Lightning-caused fires spread during hot California weather

Northern California fires
Northern California fires Saturday morning, August 2, 2014. The red icons represent heat that was detected by a satellite over the last 24 hours. (Click to enlarge.)

Firefighters in northern California are battling fires that were started after almost 1,000 lightning strikes hammered the area this week. High temperatures that reached 108 degrees in Redding on Friday contributed to some of the significant spread of the fires.

Brief descriptions of some of the fires submitted by fire managers included words and phrases like “extreme fire behavior with wind-driven runs and long-range spotting”; “running with torching and long-range spotting”; “running with torching and crowning”; “crowning”; “active fire behavior with crowning”; and”structures threatened”.

Bald and Day Fires
Bald Fire with the Day Fire in the background. July 31, 2014. InciWeb photo.

Some of the larger and more active fires in northern California:

  • Day Fire, 12 miles north of McArthur, evacuations in effect, 12,500 acres.
  • Bald Fire, 9 miles northeast of Hat Creek, evacuations in effect, 17,977 acres.
  • Eiler Fire, 6 miles northwest of Old Station; evacuations in effect; the fire crossed Highway 89, which is now closed; 6,932 acres.
  • White Fire, (part of the July Complex) 7 miles southeast of Sawyers Bar, 2,500 acres.
  • Beaver Complex, 18 mile southeast of Ashland, Oregon. Most of this complex is the 11,524-acre Oregon Gulch Fire that burned across the Oregon/California border. It grew by 6,623 acres on Friday.

In central California on the Sierra National Forest 18 miles east of Oakhurst, the French Fire has burned 11,466 acres in steep, rugged terrain. The 4,689-acre El Portal Fire outside Yosemite Valley continues to spread to the north approaching Highway 120.

Oregon Gulch fire burns across OR/CA border

(UPDATED at 10:40 a.m. PDT, August 1, 2014)

****

(Originally published at 9:48 PDT, August 1, 2014)

Oregon Gulch Fire
Oregon Gulch Fire, August 31. Photo by Don Hall.

The Oregon Gulch Fire, 18 mile southeast of Ashland, Oregon, was extremely active on Thursday, burning across the California-Oregon border.  It is part of the Beaver Complex of fires that started July 30 from lightning. The complex also includes the Salt Creek Fire.

The Oregon Gulch Fire had only burned 100 acres Thursday morning, but by Friday morning it had grown to about 7,500 acres in or near the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Evacuations are taking place in the area. An Oregon Department of Forestry incident management team has been dispatched.

On Thursday morning more than 40 new fires had been reported in the previous 24 hours in Oregon. Almost 500,000 acres are burning in the state.

Several other large fires are burning in northern California:

  • Day: 4,500 acres,12 miles north of McArthur. Numerous residences are threatened and evacuations are in effect.
  • H-1 Bald: 3,100 acres, 9 miles northeast of Hat Creek. Residences are threatened.
  • White: 1,000 acres, seven miles southeast of Sawyers Bar. Residences are threatened.
  • Log: 130 acres, 8 miles west of Greenview.
  • KNF Beaver: 400 acres, 9 miles northeast of Horse Creek.
Northern California fires
Northern California and southern Oregon fires, Friday morning, August 1, 2014. (Click to enlarge.)
Oregon Gulch Fire
Oregon Gulch Fire, with another, much smaller, fire in the foreground. Photo by Joseph.