August Complex: The Fire Started Two Months Ago Today

A huge smoke column rose from the August Complex about 5 p.m. [Image from Patton Hill east of Miranda as seen from the AlertWildfire cam]

A huge smoke column rose from the August Complex on August 21 about 5 p.m. [Image from Patton Hill east of Miranda as seen from the AlertWildfire cam]

Press release from the August Complex Management Team:

Start Date: 8/17/2020         Fire Size (All Zones): 1,032,209     Containment: 80%            Personnel (All Zones): 2,574

Weather: No Red Flag Warning for today.  Over the fire area, sunny skies have allowed the temperature to climb into the upper 70s to upper 80s with some 90-degree readings at the lowest elevations. Relative humidity values are expected to be in the 15 to 20 percent range and the wind along the midslopes and ridges was from the north northwest at 5 to 10 mph with a potential for gusts up to 15 mph in some areas of the fire.

  

Northwest Zone –

Fire crews worked through the day defending control lines during the Red Flag fire weather event. High winds, low relative humidity, and unseasonably high temperatures contributed to increased fire behavior. Interior pockets of unburned fuel in the Bradburn Creek area continued to be consumed. Wind gusts and increased fire behavior also tested containment lines in the Coffee Pot area.  Overnight, firefighters patrolled containment features along the fire perimeter, paying close attention to the Kettenpom, Zenia, and Coffee Pot areas.

Today, fire personnel will continue to patrol and improve containment lines. They will concentrate their suppression efforts along uncontrolled perimeter near Coffee Pot and Bradburn Creek.  Crews are removing hazard trees and clearing debris from roadways inside the fire area to make roads safe for travel. Firefighters are also working with Forest Service Resource Advisors to develop plans for suppression repair. The intent of suppression repair is to remove signs of suppression work, smoothing out hand and dozer lines, spreading plant materials over bare ground, and installing water bars to avoid soil erosion.

PG&E continued working to repair electrical infrastructure. Helicopters are being used to replace damaged power poles and stretch electric lines to restore power to affected communities.

Northeast Zone – Yesterday, firefighters focused on connecting fire line west of Bear Wallow Mountain, and on the east and south  sides of the 2017 Buck Fire footprint.  Increased containment was achieved in the Buck Fire area by using the existing mosaic of burn from the 2017 fire footprint to tie in fire line so fire is not allowed to move out of the area.  Night shift resources continue to work on hot spots along the perimeter of the fire in order to enhance containment.

For today in the northeast zone, north northwest winds will continue to push the fire back into the main fire footprint. Firefighters will continue to secure and fortify fire lines near Progeny, Bear Wallow Mountain, South Fork Trinity River, Rattlesnake Creek and Beegum Creek.  Cal Trans is working on replacement and repair of guardrail, and removal of hazardous trees along State Route 36.

Evacuations and Closures – The Trinity County Sherriff reduced the Forest Glenn area from an Evacuation Order to an Evacuation Warning.  Additional modifications to evacuation status have been made – for current evacuation information, please refer to the links below. Evacuation information can be found on county websites referenced below or at inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6983/.  Hwy 36 remains closed from Southfork Summit Mountain east to the Hwy 3 intersection. Hunting and recreation are prohibited within the August Complex Fire Closure areas.

Trinity County evacuation Information, contact: 530-276-8034 or https://www.facebook.com/TrinityCoOES/ .

Trinity County Private Property Damage Assessment Info., contact: 530-623-8223 or https://www.trinitycounty.org/recovery

Humboldt County evacuation Information, contact: 707-268-2500 or visit: HumboldtCoSheriff.

Road Closures: For updated Road Closure information, visit Caltrans at https://roads.dot.ca.gov/.

Forest Closures are still in effect and can be found here: 

North Central Coast October 17th, 2020 PIO_NorthZone_20201017_Arch_Compressed Facebooktwitterpinterestmail

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Geist
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Geist
3 years ago

Its been a looooong two months.