Sunday. It was pushed by a 20 mph wind while the relative humidity was in the low 20s and ran east to the shore of Lake Mendocino, a distance of about a mile.

Hopkins Fire
Hopkins Fire, looking southeast from Ridgewood Grade at 3:39 p.m. PDT Sept. 12, 2021.

Matt LaFever, a reporter for Redheaded Blackbelt, said he saw at least 20 structures in flames. Photographer Kent Porter with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat recorded video of a neighborhood that was destroyed on Eastside Calpella Road.

Firefighters were able to start getting containment of the fire after it got to Lake Mendocino. The photo below taken Monday at 7:57 a.m. shows a small amount of smoke that had settled near the ground. CAL FIRE reported that the Hopkins Fire burned 257 acres.

Smoke from the Hopkins Fire
Smoke from the Hopkins Fire settles near the ground, as seen from the Redwood Valley camera, looking south at 7:57 a.m. Sept. 13, 2021.

Route Fire burns on both sides of Interstate 5 north of Castaic, California

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags ,

Mapped Sunday morning at 454 acres

12:17 p.m. PDT Sept. 12, 2021

Firefighters on the Route Fire northwest of Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County were busy overnight and as of Sunday morning have made very good progress on the fire. It burned on both sides of Interstate 5, completely closing it for a while Saturday afternoon.

Hand crews and engines working through the night were assisted by night-flying water-dropping helicopters, two from Los Angeles County and one from the Angeles National Forest.

Sunday morning firefighters reported it has burned 454 acres.

Below is an excellent Monday morning update on the fire, with video narrated by the Operations Section Chief. It was filmed on the west side of the fire, west of Interstate 5, and starts by looking north or northwest, then pans to the east and south. You can see that traffic has apparently resumed on I-5. Very good description of the fire status, and excellent videography. Someone give this Ops Chief a bonus!

7:18 p.m. PDT Sept. 11, 2021

Route Fire map
Map showing the location of the Route Fire north of Los Angeles.

The Route Fire that started north of Los Angeles Saturday afternoon on the west side of Interstate 5 about seven miles north of Castaic jumped across the freeway and by 6:30 p.m. had burned approximately 400 acres as it spread to the northeast.

Route Fire CL-415 SuperScooper
CL-415 SuperScocoper drops on the Route Fire at 5:09 p.m. PDT Sept. 11, 2021. Image from FOX11.

Aircraft working on the fire included a DC-10, BAe-146, S-2T, at least one SuperScooper CL-415, and multiple helicopters including two 3,000-gallon Chinooks and a Sky-Crane.

A US Forest Service spokesperson said at 6:50 p.m. that there are few structures in the area that would be threatened by the blaze. He also said two firefighters had received minor burns.

Route Fire
Route Fire at 5:23 p.m. PDT Sept. 11, 2021; looking south. Image from FOX11.

Interstate 5 had to be closed in both directions.

Route Fire DC-10 air tanker
DC-10 air tanker drops on the Route Fire at 5:04 p.m. PDT Sept. 11, 2021. Image from FOX11.
Route Fire
Route Fire, looking northwest from Magic Mountain at 7:20 p.m. PDT Sept 11, 2021. AlertWildfire.

We will update this article as more information becomes available.

Lightning and showers hit parts of California, Oregon, and Nevada

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , 7 Comments on Lightning and showers hit parts of California, Oregon, and Nevada

9:43 a.m. PDT Sept. 10, 2021

Lighting, 24 hour period
Lightning during the 24-hour period ending at 6:44 a.m. PDT Sept. 10, 2021. The red strikes are the most recent.

Lightning, strong winds, and showers moved into California, Nevada, and Oregon Thursday afternoon. Friday morning at about 7 a.m. the National Weather Service reported approximately 1,100 ground strikes had occurred in California.

David Swain lightning

Most of Northern California and Central Oregon received at least a small amount of rain. While some weather stations recorded none or less than 0.05″ others measured more than 0.25″.

Precipitation, Western US, 24 hours
Precipitation, Western US, 24 hours ending at 7:10 am PDT Sept. 10, 2021.

All of the precipitation amounts below are for the 24-hour period ending at 7:10 a.m. PDT Sept. 10.

Maps of precipitation in California and Oregon–

Precipitation, Northern California, 24 hours
Precipitation, Northern California, 24 hours ending at 7:10 am PDT Sept. 10, 2021.
Precipitation, Oregon, 24 hours
Precipitation, Oregon, 24 hours ending at 7:10 am PDT Sept. 10, 2021

Continue reading “Lightning and showers hit parts of California, Oregon, and Nevada”

River Complex ran over 6 miles Wednesday, threatening Callahan, California

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags ,

Tuesday night and Wednesday morning the Haypress Fire established itself on Billy’s Peak during extreme fire behavior and a six-mile run to the northeast

8:02 a.m. PDT Sept. 9, 2021

River Complex fires map
River Complex of fires mapped by a fixed wing aircraft at 7:15 p.m. Sept. 8, 2021. The red areas had intense heat when the fire was mapped. The dots represent isolated heat.

Above is an updated map of the River Complex. The largest fire is the 162,543-acre Haypress Fire. The other is the Cronan Fire which has burned 5,940 acres.

Tuesday night and Wednesday morning the Haypress Fire established itself on Billy’s Peak during extreme fire behavior and a six-mile run to the northeast.

Resources assigned include 12 hand crews; 8 helicopters; 48 engines, 18 dozers; 26 water tenders; 9 masticators; 7 skid steers; 14 mules,  and 3 horses for a total of 816 personnel and 17 animals. Six residences have been destroyed.

7:54 p.m. PDT Sept. 8, 2021

A fixed wing mapping flight early Wednesday morning roughly confirmed the heat detected on the River Complex by a satellite at 3:51 a.m. Wednesday (see the map below). At the video briefing from the Incident Management Team Wednesday evening the map being used had not been updated accurately in about 24 hours. The briefing did not include any information about additional significant fire spread during the day.

Wednesday was a little more humid, there was a cloud and smoke cover, and there was much less wind at the Callahan #2 weather station, all reasons for more subdued fire activity.

Thursday’s weather forecast for Callahan predicts very little wind through Friday morning except for six to nine mph breezes from the southwest for about six hours Thursday afternoon. The area will be under a Red Flag Warning from noon Thursday to noon on Friday for the possibility of dry lighting Thursday evening and night. There is a chance for a small amount of rain Thursday night.

12:32 p.m. PDT Sept. 8, 2021

River Complex fire map at 3:51 a.m. Sept. 8, 2021
River Complex map at 3:51 a.m. Sept. 8, 2021. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 3:51 a.m. PDT Sept. 8, 2021, which have not yet been confirmed by surveillance resources closer to the ground.

The River Fire in Northwest California near Coffee Creek was extremely active Tuesday evening. After 5 p.m. the wind shifted at the Callahan #2 weather station to come out of the southwest gusting at 15 to 26 mph with relative humidity in the teens. At a Wednesday morning briefing the Operations Section Chief said this pushed the north side of the fire about two miles to the north in the South Fork drainage along Cecileville Road, prompting the evacuation of Callahan.

The east side of the fire rapidly spread up Wolford Creek to the northeast. It spotted across Coffee Creek southeast of the footprint of the 2014 Coffee Fire and continued to the northeast and east along Coffee Creek.

The Operations Section Chief said it was “Rapid explosive fire behavior and what we have been talking about as the worst case scenario of fire growth. It was a flaming crown run in the tree tops at a rapid pace.”  The fire ran for about 6.5 miles along the Coffee Creek drainage, he said, creating spot fires up to two miles ahead.

The map above shows the fire perimeter (in green) from September 7. Cloud cover Tuesday night prevented a fixed wing aircraft from mapping the entire fire. A satellite detected heat at the red dot areas shown, and they were so far from the previous perimeter I at first doubted their accuracy. Satellites and even sensors in fixed wing aircraft can sometimes falsely identify heat in a very large, intense convection column of smoke as heat on the ground. But fires typically spread more slowly and with less intensity and heat at night. The satellite overflight was at 3:51 a.m. Wednesday when typically there is no very large smoke column. These heat locations also are consistent with the descriptions by the Operations Section Chief in the Wednesday morning briefing. The bottom line: if these satellite detections exaggerate the fire spread, it is not by much.

After the fire passed through the upper reaches of Coffee Creek firefighters rescued some residents who had earlier refused to evacuate.

On Wednesday firefighters expect the fire to move toward Mosquito Flats and the communities of Coffee Creek, Callahan, and Eagle Creek. They will make sure all of the residents are out of the mandatory evacuation areas which are on a map maintained by Siskiyou County. Air tankers will drop retardant near the communities if the inversion, wind, and smoke conditions allow the safe use of aircraft.

Personnel will assess areas southwest of the community of Coffee Creek for locations to construct contingency firelines. Damage assessment teams on Wednesday will begin working their way into the recently burned area to evaluate possible damage to structures.

Dixie Fire burns to Highway 395 again

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags , 2 Comments on Dixie Fire burns to Highway 395 again

Southeast of Susanville, California three miles southeast of Herlong Junction

9:45 a.m. PDT Sept. 7, 2021

Dixie Fire map, southeast side cross Highway 395
Dixie Fire 3-D map. Looking northwest at the escarpment along US Highway 395 at 8:29 p.m. PDT Sept 6, 2021. Bright red areas had intense heat during the mapping flight.

Monday afternoon and evening the southeast side of the huge 917,000-acre Dixie Fire ran to the east pushed by variable winds down a steep escarpment and across US Highway 395. During an 8:29 p.m. mapping flight the fire stretched for a mile along the west side of the highway and for about half that distance had burned across the road. At that time it had not spread very far beyond the highway as it moved into agricultural land. The fire reached US 395 south of Honey Lake three miles southeast of Herlong Junction between roads A25 and A26.

Dixie Fire map, southeast side cross Highway 395
Dixie Fire map, southeast side where by 8:29 p.m. PDT Sept. 6, 2021 the fire had reached and crossed US Highway 395. Bright red areas had intense heat during the mapping flight.
Dixie Fire 8:29 p.m. PDT Sept 6, 2021.
Dixie Fire 8:29 p.m. PDT Sept 6, 2021.

The north side of the fire is also active. At least half of Lassen Volcanic National Park has burned. Within the park on Monday the fire was making a push to the north and northeast across the park boundary south of Badger Mountain. It was also very active around Prospect and West Prospect Peaks within and just north of the park.

Dixie Fire map north side
Dixie Fire map, north side, 8:29 p.m. PDT Sept. 6, 2021. Bright red areas had intense heat during the mapping flight.

West of Highway 44 south of the Bogard Rest Area there were three spot fires Monday night about half a mile west of the highway that combined had burned approximately 130 acres as of sunset on Monday.

On Tuesday crews will continue to complete line in the steep and rugged terrain in the wilderness of Lassen National Volcanic Park and are establishing direct and indirect containment lines south of Old Station utilizing lines created during the 2012 Reading Fire.

Firefighters are preparing for increased fire danger due to predicted strong winds. The forecast for the north side of the fire calls for southwest winds gusting around 20 mph or more every afternoon through Friday with relative humidities close to 20 percent.