The Red Salmon Complex Now 10,178 acres and 35% Contained
2020-08-13-NWCalifornia-Outlook.20200813145218Current Situation: The Red Salmon Complex is 10,178 acres and 35% contained. The Red and Salmon fires are burning in the Trinity Alps Wilderness on the Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests. Both fires are being managed for full suppression utilizing minimum impact suppression techniques in the wilderness and working with resource advisors to protect cultural values. California Interagency Incident Management Team 4 has taken management of the fire as of 6:00 pm yesterday evening.
Red Fire: The fire is 9,376 acres and 19% contained. Yesterday, there was little growth on the south flank. Today, crews will strengthen line on the west flank of the fire and continue firing operations as conditions allow. Firing operations are holding and backing downhill toward the fire from Mill Creek Gap to 9N31. This fire eventually will connect on the northern perimeter near the South Fork of Red Cap Creek and Black Mountain. The north flank continues to hold. The east flank of the fire held overnight but could show more activity today as fuels dry and winds align with the terrain.
There was a heat signature found near Prospect Peak on the Klamath National Forest approximately 1.5 miles from the east flank of the Red Fire. A crew was able to hike in and scout it out yesterday. The fire has grown to approximately 25 acres in size. More firefighters will be inserted today to assist with suppression efforts. Smoke Jumpers are ordered; however, a smoke inversion has limited the ability for them access to the fire.
Salmon Fire: The fire is 802 acres and 89% contained. There is containment line all the way around the fire. Mop-up and patrol operations will continue. Fire will continue to smolder and burn interior unburned fuel.
Weather: Conditions will be warmer and drier today, but also more stable as high pressure approaches late this afternoon. Winds will be out of the northwest. There is a threat of thunderstorms this weekend.
Air quality: Smoke impacts continue to be in the unhealthy level at Forks of Salmon and areas close to the fire. Communities down drainage along the Bigfoot Highway will again see smoke settle down to the surface around midday. This will degrade air quality in areas such as Orleans, Weitchpec and Hoopa, which could see periods of unhealthy air at times. Areas east of the fire, including Etna and the Scott Valley, should again see smoke impacts rise to unhealthy late in the day before improving in the overnight and morning hours. Generally, west to northwest transport winds should keep the skies hazy over Shasta Valley and areas far to the east and southeast of the fire. Refer to fires.airfire.org/outlooks/NWCalifornia.
Closures: The Red-Salmon Fire Complex Forest Closure effected on August 8, 2020. All National Forest System roads within the Red-Salmon Fire Complex Closure Area are closed as well as: Forest Road Nos. 07N53 (Grizzly Camp), 07N15 (Fawn Ridge), 10N05 (Upper Leary Creek), 10N01 (Trinity Summit), and 07N10 (Lone Pine Ridge). All National Forest System trails within the Red-Salmon Fire Complex Closure Area are closed as well as: Forest Trail Nos. 6E04 (Orleans Mt Trail), 5438 (Nordheimer), 12W08 (East Fork New River), and 12W02 (Salmon Summit). Big Rock River Access.
COVID-19: COVID-19 precautions are a priority at all incident camps with daily temperature screenings of personnel and implementing measures such as wearing face coverings and social distancing to prevent coronavirus spread. Community and firefighter safety are a top priority of both the incident management team and the National Forests.
Earlier Chapters:
- Red Salmon Complex Nearly 4,000 Acres, Still 0% Containment
- Red Salmon Complex Still 0% Contained
- Red Salmon Complex Now Over 3,300 Acres With 0% Containment
- Red Salmon Complex Now at 2,643 Acres With 0% Containment
- The Red Salmon Complex, Burning in Humboldt, Trinity, and Siskiyou Counties, is Now Over 1000 Acres With 0% Containment
- The Salmon Fire and the Red Fire Are Being Managed as a Complex [MAP]
- Salmon Fire Started Yesterday, July 28, and Is Estimated to Be 220 Acres and Have 0% Containment
- Red Salmon Complex Grows to 4,284 Acres With 5% Containment
- Cooler Temperatures and High Humidity Kept Red Salmon Fire From Expanding
- Hotter, Drier Weather This Weekend Could Lead to ‘Significant’ Growth on Red Salmon Complex
- Red Flag Warning Issued for the Red Salmon Fire Area
- Red Salmon Complex Now Over 7000 Acres; Red Flag Warning Today
- Red Salmon Complex Now Over 8,000 Acres; 35% Contained
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Thank you firefighters!!! May God Bless and protect you.
Are any old growth redwoods in danger from this fire?
No. Any redwoods are well west of this fire.
Nobody ever cares about the manzanita and oak 😭😭😭
Manzanita are my favorite. .. especially the ones that look 99% dead and then have a single red run of bark spiraling up and a small color of life.
I suspect most of the trees in this run are Doug fir with some Red fir in the higher spots.
Ullr, Are there redwoods in Trinity?
Of course none around me, but I’m not very familiar with the west county areas.
I’ve got a big coastal redwood that I planted 20 years ago… but no. Their ecosystem is in the coastal fog line.
Smokejumpers inbound… probably on that spot fire to the North.
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n634ct/
From looking at the maps that spotfire looks bigger than 25 acres and it’s situated mid-slope on the mountain with this afternoons prevailing winds pushing it upslope. Dangerous situation for smoke jumpers. Hope they’re safe.
on edit; According to current Wildfire Reports map it’s already lost as there are now heat signatures far outside the burn, both upslope and downslope. There is a huge meadow on top of the ridge above the burn so the smoke jumpers have a safe area to hunker down if need be.
Worrying about damage to the forest and terrain while trying to fight the fire is crazy. The fire needs to be stopped anyway possible. I really don’t care if they push over some trees and brush, or drive through any creeks. Use an all out effort to put it out! Playing with it is not helping, and the firefighters are already exhausted. That is about the time accidents happen. I pray all the firefighters will come out of this mess unharmed.
Why the hell would you want to put this fire out beyond structure protection? It’s a natural fire burning in the wilderness, in a fire adapted ecosystem that has an average 20 year fire return interval. Almost every photo I have seen shows a cool under story burn, with a some crowning that can help create a mixed severity mosaic, which is good for wildlife. What do you think happened before we started suppressing fire? Native people learned to work with fire, not against it to everybody’s benefit.
Here is a good heat / perimeter map:
https://maps.nwcg.gov/sa/#/%3F/%3F/41.1858/-123.4553/13
What’s the elevation average out there?
Looks like about 2400 to 6200 feet in and around the fire area. That link should display labeled contour lines, if not you can turn them on as well as swap out map base layers.
Yup, this looks like a good burn. Not a world urbanites can grasp.
Erik, I guess you want to pull all the fire fighting efforts on this fire away, and just let it burn. The natives had no choice on fires. They had no way to fight them. They worked by running away if the fire was near.
There’s a lot of gray area between full suppression and pull all the firefighters and resources off the fire.
The indigenous population understood the benefits to fire and often started them.