Category Archives: Forest Fires

CAMARILLO, Calif. — Southern California firefighters working to contain a wildfire that has destroyed 132 structures in two days could be assisted by a forecast of fierce wind gusts easing early Friday, officials said. The Mountain Fire started Wednesday morning in Ventura County and had grown to 32 square miles (about 83 square kilometers) with 5% contained Thursday night. Some 10,000 people remained under evacuation orders Friday morning as the fire continued to threaten about 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo in Ventura County. At least 88 additional structures were damaged in addition to the 132 destroyed, which were mostly homes. Officials did not specify whether they had been burned or affected by water or smoke damage. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Fire officials and foresters say that in many respects it was an unprecedented wildfire season in the Equality State, especially for private land and eastern forests. At its peak, the mighty Elk Fire made a furious wind-driven, overnight run. Sheridan and Johnson County firefighters had never seen anything like it before on their home turf. Neither had their parents or grandparents. On Oct. 4, the blaze consumed more of the Bighorns’ rugged east slope than any previously documented fire had burned that forest in total. “In a matter of three hours it ran 25,000 acres,” Bighorn National Forest Supervisor Andrew Johnson said. “In the last 100 years, the largest fire on the forest had been about 18,000 acres — and it took over a month to get that size.” By the time a potentially season-ending snowstorm hit in late October, the blaze had surpassed 98,000 acres. The Elk Fire … was 5 times larger than anything in the record books.

Dr. Susan J. Prichard specializes in a (literally) hot topic: wildfire ecology. She researches the effects of wildfires in Washington and works with other fire experts—like local indigenous communities—to mitigate them. …She tells UW Magazine her story. I grew up on Whidbey Island. I spent many hours of my childhood in the Olympics and Cascades seeing the forests and the clearcuts. …It was so exciting to get into the UW to study forest ecology. For my Master’s degree, I looked at carbon storage in sub-alpine forests and meadows on the Olympic Peninsula. I began to think about how we could celebrate better forestry and came back to the UW to get my Ph.D. studying climate change and forest dynamics. …Today, my work involves studying the outcomes of forest management decisions—like if prescribed burning has been effective (it has!).

A huge fire continues to blaze across the Salmon-Challis National Forest, expanding to over 68,000 acres, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The fire, named the Red Rock Fire, is currently 19 percent contained, with 513 personnel actively battling the flames. Nearby, the Garden Fire is also growing, now approaching 10,000 acres with no containment yet. In total, 15 wildfires are burning across 469,308 acres in Idaho, as reported by the National Interagency Fire Center. The Red Rock Fire, located approximately 15 miles west of Salmon, is the largest mostly uncontained fire in the state. According to a U.S. Forest Service update issued on Monday, the fire resulted from two smaller fires merging. “Red flag conditions yesterday continued to challenge firefighters,” the U.S. Forest Service — Salmon-Challis National Forest said in an update on Facebook. “While there continued to be little fire growth on the west side in the Wilderness, other areas of the fire remained active.”

At least three government agencies will investigate the causes of wildfires that have burned more than 110,000 acres in North Dakota in the last week. State-led investigations into four wildfires in northwest North Dakota are in the early stages, but preliminary findings indicate there’s no evidence the fires were intentionally set, State Fire Marshal Doug Nelson said Thursday. State investigators were asked to look into the fire near Tioga that involved two fatalities, a fire near Ray, a fire near Keene and a fire near New Town, Nelson said. The state fire marshal will investigate if a local fire department requests an investigation. But if the fire occurs on federal land, then a federal agency is likely involved, said Jacob Just, with the North Dakota Insurance Department. …Thursday was a warm, windy day in northwest North Dakota. Winds were expected to gust up to 21 mph at Watford City with a high temperature of 72 degrees. 

The Shoe Fire broke out sometime between 1:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday and was burning rapidly in steep, thick forest, according to images from Alert California, which records images and videos of wildfires across California. Kimblery Hill, a Shasta-Trinity National Forest spokeswoman, said the agency had a heavy response to the fire, including four helicopters, eight engine crews, a bulldozer, one hand crew with three more on order. She said the fire was near the Madrone Campground off Fenders Ferry Road, which runs around the back side of Lake Shasta. It continued to spread Wednesday night. By late afternoon it had reached 300 acres, with no containment. Shasta County sheriff’s officials have ordered evacuations in the area of the fire, which is burning off Fender’s Ferry road northeast of the lake. …Fender’s Ferry Road was closed from Highway 299 to the McCloud River bridge at Gilman Road.

CASPER, Wyo. — The Elk Fire burning in the Bighorn National Forest near Dayton has now reached 72,998 acres, according to an update from the U.S. Forest Service on Monday morning. The fire is now 10% contained along the northeast edge, north of Dayton. Crews are working on the southern end to get ahead of fire movement to protect potentially threatened communities and municipal watersheds in the Big Goose drainage area. …Structure protection work continues today northwest of the fire in Little Horn Canyon, and along subdivisions near US Highway 14 between Dayton and Burgess Junction. …Crews are also working on strategies to protect homes and communities, the Sheridan watershed and key infrastructure south of the fire, they said. Some 700 cattle were transported off the fire area early Monday due to collaborative efforts by the community and emergency agencies. …Multiple structures and outbuildings have been lost, including two primary residences.

HIGHLAND, Utah — Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in connection to the Yellow Lake Fire burning in eastern Wasatch County, which tripled in size after what officials called a “challenging day” on Friday. As of Saturday morning, the fire had grown to 7,798 acres. By Sunday, the estimate jumped up to over 15,000 and is only 7 percent contained. The fire has been determined as human-caused, although the exact cause remains under investigation. People must evacuate from the western and northern forks of the Duchesne River. Meanwhile, campers in the Grandaddy Lakes area of Ashley National Forest are in ready status and should prepare to evacuate. Red Flag conditions allowed the fire to explode in size thanks to high winds, low humidity and record-breaking temperatures for the month of October. Similar weather conditions were forecast for Saturday, which will force firefighters to take a conservative approach to putting out the wildfire.

Doug Burgum

BISMARCK, N.D. – North Dakota state agencies are coordinating with local, federal and tribal firefighters and emergency responders to battle several large wildfires that spread quickly today across western North Dakota, driven by strong winds, dry ground conditions and low humidity. “Strong winds and dry conditions are creating extremely challenging firefighting conditions, and the state continues to mobilize all available resources to assist local, tribal and federal agencies in protecting lives and property,” Gov. Doug Burgum said. Several large wildfires were being fought in western North Dakota on Saturday including near Grassy Butte, near Johnson’s corner along Highway 73 and near Mandaree. Those followed fires Friday night and earlier today that burned thousands of acres including near Arnegard, Keene and Charlson. Evacuation orders were issued in multiple areas and temporary shelters were opened for those displaced. 

ARIZONA — Crews continue to monitor the prescribed burns north and east of Payson this week. The West Fire, burning north of Pine, is at 4,794 acres and 0% contained. The Preacher Fire, burning near Tonto Village, is at 3,167 acres and 62% contained. Both lightning-caused fires are being allowed to grow and crews are actively igniting fuels to create buffers around both communities. …On Sunday, crews continued igniting on Milk Ranch Point. They added additional fire to the west of Bray Creek Ranch to create more depth in burned area from the perimeter before aerial ignitions began around the Arizona Trail. …On the Preacher Fire, crews continue to mop up and patrol the perimeter. The Tonto National Forest has issued a closure for land surrounding the West Fire. This includes the Pine Trailhead.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Firefighters gained further ground over the weekend against three Southern California wildfires as authorities in northern Nevada lifted the last of evacuation orders for all homes Sunday. More than 8,000 personnel combined are battling the three biggest fires burning in the state, all ignited during a triple-digit heatwave at the start of the month. The largest blaze is the Bridge Fire at 85 square miles (220 square kilometers), which exploded dramatically through the Angeles National Forest east of Los Angeles at the start of the week. It has torched at least 49 buildings and forced the evacuation of 10,000 people. The fire was 9% contained Sunday morning, with firefighters gaining 4% overnight.

Obi Kaufmann considers the coming of the modern megafire and many deeply entrenched misconceptions about California’s land, in an excerpt from “The State of Fire.” There was always going to be a period of reckoning—with California’s colonial legacy, with the state’s history of fire management, with the practices of extractive industries, with our patterns of land development—and in the past 20 years, it has arrived. California has entered an era of megafire. In accordance with the National Interagency Fire Center, the word megafire refers to any fire that is larger than 100,000 acres (156 square miles). Eighteen of the 20 largest wildfires in the past 200 years have occurred since the year 2003.

Donald J. Trump on Friday threatened to withhold federal wildfire aid from California, if elected as president, unless Gov. Gavin Newsom agrees to divert more water to farmers rather than allowing it to flow to the ocean. Mr. Trump, during a news conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., claimed that the state’s devastating wildfires could be prevented by shifts in how California manages its limited water supply. “If he doesn’t sign those papers, we won’t give him money to put out all his fires,” Mr. Trump said, referring to Mr. Newsom authorizing water diversions to farmers. “And if we don’t give him all the money to put out the fires, he’s got problems.”

A response from the California Firefighters Union in the LA Times: Donald Trump “should be ashamed”

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. — The Bridge Fire in the Angeles National Forest quickly exploded in size to 34,000 acres Tuesday, destroying several homes and threatening communities like Wrightwood and Mount Baldy. The fire started in the San Gabriel Canyon area around 3 p.m. Sunday near the area of East Fork and Glendora Mountain roads. At the initial time of report, the fire was burning 75 acres has been growing ever since. By Tuesday, it spread north and northeast toward Wrightwood and Pinon Hills, prompting new evacuation orders. …High winds and low humidity are aiding the spread of the fire, Cal Fire said. Firefighters are also hoping the upcoming cooler weather will slow the fire enough for them to gain the upper hand.

Oregon had a busy weekend fighting new wildfires that ignited during three straight days of critical conditions. Lightning strikes, hot temperatures and dry winds fueled the ignition and spread of numerous Oregon wildfires. But the flames and smoke might not last long — widespread rain and cool temperatures will arrive by midweek….Widespread rain of between a quarter and a three-quarters of an inch is forecast Tuesday into Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Portland. The rain should help dampen fires that have ignited particularly in the Cascade Range. And temperatures are forecast to remain cool, with another potential hit of rain, next week. …The number of acres burned in Oregon continued to grow, reaching 1.74 million acres by Sunday. …Oregon’s previous record for acres burned was 1.2 million acres in 2012, followed by 1.1 million in 2020.

The wildfire tearing through the foothills of Southern California’s San Bernardino County is now endangering more than 36,000 structures, according to emergency officials. The Line Fire began on Sept. 5 and has since burned about 21,203 acres east of Los Angeles, with three firefighters injured attempting to control the blaze, fire officials said. As of Monday afternoon, the fire was 3% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. No structures have been damaged or destroyed, but Cal Fire said Monday that 36,328 structures, including homes and commercial buildings, are being threatened by the fire. …”Early next week, cooler weather will moderate fire activity below the marine layer. However, fire activity above the marine layer will remain active. There is still potential for spot fires to become established well outside the control lines,” Cal Fire said in a statement.