Smoke from Lightning Fires Smudges the Skies Above Northern California

Smoke for July 30

Smoke seen in a satellite photo taken yesterday. [Image from the California Smoke Information site]

A lightning storm on July 25 left multiple fires burning about 20 miles north of Orleans. The fires continue to consume vast acres of wildland, currently over 1200. Smoke from the burning wildland has drifted across much of the Emerald Triangle smearing the horizon and causing residents to wonder if there is a nearby fire.

“It’s dirtying up the air, mostly in the upper levels,” said a spokesperson for the National Weather Service in Eureka. “It isn’t concentrated enough to cause health issues.”

According to a message today from the North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District,

Current monitoring and weather information forecasts smoke levels Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups during inversion events, along the Klamath River drainage (Somes Bar, Orleans, Weitchpec) for today and tomorrow. Areas outside the Klamath drainage will retain Good to Moderate air quality throughout much of Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity Counties depending on proximity to the fires.

Information about the fires can be found in this press release from the US Forest Service:

The Orleans Complex on the Orleans/Ukonom Ranger District is currently 1,222 acres as of Monday morning. The Complex currently includes seven lightning-caused fires on the Six Rivers National Forest and in the Siskiyou Wilderness. Suppression of the Ukonom Fire in the East Zone is being managed by Northern California Incident Management Team 1 under Type II Incident Commander Curtis Coots. Fires in the West Zone are managed by Type III IC James Courtright.

Lightning fire 7-31

Infrared map showing the lightning fires in Siskiyou County as of last night.

These fires include the Chimney, Dillon, Forks and Little fires. A combination of suppression and confinement strategies are being used for the incident. Containment is currently at 0%.

Assigned to this Complex are:

Total

Personnel

Crews Engines Dozers

Water

Tenders

Helicopters
565

13

20

10

9

9

Cooperators on the incident include the Karuk and Yurok Tribes, Klamath National Forest, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Land Management.

There will be a public meeting at 6 p.m. in Karuk Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources office in Orleans at 6 p.m. on Tuesday to provide the local community with more information about the fire.

The forest’s top priority on the East Zone of the Orleans Complex is the Ukonom Fire burning near Ukonom Mountain. This fire is estimated at approximately 1,082 acres as of Monday morning.

Weather conditions will cause smoke to concentrate in the valley floors of the Klamath River Drainage and could impact local communities. Conditions are expected to be warmer and drier today.

The first priority for all fires that are part of the Orleans Complex is to provide for firefighter and public safety, along with protecting cultural sites and natural resources.

The Six Rivers National Forest remains under fire restrictions. Go to www.fs.usda.gov/srnf to learn more about the restrcitons. For up to date fire information go to https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5430/.

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Just saying
Guest
Just saying
6 years ago

Be careful out there, thank you firefighters.

Lone ranger
Guest
Lone ranger
6 years ago

Global warming, definitely some sort of ARB violation

Muddy Black Dodge
Guest
Muddy Black Dodge
6 years ago
Reply to  Lone ranger

Oh! Waiting for the set set over panther gap. I’ll send pictures, going to be great. Love to you and yours Kym. This pic is from the other days sunrise@ 5:35. I saw the lighting storm pushing through the north the other day and, my heart sunk, it looked like an electrical storm…

Muddy Black Dodge
Guest
Muddy Black Dodge
6 years ago

Pics from Two years ago…. View of fires from top of Salmon Creek… Voom in if you can, there are several fires to see from this vantage point…

Muddy Black Dodge
Guest
Muddy Black Dodge
6 years ago

Love what a digital Camera does to a smokey sunset.

Shaka
Guest
Shaka
6 years ago

Cool pics….

Anon Forrest
Guest
Anon Forrest
6 years ago

Is it my imagination, or is the high layer of smoke trapping the heat? It’s been around 100F for the past two days…and not cooling off at night.
Thanks, Fire Fighters. You are real heroes, and we’re grateful for you.

PinkAsso
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PinkAsso
6 years ago
Reply to  Anon Forrest

it’s an inversion layer was forecasted to be this hot even without the fires. Tuesday is the peak.

Melissa Winchester
Guest
Melissa Winchester
6 years ago

God Bless the Firefighters! May the Lord be with them all they are the real Heros this generation. Amen!

Zamira
Guest
Zamira
6 years ago

Does anyone know how the fires/smoke is around hat creek California?