Category Archives: Forest Fires

JACKSON, Calif. — Evacuation orders were expanded Tuesday for remote California communities near a wildfire that may have been sparked by fireworks or a barbecue on the Fourth of July in a mountainous region that’s a top tourism destination. The Electra Fire in Sierra Nevada Gold Country broke out Monday afternoon and tripled in size to about 6.1 square miles (15.8 square kilometers). It was 5 percent contained Tuesday night. …Mandatory evacuation orders and warnings combined affected up to 700 residents in Amador County and 300 to 400 people in Calaveras County, Redman said. Evacuation centers were set up for people and animals. The fire started at a recreation area that was packed with people, forcing 85 to 100 celebrating the holiday at a river to take shelter at a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. facility, Redman said. All were later safely evacuated.

JACKSON, Calif. — Evacuation orders were expanded Tuesday for remote California communities near a wildfire that may have been sparked by fireworks or a barbecue on the Fourth of July in a mountainous region that’s a top tourism destination.  The Electra Fire in Sierra Nevada Gold Country broke out Monday afternoon and tripled in size to about 6.1 square miles (15.8 square kilometers). It was 5% contained Tuesday night.  The fire was making short, uphill runs, fire officials said.  “The rate of spread isn’t what it was like yesterday, but it is still spreading,” said Amador County Sheriff Gary Redman. He said firefighters were working to keep flames confined to unpopulated canyon areas.  …More than 100 fire engines, 1,200 firefighters and 14 helicopters were sent to the fire, which was a threat to power infrastructure, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. The terrain was described as steep and rugged.

CENTERVILLE, UTAH — Fireworks appear to be the cause of a fire in the foothills that started late Sunday night, police said Monday. It led to 89 home evacuations in the area overnight; however, those were lifted just before 6 a.m. as the fire moved away from homes. Some of the streets in the area remain closed due to firefighting activity, according to Centerville police. …The Deuel Creek Fire is estimated at 128 acres, and remains 0% contained, as of Monday afternoon, according to Utah Fire Info, which is run by state and federal firefighting agencies. Local, state and federal firefighters all helped fight the fire overnight. A Type 3 wildland firefighting team is assigned to the fire, meaning that additional firefighting resources are expected “throughout the day.”

The Rices Fire was a threat to more than 250 homes and other structures, California authorities said late Wednesday. The wildfire burning near Bridgeport grew to 904 acres along the Yuba River in Nevada County, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a nighttime update. The fire was 10% contained. Five firefighters were injured battling the blaze, which erupted Tuesday afternoon and made wind-driven runs in steep terrain through critically dry vegetation and drought-stressed trees. There was no immediate word on their conditions. …The fire began in an “uninhabitable” building and the flames spread to vegetation, Cal Fire said.

The Left Fork Fire burning 10 miles southwest of Bryce Canyon National Park reached 50% containment Wednesday morning thanks to sustained rainfall, which helped suppress heat sources throughout the blaze, Utah Interagency Fire reported. The wildfire had scorched 4,254 acres in Dixie National Forest as of Wednesday morning. Officials said rainfall and cloud cover in the area should help subdue the fire and allow crews to further contain the blaze. Still, foliage in the area is “critically dry” and crews were reporting “creeping and torching” near the fire’s western flank. An aircraft was available to drop water should flames try to jump containment, officials said. No injuries or damaged structures have been reported throughout the wildfire’s duration.

The Left Fork Fire burning 10 miles southwest of Bryce Canyon National Park reached 40% containment Tuesday morning thanks to sustained rainfall, which helped suppress heat sources throughout the blaze, Utah Interagency Fire reported.  The wildfire had scorched 4,254 acres in Dixie National Forest as of Tuesday morning.  Humidity in the area is expected to fall while temperatures ramp up Tuesday, creating potential for hot spots to flare. Fire authorities hope that these flares will make hot spots easier to identify and extinguish.  No injuries or damaged structures have been reported throughout the wildfire’s duration. The small community of Bryce Woodland Estates was evacuated on June 21, but that order has since been lifted.

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — The Western U.S. on Monday marked another day of hot, dry and windy weather as crews from California to New Mexico battled wildfires that had forced hundreds of people to leave their homes. Several hundred homes on the outskirts of Flagstaff, Arizona, were evacuated and the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort was closed as a precaution because of a wildfire. Crews were expecting gusts up to 50 mph as they battled the blaze. No homes have been lost in the fire reported Sunday that has burned about 8 square miles (20 square kilometers). …The number of square miles burned so far this year is more than double the 10-year national average. …Nationally, more than 6,200 wildland firefighters were battling nearly three dozen uncontained fires that had charred over 1 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

A 57-year-old man arrested Sunday in connection to the Pipeline Fire admitted he burned toilet paper and put it under a rock in the area the wildfire was reported burning at the Coconino National Forest. …Court documents state a deputy from the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office stopped Matthew Riser who was seen driving “rapidly” away from the wildfire. Riser told the deputy he was camping in the area and saw the fire. He said he burned the toilet paper he had used at noon Saturday— the day before the wildfire was reported— but didn’t think it would “smolder all night,” according to court documents. He also said he hadn’t seen the “no campfires” signs. …Riser admitted he had ignited the toilet paper and placed it under a rock Saturday, and that he tried to put out the fire with his sleeping bag. 

A wildfire was burning out of control Monday in forest outside Los Angeles after a weekend of record-breaking temperatures, and as forecasters warn of fire danger across the parched US West. Almost 1,000 acres had been charred by the Sheep fire since it erupted in the Los Angeles national foreston Saturday evening. Thousands were warned to evacuate their homes in the community of Wrightwood, with the fire just five percent contained. Firefighters battling the blaze said it was ripping through an area with thick vegetation. …Over 200 firefighters were battling the blaze, including from the air. …The fire erupted as parts of California and the West were smothered in extreme heat, with temperatures in Palm Springs on Saturday hitting 114 Fahrenheit, the highest for the day since records began. The Southwest has been baked by a once-in-a-thousand-years drought.

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — Evacuations are in effect in parts of northern Arizona as a wildfire about 6 miles north of Flagstaff steadily grew Sunday, authorities said. Coconino National Forest officials said the Pipeline Fire was reported at 10:15 a.m. by a fire lookout and had burned approximately 4,000-5,000 acres by late Sunday, pushing about 15 miles. In connection with the fire, Forest Service law enforcement said they have arrested and charged a 57-year-old man with natural resource violations. The cause of the wildfire wasn’t immediately known. Coconino County Sheriff’s officials said the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort and people living in the area of the west Schultz Pass Road must evacuate. People living in Doney Park and the area near Mt. Elden should be prepared.

Firefighting personnel worked to fight the nation’s largest active wildfire, making progress on Monday.  The merged Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak fires in New Mexico are now 50% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service.  The flames have spread over 315,627 acres and there are more than 3,000 people working to battle the blaze. The Forest Service said Tuesday that community meetings for the incident would be cut back, in collaboration with the Santa Fe National Forest.  “This change is a direct result of the positive progress firefighters have made in containing this fire and limiting fire growth. …The Forest Service highlighted that San Miguel County had lifted evacuation orders for several areas and downgraded pre-evacuation warnings in others.

HIDALGO COUNTY – A new wildfire started Sunday, May 29 in New Mexico’s bootheel, burning in the Coronado National Forest near the state’s border with Arizona. The Foster Fire was first reported to authorities just before 1 p.m. Sunday in the Peloncillo Mountains, about 22 miles south of the town of Rodeo. As of Tuesday morning, May 31, the fire is burning 10,403 acres. No percentage of the perimeter is contained. The cause is undetermined. According to the forest service, crews estimate that full perimeter containment will be attained by June 6. A second wildfire, the Cinnamon Fire, is burning in Hidalgo County’s Animas Mountains, east of the Foster Fire. It has scorched about 921 acres and no perimeter containment has been reported. 

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Most of New Mexico’s national forests remain closed as wildfires across the state continue to burn, and closing a forest is not a decision officials take lightly. Julie Anne Overton with the Santa Fe National Forest said the closure was for not only the public’s safety but also the firefighter’s safety. The wildfires and extreme fire danger have also prompted Bernalillo County to close a number of open spaces as well, but the Santa Fe National Forest alone is 1.6 million acres, so how are officials enforcing the closure? Forest Service Law Enforcement will be out patrolling around the forest. “They will probably be patrolling the areas that are most popular with, with folks who’d like to come camping, and hiking, you know, they’ll be checking the really popular spots for recreation, and driving the forest roads,” said Overton.

SANTA FE, N.M. — Two fires that merged to create the largest wildfire in New Mexico history have both been traced to planned burns set by U.S. forest managers as preventative measures, federal investigators announced Friday. The findings shift responsibility more squarely toward the U.S. Forest Service for initiating a natural disaster that has destroyed at least 330 homes as flames raged through nearly 500 square miles (1,300 square kilometers) of high-altitude pine forests and meadows. The wildfire also has displaced thousands of residents from rural villages with Spanish-colonial roots and high poverty rates, while unleashing untold environmental damage. Roughly 3,000 firefighters, along with water-dropping planes and helicopters, continue to fight the blaze as it approaches mountain resorts and Native American communities. Firefighting costs already surpass $132 million, climbing by $5 million a day.