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Six Rivers National Forest lightning fires – Morning Update
Release Date: Aug 5, 2015
EUREKA, California, August 5, 2015 –Firefighters continue to battle multiple wildfires, sparked by lightning late last week, on the Six Rivers National Forest.
· Gasquet Complex – Gasquet Ranger District:There are six active fires for a total of 910 acres with 2 percent containment. The Bear Fire has burned 160 acres; the Coon Fire, 235 acres; the Peak Fire, 220 acres; the Summit Fire, 5 acres; the Williams Fire, 200 acres; and the Feeder Fire, 90 acres. The incident command post (ICP) is at the Mountain Middle School, in Gasquet.
There is predicted clearing and warming this week, with thunderstorms coming back into the forecast, starting Friday and into this weekend. With the predicted clearing skies in the coming days, a Temporary Flight Restriction, (TFR) of 10 nautical miles has been established for the air assets on the fire.
With additional crews and equipment arriving at ICP, motorists can expect increased traffic along Highway 199 and in the local communities along Highway 199 corridor.
Closures:Due to the proximity to fires and fire traffic, travel in the following areas is not recommended: South Kelsey Trail, Summit Trail, Gunbarrel Trail, Bear Basin Butte Lookout, and Gasquet-Orleans Road at the gate.
· Orleans Ranger District:The district has seven fires. The Beans Fire was contained at 0.4 acres. The Lonesome Fire was contained at 1.5 acres. The Wooley Fire has burned 7 acres and is 60 percent contained. The Nickowitz Fire is 70 acres and 45 percent contained. Reconnaissance of the Boundary Fire found that it is actually the Peak Fire and is incorporated into the Gasquet Complex. Acres burned for the Sawtooth, Rough and Creek fires are unavailable at this time. A small ICP, with 150 personnel, has been set up at Orleans Ranger District compound. Kim Soper is the incident commander for the Nickowitz Fire.
· River Complex – Lower Trinity Ranger District:There are five fires in the River Complex. The Groves Fire, on the Six Rivers National Forest, is 4,442 acres. The Happy (4,070 acres), Dailey (16 acres), Look (7 acres) and Smokey (1 acres) fires are on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The total Route Complex acreage is 8,536 acres, with 388 personnel working the fires. The ICP is at Veterans Park, in Willow Creek.
The fires grew to the northeast, with the Groves Fire burning into the 2013 Corral Fire footprint. Winds from the west are expected to lift the inversion today, again resulting in active fire behavior. Fire crews cleared vegetation around homes to provide for defensible space in the Denny and Trinity Village areas. Fire crews are remaining in Denny to defend structures in the event that they are impacted by fire.
There will be a public meeting today, August 5, at 6 PM, at the Trinity Village Fire Hall.
Evacuations:At the request of California Interagency Management Team 3, the Trinity County Sheriff’s Department has initiated a mandatory evacuation of the Denny, Dailey, Hoboken and Bell Flat areas, due to increased fire activity and limited resources to provide structure protection. A hard road closure is in effect on Denny Road, at the junction of Forest Road 7N26, at Onion Saddle.
· Mad River Complex – Mad River Ranger District:There are currently four fires (Pickett, Gobbler, Lassic, Swayback) burning on the Mad River Complex, totaling 14,028 acres. The complex is 8 percent contained, with 673 personnel currently assigned to the incident. The incident command post is off Lower Mad River Road (County Road 501), at the Flying AA Guest Ranch in Ruth, California.
Crews are constructing dozer line today east and north of the Lassic and Swayback fires outside the Mt. Lassic Wilderness boundary. Hand crews will build lines, using minimum impact suppression tactics, on the south side of the fire in the wilderness. Crews are assessing structure protection needs on private lands north of the Lassic Fire.
Fire activity yesterday was moderate. The west side of the Gobbler Fire is backing downslope to East Van Duzen Road (County Road 511) and the east side is backing downslope to the Lower West Side Road (Forest Road 1S06). Crews are constructing fire line on the south side to keep the fire from crossing the East Van Duzen Road.
The Pickett Fire is also slowly backing downslope toward the Lower Mad River Road on the west and toward Highway 36 on the north. Crews will assess structure protection needs in the Forest Glen area today due to the fire’s potential to spread downslope toward Highway 36 and Forest Glen. Two spot fires were detected on the north side across Highway 36. They were very small (less than 100 square feet), and night-shift crews quickly extinguished them.
Evacuationsremain in effect along the Mad River Road from Highway 36 to Three Forks Road (mandatory), and along Van Duzen Road from Ruth/Zenia Road to the Ruth Dam (advisory). A large animal evacuation center, operated by Trinity County, is available and can be reached at (530) 623-8127.
Road closuresare in effect for Highway 36 from Lower Mad River Road (CR 501) east to Wildwood Road, Lower Mad River Road from State Highway 36 south to Three Forks, and Van Duzen Road (CR 511) from Browns Canyon Road south to Ruth/Zenia Road (CR 502). State Hwy 36 from Van Duzen Road to Lower Mad River Road is open to residents only.
Route Complex – Mad River Ranger District:The seven fires of the Route Complex (Tierney, Buck, Johnson, Kerlin, Blake, Hitchcock and Chance) have burned 12,164 acres with 2 percent containment.The overall acreage has been reduced because the South Fire on the nearby South Complex is merging with the Johnson Fire in the Route Complex, resulting in decreased and revised fire perimeter acreage.The ICP is at the Southern Trinity High School, in Mad River. There are 292 fire personnel are assigned to the complex.
The Route Complex has fires on both the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, near the community of Hyampom, and the Six Rivers National Forest, near the community of Mad River. The Buck Fire has containment line around its perimeter, and the adjacent Tierney Fire has crews creating indirect line in preparation of a backfire to halt its progress. The fires north of Highway 36 on South Fork Mountain continue to experience slow growth in steep areas and will be scouted by firefighters, while others have dozers making progress on containment lines on less steep slopes. The Chance Fire on the northernmost end of the complex will have dozers constructing line today with hope of completely containing that fire.
The fires will be shrouded by smoke for most of the day and temperatures will be in the high 70s to low 80s and relative humidity around 30 percent.
A public meeting is scheduled for today, August 5, at 2 PM, at the Hyampom Volunteer Fire Department. This meeting will cover both the South and Route complexes.
Road closuresare in effect for Forest Service Route 1, approximately five miles north of Highway 36, at Forest Service Road 2N12. The Van Duzen Road is closed at Browns Canyon. Highway 36 remains closed at the Lower Mad River road on the west end, and at Route 3 on the east end.
Smoke has decreased visibility across the forest. Smoke conditions may limit visibility on local roads and highways. Motorists are urged to use caution when travelling in the forest due to the smoke hazard and the potential of firefighters working along the roadways. For air quality information and specific advisories, visit www.ncuaqmd.org.
To date, there has been one firefighter injury reported.