Almost a dozen new lightning-caused fires on the Modoc National Forest

Originally published at 4:38 p.m. PDT July 23, 2020

Modoc Lightning Fires
Modoc Lightning Fires; satellite heat data from 12:05 p.m. PDT July 23, 2020.

In the last 48 hours firefighters have discovered at least 11 lightning-caused fires on the Modoc National Forest in northeast California.

The Caldwell Fire close to Tionesta and southeast of Lava Beds National Monument, has burned 1,500 acres. It was growing rapidly Wednesday afternoon while pushed by winds associated with a thunderstorm.

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

The Allen Fire in a difficult to access area near Allen Butte was last reported at 800 acres. Smoke jumpers and other crews are working to keep it south of County Road 85.

The Canyon Fire near Canby Bridge has been contained at 234 acres.

At least eight other fires started by lightning have each burned 0.1 to 3.8 acres.

From the Modoc National Forest:

Quick response from firefighting resources in difficult conditions allowed great progress toward containment and control on fires that have been kept small.

The primary fire response strategy for 2020 in Region 5 [California] continues to be aggressive initial attack, to include using local resources from partners. The primary firefighting goal is rapid containment to minimize the number of large wildfires.

Caldwell Fire Modoc National Forest
Caldwell Fire on the Modoc National Forest, posted to InciWeb July 23, 2020.