Wildfire updates: Dixie Fire crews stave off high growth but weather poses new dangers
Crews managed to keep growth at the Dixie Fire relatively low headed into Friday despite dire warnings of critical weather conditions Thursday.
A layer of smoke has remained on top of the fire since the weekend, helping to suppress growth and keep winds at bay. But officials had warned Thursday that high pressure thunderstorms and wind gusts up to 40 mph could potentially cause the blaze, the second-largest wildfire in California history, to grow significantly in size once more.
Although some thunderstorms did enter the area Thursday, crews managed to keep expansion to 7,000 acres through the day and night — a relatively low amount for a blaze that charred 110,000 acres in a single day at this time last week. The blaze has now burned 517,945 acres (809 square miles) in Butte, Plumas, Tehama and Lassen counties.
“Fire activity remained moderate today on the Dixie Fire,” Cal Fire wrote in a Thursday evening incident report. “Sporadic isolated thunderstorms occurred within the fire area today but did not result in any new fire ignitions.”
Officials cautioned Friday morning that the threat from weather conditions is far from gone. Thunderstorms are expected to again enter the fire area and whip up winds through the day, and temperatures are forecast to soar into the triple-digits.
“As far as today is concerned, I think we are going to see a little more (thunderstorm) coverage,” incident meteorologist Joe Goudsward said in a Friday morning briefing. “I think we are going to see more in the way of thunder activity, so do be prepared for that.”
Winds are forecast to reach up to 30 mph. Fire behavior analyst Brian Newman said Friday morning that as winds increase, the layer of smoke that kept the fire suppressed all week will begin to lift, causing fire activity to pick back up.
“Be prepared as you go out today that instability is really high and the activity level is going to be higher than you’ve seen,” Newman told crews Friday morning.
Firefighters have taken advantage of mild conditions throughout the week to increase containment by more than 10 percentage points. Containment at the blaze was 31% Friday, an increase of 1 percentage point from the previous day. Nearly the entirety of the southern portion of the blaze is now secured behind fire lines.
Crews secured additional fire lines in the Lake Almanor area Thursday, and initially officials announced an end to evacuation orders for the towns of Chester and Lake Almanor West. But officials abruptly canceled those repopulation plans Friday morning, citing fire growth in the area the previous night. The area remains under mandatory evacuation order.
Federal officials said Friday they’re increasingly worried about Susanville, the county seat of Lassen County, and especially the small Lassen community of Westwood, east of Lake Almanor.
“Westwood is now a concern,” said Brian Rhodes, the Forest Service’s deputy fire and aviation director for California. “It does appear that the fire wants to move that way.”
The Dixie Fire has destroyed 1,109 buildings and damaged 72. Last Wednesday, the fire tore through Greenville, destroying most of the Northern California town. Canyondam was also burned on Thursday. No civilian injuries or casualties have been reported yet from either incident.
Through the week, officials have been able to locate 43 previously unaccounted for people from the area of the blaze. On Friday, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office announced that it was searching for four people: Alan Kuhl of Chester, Ronald Avila of Greenville, Raymond Hunt of Greenville and Irene Andrews of Greenville.
As of Thursday, 14,416 homes and businesses remain threatened.
For the first time in a week, officials lifted some evacuation orders Wednesday, allowing residents in areas south of the fire such as High Lakes and the Feather River Canyon to return home. But many areas near the fire remain under evacuation orders, spanning across Butte, Plumas, Tehama and Lassen Counties. Local officials have an online map available with more details of evacuation orders and warnings.
A total of 6,168 fire personnel are assigned to the Dixie Fire, plus 20 helicopters and 520 engines. Three firefighters have been injured in the blaze, according to Cal Fire’s morning update.
The official cause of the Dixie Fire is still under investigation, but just a few days after the fire started on July 14, PG&E released a report suggesting that its equipment may have sparked the fire. On Monday, PG&E released an additional report saying that they had found no fault with the power lines that allegedly could have begun the Dixie Fire.
Trinity County wildfires
A lightning storm began a series of fires in Trinity County in late July. Of those, two have ballooned into large-scale wildfires: the Monument Fire and the McFarland Fire.
The Monument Fire began near the town of Del Loma two weeks ago and has since grown to 74,759 acres with 5% containment. The fire expanded about 7,000 acres in the past 24 hours, and containment increased by two percentage points.
The fire is burning squarely within Trinity County. The blaze has prompted evacuation orders for Del Loma, Big Bar, Junction City and other surrounding areas.
Despite fire expansion in all directions through the day and night, officials said that fire crews were able to perform strategic operations overnight that should help slow the blaze’s spread in the coming days.
“Night operations had a very successful night,” the U.S. Forest Service said Friday morning. “Environmental conditions were conducive to conduct strategic firing operations, burning the unburned fuel ahead of the fire and holding it at containment lines on the south and southeast edges of the fire. ... Overall, night crews continued to reinforce hand lines and protect structures in and around Junction City and Burnt Ranch.”
Crews will have to contend with “hot, dry and smoky conditions” through the day Friday, but winds are pushing the blaze away from more populated areas.
The McFarland Fire has charred 40,684 acres south of the town of Wildwood, on the border of Shasta, Trinity and Tehama counties. It is 57% contained.
The fire’s growth has slowed significantly since the weekend. The fire grew just under 3,000 acres between Thursday and Friday, and crews increased containment by 6 percentage points.
Officials lifted many evacuation warnings Thursday, including for the town of Wildwood. A few areas do still remain under evacuation warning Friday, including the community of Platina.
Six firefighters were injured Friday fighting the blaze. All are expected to fully recover.
Other fires
▪ The River Fire exploded more than a week ago on the border of Placer and Nevada counties, near the city of Colfax. But after its initial rapid expansion forced thousands to evacuate, the fire slowed last weekend and is now on the brink of full containment.
In a Thursday evening incident update, Cal Fire reported the blaze to be 2,619 acres and 95% contained. Containment increased by 5 percentage points through the day Thursday as the fire grew minimally.
The blaze destroyed 142 structures, 102 of which were homes. Much of the destruction came in the Chicago Park neighborhood near Colfax, which the fire hit during its initial rapid expansion. Two civilian injuries and one firefighter injury were also reported during the blaze’s early hours.
Into Friday, all evacuation orders and warnings have been lifted in the area. Crews spent the past days mopping up areas of the fire that are still smoldering.
▪ The Glen Fire, burning in the foothills of Yuba County, ignited and expanded rapidly Wednesday, threatening the towns of Brownville and Challenge.
The towns were briefly evacuated Wednesday afternoon as firefighters struggled to slow the initial spread of the vegetation fire. The blaze is burning just south of Brownsville.
The fire charred 184 acres of forest as of Friday morning and is now 40% contained. Officials warned in a Friday morning incident briefing that the blaze was burning in “an extremely receptive fuelbed,” creating intense fire activity within the perimeter.
All evacuation orders have now been lifted.
The Bee’s Dale Kasler contributed to this story.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 8:55 AM with the headline "Wildfire updates: Dixie Fire crews stave off high growth but weather poses new dangers."