Dixie Fire burns 747,091 acres, remains at 45 percent containment Thursday
Crews continue battle the Dixie Fire as the wildfire grows to 747,091 acres and is 45 percent contained, as of Thursday morning, Aug. 26.
According to Mark Brunton, Operations Section Chief for the West Zone, the areas around Lake Almanor continue to look good with some calls for service for smoke.
The area around Dyer Mountain, which has been a challenge for about a week, is “getting buttoned up.”
Direct line and heavy mop up continues in the Duffy area, and it’s continuing to look good along the Highway 36 corridor.
Around Janesville through Milford, the fire continues to look good, as well, and crews continue to mop up areas of heavy fuels.
Brunton said the top bit of the fire, out of the Lassen Volcanic National Park, there were firing operations over the last couple a days. A slop that came out of the area pushed toward Highway 44, which was temporarily closed yesterday. However, crews “were able to get around that.”
In the Dixie Fire West Zone, according to the morning written update, winds calmed after sunset but the fire remained active well into the night. Spotting and torching was limited to areas in and around Lassen Park with fire burning in a number of remote areas with limited access and steep and rugged terrain.
Temperatures today are expected to increase with decreasing winds from the north and northwest.
Certain evacuation orders have been reduced to warnings and certain warnings have been lifted allowing some residents to return to their homes and businesses.
Returning residents are strongly encouraged to stay vigilant with regard to current fire conditions. Residents may see smoke coming from trees and stumps for days following their return. Residents are encouraged to call 911 if they are concerned about any active flames near their homes or businesses rather than attempting to deal with such flames themselves.
For the Dixie Fire East Zone, overnight hotshot crews continued to work the fire down off Mt. Jura to the valley bottom to secure Taylorsville. They continue to aggressively mop up heavy materials to reduce spotting. No spots have occurred.
Today, resources will focus on holding this line.
Resources were actively engaged in structure protection in the Genesee Valley near Ward Creek and Little Grizzly Creek as the Peel Ridge spot backed down into the valley and will continue this work today. Structure preparation were completed in the Five Bears/Ward Creek area.
Hand crews and aircraft worked the western edge of the Grizzly spot and kept it from moving west, but it continues to flank mostly in the eastern direction. Significant progress was made on the contingency lines down Grizzly Ridge to the southeast to protect communities south such as Greenhorn and Quincy.
Additional work was also carried out in Peters Creek to remove a pocket of unburned fuel to secure the line north of Taylorsville. Crews patrolled and moped-up all through Indian Valley. In the Dyer Mountain area crews continue to work at removing the concentration of heat near the line in Second Water Trough Creek. Heavy equipment and crews are working to secure the spot fire near Antelope Lake.
