Park Fire 30 percent contained; minimal spread last night; increased activity expected today

According to an update from CalFire at 10:22 a.m. this morning, Sunday, Aug. 4, more than 1,000 firefighters and five Interagency Hot Shot crews battle today to stop the Park Fire’s advance in the area of Mill Creek area around Turner Mountain in order to protect the communities of Mineral and Mill Creek.

CalFire reports, “In addition to direct attack, Tamarack Road is being prepped for holding as crews work to build line above Mill Creek on both sides of the canyon. Because of the incredibly steep and rocky slopes along the creek drainage, crews are scouting for areas where they can more actively attack the fire.”

Situation summary
According to CalFire, he spread of the Park Fire overnight was minimal. Residual rainfall moisture on the eastern portion of the fire kept flames from spreading through the fine dead fuels. However, fire did continue to burn in the larger dead and downed fuels.

It’s expected to reach the lower 100s today across the region, with relative humidity dipping to the lower to mid-teens.

Today’s hotter temperatures, drier conditions, and higher wind speeds will contribute to increased fire activity. Fuels that received moisture over the last few days will dry out again.

Spot fires and fire activity is expected to continue to challenge firefighters. Critically low fuel moistures, steep canyons, long drive times, and daily spot fires have caused difficulty in suppressing the fires.

Firefighters continue to offensively engage in constructing new fire line, reinforcing line and mopping-up when possible.

Smoke is moving towards the north and joining the smoke from other fires and is extending into other states and even into Canada.

The smoke is impacting cities like Chico and Redding.

Lassen National Forest
The Park Fire has burned 401,279 acres total – 95,691 on the Lassen – and is 30 percent contained.

The northeast corner of the fire continues to be the major focus for crews. The fire is well established in the Mill Creek drainage and firefighters have been taking advantage of favorable weather the past few days to go as direct as possible on the fire’s edge west of Tuner Mountain. 95,691 acres of the fire are burning on the Lassen National Forest.

In addition to direct attack, Tamarack Road is being prepped for holding as crews work to build line above Mill Creek on both sides of the canyon. Because of the incredibly steep and rocky slopes along the creek drainage, crews are scouting for areas where they can more actively attack the fire.

There are more than 1,000 firefighters on this corner of the Park Fire including five Interagency Hotshot Crews assigned to keeping the fire away from the communities of Mineral and Mill Creek.

The current acreage is 401,279 total
Butte County: 52,937 acres.
Tehama County: 348,342 acres.

Damage Inspection Teams are at 95 percent completion of their assessments. These numbers are updated twice daily.

Between both counties, there are 572 destroyed structures and 52 damaged structures.
The total number destroyed and damaged includes infrastructure.
Butte County
No damage: 882 (Residential, Comm, Minor, other structures).
Damaged: 47 (Residential, Comm, Minor, other structures).
Destroyed: 428 (Residential, Comm, Minor, other structures).

Tehama County
No damage: 272 (Residential, Comm, Minor, other structures).
Damaged: 5 (Residential, Comm, Minor, other structures).
Destroyed: 144 (Residential, Comm, Minor, other structures).