Deadly Happy Camp Complex Battered With More Lightning Strikes
Firefighter on the Happy Camp Complex. [Image from Peardale Chicago Park Fire, (Nevada County CA]
Information provided by InciWeb explains that the western portion of the Happy Camp Complex includes the Canyon, Three Creeks, Elliot, Ufish, and Malone Fires. Firefighters are primarily focused on containing these fires west of Highway 96, while also ensuring the safety of structures along the corridor. The Ufish Fire, located east of Highway 96, is gradually advancing towards the corridor, and efforts are underway to prevent its spread towards inhabited areas. Active fire behavior and spot fires were observed on the Malone Fire, with firefighting crews actively addressing these challenges.
On the eastern side, the Head Fire has presented the greatest challenge. Despite valiant efforts by firefighters, containment remains elusive. Limited tactical firing operations have been employed to prevent the fire from making significant runs. A dozer line has been constructed to the north of the fire towards Horse Creek, while structure protection efforts are ongoing in the Hamburg community. Additionally, the Den, Townsend, and Block Fires are gradually being brought under control, with resources being reallocated to bolster containment efforts on the Head Fire.
Rachel Smith, Klamath National Forest Supervisor, expressed the ongoing struggle with the rapidly developing wildfires. She noted, “[Saturday] we received another round of lightning with more than 200 strikes on the forest and over 1500 across northern California.” The intense storm has triggered debris flows and mudslides, forcing temporary closures of Highway 96 and impacting the Klamath River.
Tragically, one fatality has been reported in connection with the Head Fire. Ken Oliver, a lifelong Siskiyou County resident, lost his life in the initial hours of the fire. His wife, Diane, survived with severe burns and is receiving medical care thanks to the prompt response of Klamath National Forest fire personnel, Smith said.
As firefighting efforts continue, the complex and ever-changing conditions pose significant challenges to containment. The arrival of rain over the next two days is expected to provide some respite, reducing fire behavior and enabling crews to engage the fires directly at their edges. Dozers will be employed to reopen lines constructed on other incidents.
With a total of 1,896 personnel battling the blazes, the complex has necessitated the evacuation of 755 individuals and threatened over 1,600 structures. Regrettably, two structures have sustained damage, but no structures have been reported destroyed.
We’ve gathered the most important information about the Six Rivers Lightning Complex Fire and organized it below for our readers.
Klamath National Forest Issues Emergency Closure Orders: Click here to read.
Stats:
Size: 10,507 acres
Containment: 0%
Total Personnel: 1896
People evacuated: 755
Structures Threatened: 1609
Structures destroyed: 0%
Structures Damaged: 2
Fatalities: 1 (read more here)
Compelling Images:
In the video below a burning tree is dropped by firefighters!
An update on 4101C #StrikeTeam from #NevadaCounty. Yesterday crews put in a long 24 hour shift on the #ScottFire which is part of the #HappyCampComplex in the #Klamath and #Siskiyou area.@NCCFIRE @grassvalleyfire #NorthSanJuanFire #HigginsFire #californiafirefighter pic.twitter.com/aq4jfPnzKb
— PCP Fire (@PCP_FIRE) August 20, 2023
Yesterday #NevadaCounty sent a Type-3 Engine #StrikeTeam to the #HeadFire in #SiskiyouCounty. Before units arrived at the Head Fire they were diverted to the #ScottFire in the #FortJones area for immediate need structure protection in a remote area of the wilderness #PCPFire pic.twitter.com/NimODUeIXB
— PCP Fire (@PCP_FIRE) August 17, 2023
Crews creating structure protection on the Happy Valley Complex. pic.twitter.com/EmI6u9akM6
— CAL FIRE SKU (@CALFIRESKU) August 21, 2023
The Weather:
There is a 40% chance of rain Monday and a slight chance of thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service.
The Roads:
Hwy 96 is closed from Seiad Creek Road to two miles east of Horse Creek. Scott River Road is closed at Kelsey Creek Road. Large debris flows are impacting Hwy 96 which makes it difficult for firefighters to get to areas they need to access.
Burned guardrail on Hwy 96. [Photo from Caltrans District 2]
The Map:
Evacuation:
- 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
- California Interagency Incident Management Team 15
- CHP – Yreka
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
- Wildfires Unleashed on Northwestern California: Thousands of Acres Covered by Flames, Evacuations Ordered Following Lightning Storms
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I’m pretty sure this is not a crown fire… they need to let it burn like this on a wet year, early in the season, very remote areas. Just defend the structures and let it burn. The geniuses at Calfire and in Sacramento claim they are pro-science but don’t understand the basics.
Colin, I hear your concern and I do agree with it. Would you please cut Cal fire some slack as they are stretched to the breaking point and doing their level best trying to get all the damn fires under control and out. I understand that there are folks working within the Cal fire ranks that are not the brightest bulbs in the pack. Our brave men and women with boots on the ground are only doing what they are told. Every single one is a hero in my book! Thanks for reading Colin.
Nonsense. When USFS can and will actually protect structures, then maybe it could be that simple. But they can’t and too often won’t.
Oh and putting up signs saying maintaining a defensible perimeter is your responsibility doesn’t cut it.
It is your responsibility – take it. Who do you think should do it for you? SMH.
That’s looking at it backward. Anyone who lives at the edge of forest service land has a neighbor who doesn’t make a “defensible perimeter .” The USFS and BLM and NPS owe their neighbors the courtesy of treating residents, villages and towns with the same standards they ask others. These entities need to do their best to ensure the fires they let burn do not take their neighbors down with them.
For example “The federal agencies that employ firefighters to suppress wildfires have struggled to hire enough personnel in recent years, but especially in 2020 and 2021 in California. Today the San Francisco Chronicle (subscription) reported that after having 5,000 firefighters for multiple years in California the number working for the U.S. Forest Service dropped from 5,000 in 2019 to 3,956 in 2021, more than a 20 percent decline.” Meanwhile CalFire, despite have less wildland acreage to cover, increased theirs.
https://wildfiretoday.com/2022/03/18/the-number-of-usfs-firefighters-in-california-plunged-20-in-two-years/
Regardless of federal policy, it’s your responsibility to create and maintain a defensible perimeter around your home. If you do that adequately and harden your structures to avoid ignition by wind borne embers, you have an excellent chance of successfully surviving a wildfire, even without suppression action: https://legacy-assets.eenews.net/open_files/assets/2019/01/08/document_gw_02.pdf . Look at figures 6 & 7, and 9a & 9b.
I call your comment nonsense. Get a job with the USFS and show us how it is done. I don’t like hell if they will protect your structure!
I think I could argue with your response except it’s not at all clear what you said. My comment was about the USFS policy that supposedly changed in 2021. “Facing criticism over its practice of monitoring some fires rather than quickly snuffing them out, the U.S. Forest Service has told its firefighters to halt the policy this year to better prioritize resources and help prevent small blazes from growing into uncontrollable conflagrations.”
When the budget for it increases in actuality instead of proposed, it will be real.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-08-04/forest-service-modifies-let-it-burn-policy
https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2023/03/09/presidents-2024-budget-advances-efforts-address-nations-wildfire
Basically because there really are very, very few “very remote areas” these days. I’m not saying I know which the best policy for the future but I can say that it is the politic policy to fight them when they are small. When the Federal government accepts liability for their policy when they can’t really control wildfires they decide to let burn, then maybe people will not forced to join the State fire insurance plan.
“Volunteer fire chief Kathy Catron wants answers about why the Sugar fire ever grew large enough to burn her town, why it wasn’t put out before it exploded and turned uncontrollable.”
“Wildfires can occur naturally — ignited by heat from the sun or a lightning strike. But the vast majority of wildfires are caused by humans, according to Roise…
Roise said wildfires have also become more deadly and destructive due to the increasing number of people living in rural and wilderness areas located in high-risk fire corridors. A 2018 study published in the journal Natural Hazards found that nearly 7 million properties in California alone were located in areas prone to wildfires, a nearly 1,400 percent increase since the 1940s.”
https://cnr.ncsu.edu/news/2020/09/wildfires-expert-answers-to-your-burning-questions/
“Who decides whether a blaze is crushed or allowed to burn is determined by jurisdiction — the federal government owns about 45% of California, more than 45 million acres
In a 2018 speech, Vicki Christiansen, who stepped down as head of the Forest Service last month, called unplanned wildfires “an important land treatment tool” that required “accepting short-term risks for longer term reductions in risk.”
California leaders, though, say this mindset is outdated and minimizes the risks of fires mushrooming, especially in forests and grasslands transformed by climate change.”
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-08-01/california-federal-officials-disagree-letting-some-wildfires-burn
“Hot, dry summer conditions are persisting into the fall, Rice says, leaving the state flammable. According to the U.S. drought monitor, 18 percent of the state is currently experiencing severe drought, which is exacerbating the existing seasonal weather patterns and landscapes that make it difficult to fight fires in California.”
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/why-woolsey-camp-california-wildfires-are-difficult-to-contain
Redding and Medford are remote,
They are places far away that I don’t need.
Scott bar however, is a very nice area.
It’s central reality, if you live there.
I was so very sorry to read that Mr. Ken Oliver a lifelong resident of Siskiyou County perished in the fire. I pray for Diane, his wife who survived with severe burns. I pray she will make a complete recovery from her wounds. It must have been hell on earth for those two wonderful people. My condolences to Mr. Oliver’s family and friends.