Creek Fire in California partially burns China Peak, destroys several Huntington Lake cabins
China Peak sustained partial damage Tuesday from the Creek Fire, but owner Tim Cohee remained hopeful crews can prevent the rest of the ski area from burning down.
From a video shared by an employee, Cohee ascertained some of the 25 trailers parked behind the Huntington Lake resort used for employee housing caught fire. He does not have eyewitness accounts.
“The fire hit the back of the ski area first, but at this point the only structures we know that are burned are some employee housing,” Cohee said. “Nothing else has burned that we know of.”
When the Creek Fire ignited Friday outside Big Creek, Cohee was initially optimistic it wouldn’t spread east up the drainage to Huntington Lake. That optimism began to fade as the conditions changed.
“We were told with the winds and the direction the fire was going we’d probably be in pretty good shape, but that’s turned out not to be the case,” Cohee said. “We know everybody’s doing everything they can. They just can’t get into certain spots or out of certain spots.”
Predictions are for winds in the area to increase, which will make firefighting even more difficult.
In its Wednesday morning report, Cal Fire said there is a threat to China Peak’s magazine with 1,000 pounds of explosives used for avalanche control. No other details were available.
Radio reports Tuesday indicated the fire had reached Lakeshore Resort, but those have not been confirmed. Cohee also said he did not know the status of the China Peak Landing, the gas station and marina formerly known as Rancheria.
Damage at Huntington Lake
In a Facebook post, Huntington Lake Volunteer Fire Captain Pete Donnelly shared some details of damage to cabins and firefighting efforts.
Donnelly described “a terrible loss” of property at the Dowville tract on the lake’s west end and that the fire “decimated the area” between Billy Creek and Camp Silver Fir. He also reported the loss of several cabins in the Huckleberry tract and “here and there” along Lower Line Creek Road.
According to Donnelly, one strike team and two hand crews are fighting blazes at Huntington Lake, along with the Huntington Engine 362.
“All of these units are working together to aggressively extinguish spot fires,” he wrote. “Dozens are working hard to push a fire break behind the cabins between Idyewild and D&F (Pack Station) to prevent fire on the ridge from backing down to the cabins. …
“All of Huntington is still very much threatened so the next few days will be difficult and information will remain scarce.”
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 8:22 PM with the headline "Creek Fire in California partially burns China Peak, destroys several Huntington Lake cabins."
