Wildfire updates: Dixie Fire may expand after relative calm; new fires rage in Trinity County
The massive Dixie Fire saw limited growth leading up to Monday morning, continuing a string of low-growth days that have allowed crews to increase containment of the blaze.
But for the second consecutive day, officials warned Monday increased fire weather could disrupt the calm and lead to significant expansion, particularly on the east side of the fire.
“Last night was kind of the calm before the storm,” said interagency fire behavior analyst Dennis Burns in a Monday morning briefing. “We’re moving into a much warmer, drier period. We’re looking at the potential of seeing fire behavior fairly similar to when the fire started.”
In its morning incident report Monday, the state fire agency said the fire encompassed 248,820 acres (388 square miles) — an area eight times the size of the city of San Francisco. The fire is California’s largest this season and the 11th-largest in state history by acres burned.
The fire increased by around 4,000 acres between Sunday morning and Monday morning, but containment also increased from 32% to 35%. Over the weekend, crews increased containment by 11 percentage points, taking advantage of relatively calm weather.
Burns said although the weekend, and particularly Sunday night, were “relatively quiet,” crews are prepared for high fire activity Monday. Crews spent much of the night Sunday in “patrol” status, preparing for fire expansion Monday.
“We’re not looking forward to what we’re faced with this afternoon,” Burns said Monday morning. “We have potential for spot fires out over a mile. So we’re looking not real good today.”
Over 5,400 firefighters are battling the blaze, which ignited July 14, potentially due to PG&E equipment. The fire began above the Cresta Dam in Feather River Canyon in the burn scar of the deadly 2018 Camp Creek fire. Crews are fighting the fire in two zones: the east, which is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, and the west, which is managed by Cal Fire.
As fire crews strengthened east zone containment lines through the weekend, some Butte and Plumas County residents were allowed to return home for the first time in weeks. Most recently, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office downgraded a string of evacuation orders in the Indian Valley and Lake Almanor areas, and removed evacuation warnings for the town of Quincy.
Some areas of Plumas County northeastern Butte County still remain under evacuation orders. Highways 70 and 89 are closed in the area of the fire.
A total of 67 structures have been destroyed by the fire, and the Associated Press reported that the small town of Indian Falls accounted for more than half of those losses. New containment lines near populated areas of Butte and Plumas counties allowed Cal Fire to halve its estimate of structures that the fire currently threatens, from over 7,000 on Friday to just over 3,000 Monday morning.
Cal Fire is now predicting full containment of the fire by Aug. 13.
Tamarack Fire
The Tamarack Fire, once a major threat responsible for the destruction of several structures in California and Nevada, appears to be mostly under control.
The fire has charred 68,696 acres near Markleeville and over the Nevada state line as of Sunday night. The fire expanded minimally through the weekend, and Forest Service crews bumped up containment from 79% to 82%.
A Monday morning update from Forest Service officials said the remaining uncontained fire edge is in a remote area “confined by natural barriers and limited fuels.” Officials do not expect any more significant fire spread.
Weekend storms, as well as rain earlier in the week, helped to douse vegetation in the fire zone. However, the Forest Service noted, the forecast brings a change. Monday in the area could be dry and windy, but officials expect little fire activity up ahead, aside from more smoke.
“Smokes inside the lines may continue until a ‘season-ending’ weather event brings substantial rain or snow to the fire area,” officials said.
The Tamarack Fire was sparked by lightning July 4 and remained small and mostly inactive for weeks as the Forest Service decided to let it burn in the remote Mokelumne Wilderness. By mid-July, winds whipped up the blaze, and it burned into Markleeville, eventually pushing east through Alpine County into Nevada.
Alpine County officials have confirmed that at least 15 structures were destroyed by the fire. In Douglas County, Nevada, preliminary surveys showed 13 structures damaged or destroyed south of Leviathan Mine Road.
Trinity County Wildfires
Large thunderstorms Thursday sparked multiple blazes in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Of over eight blazes that began, two have grown to a significant size: the McFarland Fire and the Monument Fire.
The McFarland Fire ignited in Trinity County south of Highway 36 near Wildwood. The fire grew to 7,485 acres Monday morning and is 5% contained.
The blaze more than doubled in size between Sunday and Monday, at one point spotting over three miles as it expanded rapidly, officials said. Officials issued an evacuation order Sunday afternoon for the town of Wildwood after the blaze crossed over a forest route near the town.
“The fire burned actively yesterday aided by high temperatures, low relative humidity, steep terrain and a receptive fuel bed,” Forest Service officials wrote in a Monday morning incident update. “Today, fire crews will continue to construct and strengthen containment handlines along the fire’s perimeter and will be looking for opportunities to directly attack the fire to mitigate any further lateral spread.”
The Monument Fire, also burning in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest south of Del Loma, grew to 3,114 acres Monday morning with 0% containment.
“Growth overnight was mitigated by calmer winds and settling smoke from other area fires,” Forest Service officials wrote in a Monday social media update. “Crews are focusing on building direct containment lines, opening dozer lines from 2008, and assessing and preparing structures in Del Loma, Big Bar, and Pattison Ranch.”
The fire is burning in rugged terrain. The Trinity County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation warning for Del Loma and Big Bar Saturday. No evacuation orders have been issued for the blaze as of Monday morning.
This story was originally published August 1, 2021 at 12:05 PM with the headline "Wildfire updates: Dixie Fire may expand after relative calm; new fires rage in Trinity County."
