Wildfire

Fire Status: In preparation for a wind event that will hit the fire area on Sunday and Monday, firefighters will execute a burnout operation on the eastern flank of the fire. This will enlarge the active fire area from the north fork of the Feather River area around Seneca to Caribou.

With winds predicted to gust up to 30 miles per hour Sunday, firefighters will light the unburned section in night operations on Friday and Saturday when the winds are favorable and temperatures moderate. Introducing fire into this area will create a low intensity burn in an area that has been difficult for firefighters to contain. Crews will light off of containment lines and allow the fire to creep back into the active fire area, removing critical fuels that could create a high intensity burn. Firefighters will secure and patrol containment lines along the eastern flank and continue mopping up control lines around the fire area.

Helicopter drops will continue into the evening as firefighters prepare for the firing operation. Crews will continue to mop-up fire lines along Highway 89. Patrol units will also stay in the communities of Prattville, Big Meadows and Canyon Dam areas searching for any additional spot fires.

Firefighters continue to work in a contained slop-over in the Rocky Point area. Power was returned to the PG&E line that services homes along the southwestern shore of Lake Almanor this morning after falling operations around the line were completed.

This will be the last fire update from California Interagency Incident Management Team 3.

Crews will continueto take a series of post-fire actions to repair damages and minimize environmental impacts resulting from fire suppression activities, and continue to patrol the firelines and mop up any remaining hot spots. There are 3 phases of rehabilitation; fire suppression repair, BAER (Burn Area Emergency Response) and long term recovery.

In a pair of public meetings, fire officials said they were getting the upper hand on the Chips Fire.

A meeting to discuss the Chips Fire was held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 22, at Lake Almanor West Community Park.

“Chips Fire has gotten a lot of attention. It was the first fire to take off and is certainly not the last. It looks like it is going to be a very challenging year for us,” said Lawrence Crabtree, Deputy Plumas National Forest Supervisor.