Cooler Weather Calms the Sprawling Smith River Complex Fires in Del Norte But, North of the Border, the Blaze Is Active

A sawyer carries his chainsaw along a fire line west of Gilligan Butte near where a spot fire got established on August 26. He and other firefighters are building fire lines and removing fuels adjacent to the lines north of the Kelly Fire, southwest of O’Brien in Oregon. [Image from InciWeb]

But the good news is cooler weather all around the Del Norte County fire area has created favorable conditions and relatively little of the land included in the acreage noted in today’s report was overtaken in the last 24 hours.

Most of the impact yesterday has been in Oregon. According to Greg Fuhs, a public information officer working on that section of the complex, “The weather conditions and the fuels are very dry and drought stressed. And winds were gusting in the afternoon.” Temperatures, he explained, rose into the mid-eighties. All of this caused the fire burning north of the border to be more active.

According to a report from the fire command, “A new spot fire established just west of Gilligan Butte but did not breach the primary containment line protecting the Illinois Valley near O’Brien.”

Fuhs told us that he didn’t yet have the acreage on the spot fire but, he said it was well established.  He warned that staff on the Smith River Complex was “anticipating another active fire day” today.

Meanwhile in Del Norte County, cooler weather provided a favorable environment for firefighting resources to improve containment efforts across the Complex.

One positive development is that evacuation levels in Low Divide at Highway 197, ranging from mile marker 1 to mile marker 13, have been lowered to level 2. Residents are urged to stay alert, as evacuation levels might change based on fire activity and conditions. Firefighters are still continuing to prepare structures and reinforce containment lines in case the weather changes predicted mid-week bring fire in their wake.

Further good news is the progress made as crews established a direct handline around a substantial portion of the Corral fire.

Below are details from the California end of the fire press release:

Crews were able to continue firing operations down the Pacific Power line corridor to the hand line, just north of Gasquet at the base of Stony Creek. The plan is to continue this firing operation over the next several days, to secure this corner of the fire before adverse easterly winds arrive in the middle of next week. Crews also initiated firing operation along the constructed line that connects French Hill Road with Hwy 199. This operation is hoped to be completed today. These actions will make it less likely the fire will reach structures along French Hill Road.

Potential control lines have been placed from French Hill Road, using the 17N40 Road to the south to Craigs Creek. Today, a potential control line will be built on the south side of Craigs Creek where it will connect with the 2015 Coon fire. These historic fires have acted as barriers to fire spread and have been incorporated into the overall containment strategy of the Smith Rivers Complex. This is the main reason the Island and Prescott fires have seen minimal growth over the last several days as they are entirely burning in the 2017 Oak fire and are holding at 315 and 589 acres, respectively.

Below are details from the Oregon end of the fire’s press release:

Fire personnel also continue to construct direct and indirect fire lines from the Rough and Ready Creek drainage area northeast of the fire, south and west of Gilligan Butte along the 4402 Road to Hwy 199. They are also constructing lines southeast of Hwy 199 in the Elk Creek area south of the California Border, following the 18N11 Road to the 444 Road.

Stats:

There are about 2,520 personnel today on the fire (about 176 more than yesterday).

Size: 67,079 acres which is only minor growth from yesterday’s 67,009 acres. It is still at 0% containment.

The Plan:

https://www.facebook.com/SixRiversNF/videos/3236532986607415/

The Weather:  

According to Six Rivers National Forest Service, “Smoky conditions yesterday morning gave way to generally cool weather all around the fire area. Resources have been taking advantage of the favorable conditions by increasing containment on the fires throughout the complex.”

The Impacted Roads:

• See Del Norte County OES for more information.
• South Fork Road is open to residents only. Resident must provide proof of residency.
• Rowdy Creek Road remains closed at the top of Low Divide.
• Howland Hill is open to residents only.
• In Oregon, U.S. Highway 199 is closed from Lone Mountain Road in Oregon to the border with California.
• In California, U.S. Highway 199 is closed in Del Norte County from Slant Bridge Road to Oregon Mountain Road (PM 16 to 31) due to the fire activity. A hard closure is in place on U.S. 199 at the Agriculture Station near the Oregon border. For the latest road conditions please visit quickmap.dot.ca.gov

Caltrans and the CHP are planning to open Hwy 199 twice per day starting Wednesday. See here for details.

Evacuations:

NEW INFORMATION TODAY AUGUST 27 from Del Norte County OES:

If you haven’t signed up or need to update your information for community alerts, please go to www.preparedelnorte.com

IMPORTANT: Both Josephine and Del Norte Evacuation zones are found on this map by following the link. (Note: It takes a minute or two to load. Have patience.)

The Map:

• Operations Map –to see details either zoom or click on the map and download a pdf.
  

  Smith River Complex overview 8.27
• KMZ Map–Zoom for detail or for 3D imagery, click on the map and download a file that connects with your Google Earth program.

Important links to also check. (Note: Sadly many do not update frequently–some are months out of date–but these are pages that should provide information and we recommend checking appropriate ones at least once per day.):

• Caltrans District 1 Facebook
• California Interagency Incident Management Team 15
• Del Norte County Sheriff
• Del Norte County Office of Emergency Services
• Red Cross
• Six Rivers National Forest
• InciWeb
• Josephine County, Oregon Sheriff’s Department
• Sign up for the inciweb.nwcg.gov/…/casrf-smith-river-complex community alert system.
• Also check KPOD 97.9 FM and KCRE 94.3 FM at 8 a.m., 12 p.m., and 5 p.m.

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
• Smith River Complex Now 30,392 Acres, 0% Containment
• Firefighters Keeping a Wary Eye on the Over 40,000 Acres Burning in the Smith River Complex
• Drier, Windy Weather Worries Firefighters on the Smith River Complex, Prompting New Evacuation Orders
• Smith River Complex Firefighters Battle Red Flag Warnings and Shifting Conditions
• Reinforcements Arrive to Help at Smith River Complex–Almost 1000 Personnel in the Last Two Days