Firefighters succeeded in holding the fire south of the Humbug Road in the Grizzly Campground area. Crews also continued improving fireline between Butt Valley Reservoir and Yellow Creek Campground, and will continue burning operations there this evening.
East of Butt Valley Reservoir, structure protection groups went into the community of Seneca to remove brush and branches from around buildings. Firefighters also sprayed buildings with fire-retardant gel.
The spot fire that started yesterday evening at the bottom of Butt Valley Reservoir Dam continued to burn today. It remains approximately one acre in size but is expected to grow. It is located in extremely steep and difficult terrain and could not be reached by helicopters today due to low visibility caused by smoke.
On the top of Red Hill, hand crews continued to battle persistent spot fires threatening the telecommunication towers there.
The 940 structures that are considered threatened are in the following communities: Lake Almanor West, Almanor, Prattville, the Big Meadows subdivision, Canyondam, Belden, Rush Creek, and Seneca, and structures along Caribou Road. Residents in these areas will continue to see CalFire and Office of Emergency Services engines from various city fire departments moving through neighborhoods as they plan structure protection tactics. Bulldozers and other heavy equipment will continue building and improving contingency lines running southeast from Seneca Road.
PG&E representatives are working closely with the fire management team, and are prepared to de-energize transmission lines as needed for firefighting efforts, including the use of aircraft.
Fire Behavior and Smoke:
Today fire activity was low with very limited movement of the perimeter. Thunderstorms which had been forecast for today passed to the east of the fire area. Winds out of the northeast this evening should help burning operations between Butt Valley Reservoir and Yellow Creek Campground.
Although there is no increase in the estimated size of the fire right now, there is a new map of the fire. Click here to view the map.
There are a couple of interesting points about the map.
But first, it is time for some truth in advertising. I have many connections to this story that I need to be up front about. My family has a summer home directly in the path of this fire. I also have a bias based on some previous experience in wildland fire; 37 years to be exact. My last job before settling into partial retirement as a web manager for Feather Publishing was as Chief of Fire and Aviation for the Plumas National Forest. I have worked on fire teams just like the one managing this fire. I have lots of friends that are now working on the Chips Fire.
OK....There. It’s out. This is part news reporting and part editorial comment. Where one stops and the other starts may be a bit blurry. But I hope not.
This map shows 38,559 acres burned. But we have already been told the fire has burned over 42,000 acres. And that was several hours ago. I really want to know where these additional acres are.
Let me point out a few interesting things on this map. The west side of the map shows a vast area between the uncontrolled edge of the fire and the constructed fire line. That is down-wind from the main fire. The fire could make some impressive slope driven runs in this area, but essentially the fire will back into these control lines with much less difficulty than what firefighters are facing on other parts of the fire. It is not the fire managers’ biggest concern. Far from it. They located indirect fire-lines in places that should be defensible as long as we don't switch to a north wind weather pattern. That is a relatively safe bet.
The map and narrative the fire team has released (see the 9:00 a.m. update below for the narrative.) suggests some very good progress on the north side of Butt Lake. That is critical to protecting the residences from Prattville to Almanor West. It will be a challenge, but for now that looks and sounds pretty good.
The problem area seems to be along Caribou Road. The narrative states the fire has crossed to the east side of the road. The map does not show this. Stopping this portion of the fire is absolutely critical for Seneca and Canyon Dam. That is where the big challenge is today. Let's hope they can hold on to it. That is a steep canyon with few roads or reasonable places to fight a fire.
They have an extremely tough job today.
On the fire's north flank, west of Butt Valley Reservoir, crews were successful in burning operations overnight, checking the fire's spread to the north. Work in this area will continue today to secure the line. Control lines along Humbug Road west of Yellow Creek continued to hold.
On the top of Red Hill, hand crews will continue to work today to extinguish fire burning among the rocks near the telecommunications towers. CalTrans road crews will be working to clear the debris from Caribou Road as early as possible so that crews can continue holding the fire west of the road.
The 940 structures that are considered threatened are in the following communities: Lake Almanor West, Almanor, Prattville, the Big Meadows subdivision, Canyondam, Belden, Rush Creek, and Seneca, and structures along Caribou Road. Residents in these areas will continue to see CalFire and Office of Emergency Services engines from various city fire departments moving through neighborhoods as they plan structure protection tactics. Bulldozers and other heavy equipment will continue building and improving contingency lines running southeast from Seneca Road.
PG&E representatives are working closely with the fire management team, and are prepared to de-energize transmission lines as needed for firefighting efforts, including the use of aircraft.
Fire Behavior and Smoke: Typical overnight cooling brought smoke down into the canyons overnight and this morning. Today's weather forecast includes a chance for additional thunderstorm activity with the potential for gusty winds. Unstable weather conditions could contribute to potential long-range spotting and fire growth.
The Caribou Road was closed last night due to heavy debris roll-out. Cal Trans will be clearing the road today. The increase in acreage was from Line Scan Infrared and will be verified today with Infrared mapping mission that is scheduled for this morning. Mandatory evacuation notices are in effect for the communities of Seneca, Rush Creek and Ohio Valley. A voluntary evacuation is in place for Canyon Dam, Big Meadow, and Rocky Point. A Sheriff's advisory is in effect for West Almanor, Almanor, and Prattville.
The Chips Fire is just one of 70 large fires burning across the west. In our area the Reading Fire in Shasta County is 23,958 acres and the Rush Fire in Lassen County is 96,239 acres. The Lassen Fire 10 miles north west of Butte Meadows in Butte County is 1,000 acres.
A public meeting was held at the Old Station Volunteer Fire Department yesterday evening (Tuesday August 14th). Nearly 100 members of the local community were in attendance and received current information regarding the Reading Fire in Lassen National Forest. The Incident Commander of the California Interagency Incident Management Team 3, Jeanne Pincha-Tulley and Kit Mullen of the U.S. Forest Service were available to answer questions following the meeting. Other agencies in attendance were the American Red Cross, the Shasta County Sheriff's Department, the National Park Service, Cal Fire, and additional members of the California Team 3.
Plumas County Public Health Officer Dr. Val Armisen advises residents with sensitive health conditions to stay alert to changing smoke levels caused by the Chips Fire and be prepared to act accordingly.
Smoky conditions can be hazardous for certain high-risk groups such as young children, the elderly, individuals with heart conditions or chronic lung disease such as asthma and bronchitis, and individuals with other respiratory ailments. Residents in these high-risk groups who are in areas of heavy smoke should be prepared to stay indoors and limit their activity.
The Plumas County Sheriff issued a Voluntary Evacuation for Canyondam, Big Meadows, and Rocky Point Campground at 5 PM this evening. The Sheriff’s Advisement for the other communities along Highway 89 including Prattville, Almanor, and West Almanor remain in effect (see more details in Evacuation Section below).
Tonight crews will continue to work through the night to strengthen the containment line using both direct tactics near the edge of the fire, and indirect tactics in areas with steep terrain. North containment lines along the Humbug Road have held for more than 48 hours and will continue to be improved. No movement occurred along Highway 70 and the west flank.
New contingency lines along Highway 89 and north of Humbug Road are being improved with dozers and other heavy equipment. CalFire and Office of Emergency Services engines continue to arrive and will comprise a robust structural protection group for the communities threatened by the Chips Fire.
The Reading Fire has grown to 20,642 acres and is only 10 percent contained.
Burning operationswere successful last night. 1.8 miles of fire line from West Prospect Peak to Red Rock and 3.2 miles uphill to Rail Canyon were burnt out. An additional 1.4 miles were prepared from the 20 road to the 12 road around Badger Mountain.
Firing operations will continue along the indirect fire containment lines when and where burning conditions permit. These burning operations may be conducted either day or night as conditions allow, and will result in smoke appearing some distance from the wildfire edge. The firing operations will take place over a several day period in order to moderate fire effects.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: Almanor Recreation Center
450 Meadowbrook Loop
Chester, CA
The Chips Fire Incident Management Team is holding a community meeting to provide the public with current information on fire suppression efforts. Contact the Chips Fire Information Center if you have any questions at (530)283-3593/-3288.
The Chips Fire made a run to the north today south of the Little Grizzly camping area and was held by crews at the Humbug Road containment line. Crews attempting to improve old containment line from Yellow Creek Camp to Butt Valley Reservoir were force to pull off the line due to increased fire activity late this afternoon. Contingency line north of Humbug road is being improved.
The fire spotted into Digger Creek near Caribou today and made a push north and up-slope away toward the western shore of Butt Lake. The fire has reached the western shore of Butt Lake. Crews working on Red Hill continue to make excellent progress on securing containment lines in this area. The fire remained quiet along Highway 70 where crews continue to patrol and mop-up hot spots.
New contingency lines are being established along Highway 89 and north of Humbug Road as further protection of communities in along the western shore of Lake Almanor. Office of Emergency Service’s engine strike teams are actively working in west Almanor communities to assist residents with making their homes defensible should spot fires occur in the lake shore area.
The Reading Fire has grown to 17,530 acres. It is 7% contained. The fire is not expected to be contained until August 21.
The fire is burning in mixed conifer and red fir overstory with pine mat manzanita and a variable understory fuel loading of dead and down materials.
Active fire behavior with short uphill crown fire, single and group tree torching with moderate rates of spread.
Yesterday the fire crossed primary containment lines in the Mosquito Creek drainage, as well as south of the Little Grizzly dispersed camping area on the fire's north flank. It grew by nearly 10,000 acres. The fire also spotted across the North Fork of the Feather River, and Caribou Road onto Red Hill where crews worked through the night to construct line to keep the fire north of Highway 70. PG&E transmission lines were shut down yesterday afternoon due to impacts from the smoke and heat.
The power outage impacted customers across Plumas County. The primary containment line on the fire's northeast flank now stretches from Yellow Creek Camp to Butt Valley Reservoir, then from the Reservoir south to Highway 70. Firefighters and dozers are working to secure and improve these lines today. The Incident Command Post is now established on Highway 89 near the west shore of Lake Almanor to provide better support to firefighters working in the vicinity.
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