Wildfires Unleashed on Northwestern California: Thousands of Acres Covered by Flames, Evacuations Ordered Following Lightning Storms

On the evening of Monday, August 14, a barrage of lightning strikes battered northwestern California leaving a wildfire crisis in its wake. As of Friday morning, thousands of acres are burning and a smoky haze covers the skies.

The smoke is forcing a number of residents to stay inside and avoid the associated health impacts. See here for the NCUAQMD Air Quality report. Purple Air is one of a number of sites that provide a look at air quality.

The wildfires seem almost uncountable. Small fires are just getting numbers not names. With large wildfires in Oregon as well as elsewhere, firefighter resources are being stretched hard but a number of fire management teams will be arriving and supplies and crews are coming into the fire areas. Currently, though there are not a large number of boots and equipment on the ground on most fires.

The number of fires is making it difficult for people to follow which ones are closest to them and those they love.

Below is our attempt to clarify the situation. The fires or the complexes they belong to are listed in bold red which also link to more information if it is available. The names of the fires (or complexes) appear roughly in the same order as they do on the map moving from the top to the bottom and moving from west to east (Much of the information is gathered from the National California Geographic Coordination Center or InciWeb.):

The Smith River Complex burns in Del Norte County in the Six Rivers National Forest and includes the Diamond Fire:

• Acreage:7563 acres brush and timber, 0% contained. Complex large fires:( Holiday-3584 acres, Diamond-252 acres, Kelly-2569 acres, Marlow-200 acres, Corral-476 acres, Prescott-481 acres). Structures threatened with evacuations in in effect. Threat to high power transmission powerlines, communication sites, critical wildlife habitat and historical and cultural resources.
• Command: California Interagency Incident Management Team 15
• Roads: Hwy 199 closed
  

  Hwy 199 normally on the left. Hwy 199 after fire damage as seen yesterday. [Photo from Six Rivers National Forest Service]

• Evacuation orders in place (Del Norte County Office of Emergency Services for most recent see here)
• Important links to also watch:

The Happy Camp Complex burns in Siskiyou County and includes the Head Fire

• Acreage:4075 acres brush and timber, 0% contained. Moderate fire behavior reported. Complex fires:( Head-4000 acres, Elliot-60 acres, Scott– 1 acres, Malone– 15 acres). Structures are threatened with Evacuation Orders remain. There is a threat to the Hwy. 96 corridor, and culturally sensitive sites. Road and trail closures remain. CA-Type 1,IMT 5 (Mueller) assigned.
• Command: California Interagency Incident Management Team 15
• Map of the Head Fire:
  

  Map of the Head Fire from InciWeb

• Roads: The Scott River Road and Highway 96 have closures in place.
  

  Fire burned onto Hwy 96. [Image from Caltrans District 2]

• Evacuations:  NEW EVACUATION WARNINGS THIS MORNING. For the most up-to-date information on evacuations use the evacuation map at https://protect.genasys.com/search
• Important links to also watch:
  • Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office
  • U.S. Forest Service – Klamath National Forest
  • Siskiyou County Office of Emergency Services

The Lost Fire, the Devil Fire, and the Glen Fire to the east of it in northwestern Humboldt County not far from Orick and due east of Patricks Point:

• Acreage: estimated to be 100 acres. Yesterday, August 17, the Lost Fire had significant growth, advancing toward Holter Ridge and the eastern park boundary. Helicopters performed water dropping missions and crews from the ground defended the Holter Ridge Road. This included building a defensible space line along Holter Ridge.
• Command: National Park Service National Forest Service
• Roads: Lost Man Trail from the trailhead on Bald Hills Road to the gate at the Lost Man Picnic Area is closed. Lost Man Road will remain open from Hwy 101 to the Lost Man Picnic Area
• Evacuations:  No evacuations. For the most up-to-date information on evacuations use the evacuation map at https://protect.genasys.com/search
• Important links to also watch:
  • Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department
  • Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services

Six Rivers Forest Lightning Complex burns in Humboldt County Between Hoopa and Willow Creek includes the Lone Pine Fire:

• Acreage: Approximately 500 acres with 5% containment. Complex fires include:( Lone Pine-close to 500, Mosquito-0.1 acres, Blue Creek-2-21 acres, Blue Creek-5 acres, Let er Buck – 0.1). The Blue Creek 2 Fire is burning within the Siskiyou wilderness Area. The Lone Pine Fire is located south of Hoopa, in the Horse Linto Creek drainage east of the Trinity River across the river between the Tish Tang Campground and Sugar Bowl Ranch. Crews made progress yesterday constructing handline down the ridge to the river, they were also successful containing multiple spot fires that occurred throughout the day. The fire is burning in extremely steep and rugged terrain which is creating some access challenges. There are no structures threatened.
• Command: Six Rivers National Forest Service and Hoopa Tribe
• Maps
• Roads: Open
• Evacuations:  There is one advisory. For the most up-to-date information on evacuations use the evacuation map at https://protect.genasys.com/search
• Important links to also watch:
  • Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department
  • Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services
  • Six Rivers National Forest
  • Hoopa Department of Emergency Services

The Pearch Fire is burning near Orleans (to the left of the Mosquito Fire in the map above but not really showing there.): 30 acres with 0% containment. Yesterday’s priority was assessing access into the fire by utilizing prior fire dozer, handline and structure protection assessment in the communities of Pearch Creek and Red Cap. The local Orleans Crew 20 wildland fire module successfully identified and protected critical and historical infrastructure using structure wrap to protect historic Orleans Mountain Lookout and also, clear vegetation away from essential radio and phone communication repeater towers. Today crews will continue similar objectives as of yesterday, assessing access into the fire area, structure and critical infrastructure protection assessment.

The Bluff Complex consists of 5 separate fires located near the Bluff Creek area north of Mosquito Lake (See Mosquito Fire on the Map). The total acreage for the complex is approximately 400 acres with 0% containment. With limited resource capacity fires are being monitored and assessed.

The Deep Fire burns in Trinity County west of Trinity Lake:

• Acreage: 2105 acres timber, 0% contained. Evacuation Warnings remain and Structures are threatened. Last night, fire growth of the Deep Fire was limited with a quarter inch of rain overnight. Over the past 48-hours the Deep Fire moved to the headwaters of Deep Creek in the Stuarts Fork Drainage and burned to the headwaters of Little Deep Creek.  Fire personnel have been holding the fire east of the Stuarts Fork Trail and a quarter mile North of Fire Camp Creek. Features like outcroppings in the wilderness east of the fire act as a natural barrier to prevent fire growth that direction.
• Command: Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Trinity River Management Unit (TRMU), Incident Commander: Glenn Tingley
  CAIMT 10 will be assuming control of the Fire, Saturday, August 19, 2023 at 0600.
• Map
• Latest press release
• Evacuations:  For the most up-to-date information on evacuations use the evacuation map at the Trinity County OES webpage at www.trinitycounty.org/oes or directly at https://tinyurl.com/29f8uwmk
• Important links to also watch:
  • Trinity County Sheriff Department 
  • Trinity County Office of Emergency Services

The South Fork Complex includes the Pilot Fire or the 3-1 through 3-9 fires burning in eastern Humboldt very near the Trinity County line and smaller fires inside Trinity County:

• Acreage:  563 acres total, 0% contained. Active fire moderated overnight. Large complex fires include:( 3-9 -500 acres, Sulpher-33 acres, Pellitreau–3 acres). Threats to structures near Hyampom, high pressure gas lines and power infrastructure, and private timber lands. Ca-Type 2, IMT 11 (Fogle) assigned in-brief 8/17 @1300.
• Command: Ca-Type 2, IMT 11
• Evacuations: There are evacuation warnings in the Hyampom area.  For the most up-to-date information on evacuations in Humboldt County use the evacuation map at https://protect.genasys.com/search. For the most up-to-date information on evacuations in Trinity County go to https://tinyurl.com/29f8uwmk
• Important links to also watch:
  • Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department
  • Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services
  • Trinity County Sheriff Department 
  • Trinity County Office of Emergency Services

The Slide 1 Fire burns in Tehama County but near the Mendocino County and Trinity County borders.

• Acreage:  656 acres and containment is now at 20%
• Command: Mendocino National Forest
• Evacuations:  For the most up-to-date information on evacuations use the evacuation map at https://protect.genasys.com/search
• Latest press release:
  FINAL News Release - slide fire update aug 18 2023 AM
• Important links to also watch:
  • Tehama County Sheriff’s Department
  • CALFIRE Tehama Glenn Unit 

Be aware that there is also the Siskiyou August Lightning Complex that is burning in Siskiyou County to the east of I-5 and not pictured on the map above. It is 791 acres, 50% contained. Large complex fires include:( Ranch-700 acres, Long-75 acres, Ash–15 acres).

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For an interesting and in depth watch, the Lookout which dives into the Deep Fire and the Pilot Fire (near Hyampom):

Earlier:

• Red Flag Warning Issued as Lightning Strikes Pepper the Emerald Triangle
• Powerful Lightning Storm Leaves Multiple Fires to Combat in Northwestern California
• Lightning-Sparked Wildfires Stretch Resources in Northwestern California; Head Fire in Siskiyou County Estimated Over 3000 Acres
• 23 Confirmed Fires Across the Six Rivers National Forest Due to Lightning Activity