Cooler Conditions Help Fire Crews Make Progress Against Wildfires in California and Oregon

Associated Press
Published: August 3,2015

After a very tough weekend for firefighters battling two dozen wildfires in California, cooler weather helped crews get a better hand on a fire in Lower Lake, which is the largest and most vicious fire in the area.
The fire destroyed least two dozen homes over the past few days, and more than 13,000 people were urged to leave as the blaze roughly tripled in size over the weekend to 93 square miles, generating its own winds that fanned the flames and reduced thousands of acres of manzanita shrubs and other brush to barren land in hours.
Across the state, an estimated 9,000 firefighters are battling 21 massive fires, several of which were ignited by lightning strikes, raging across Northern California, said Daniel Berlant, state Department of Forestry and Fire protection spokesman. The state is in the midst of a historic drought, making conditions more difficult for those fighting from air and on the ground.
“The conditions and fire behavior we’re seeing at 10 in the morning is typically what we’d see in late-afternoon in late-August and September,” state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection division chief Nick Schuler described. “But because of the dry conditions, because of the drought-stricken vegetation accompanied by the steep terrain and winds, we’re seeing activity that’s abnormal for this time of year. “
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The fires prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency for California and activate the California National Guard to help with disaster recovery.

Firefighter Killed

Engine Capt. David Ruhl, from South Dakota, was killed battling a fast-moving blaze that broke out Thursday in the Modoc National Forest, about 100 miles south of Oregon.
Ruhl was in a vehicle Thursday, looking for ways to fight the blaze, when officials lost contact with him, fire information officer Ken Sandusky said. His body was recovered Friday.
Ruhl, part of a Black Hills National Forest firefighting team, had been helping California firefighters since June.
The so-called Frog fire has grown to about 3,900 acres as of Monday morning, and it was 20-percent contained.

Burning Hills

The largest California wildfire was raging in the Lower Lake area north of San Francisco. It nearly tripled in size over the weekend to 93 square miles.
The fire has destroyed 24 homes and 26 outbuildings and was threatening 5,000 homes, many of them ranches scattered in rural areas ranging from grasslands to steep hills, officials said.

Officials ordered as many as 13,000 people to evacuate. Several roads have been closed.
Fire officials "are calling the behavior of this fire unprecedented," state fire spokesman Jason Shanley told the newspaper. "It is jaw-dropping to see some of the things it is doing."
"Everyone we know that lives down there, they have nothing anymore. It's just crazy," Nikki Shatter of Clear Lake told KCAL-TV.
Even though the temperature dropped into the 80s Sunday and the humidity was up, the fire continued to advance.
"We chewed up a couple of thousand acres" in a single day, but no additional homes were lost, state fire spokesman Jay Smith said.

Foothills Fires

Cooler and cloudier weather helped firefighters make progress Monday on two wildfires in the foothills of the Cascades of southwestern Oregon. Smoke continued to choke communities to the south in the Rogue Valley.
The Stouts fire was 5 percent contained after burning through 24 square miles of private and federal timber 16 miles east of Canyonville, the Oregon Department of Forestry said. It started nearly a week ago and the cause remains under investigation. No homes have burned, but more than 300 remained threatened. Residents have been warned to be ready to evacuate.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality reports smoke levels are unhealthy in Medford and Grants Pass, and hazardous in Shady Cove.
Meanwhile the nearby Cable Crossing fire is 20 percent contained after burning through 2 ½ square miles of timber and grass 6 miles east of Glide, also in Douglas County. Firefighters have built trail all the way around it. The cause remains under investigation. There are 1,250 firefighters assigned to the wildfire, along with three single-engine air tankers and 15 helicopters. The cost to date is $2.5 million.
"Crew bosses are hopeful they took the fight out of the fire," Incident Commander Link Smith said in a statement.

Bass Lake Blaze

A wildfire that caused the evacuation of 200 homes in the central California community of Cascadel Woods was 50 percent contained.
Authorities say a boy acknowledged starting the fire near Bass Lake by playing with a lighter to burn pine needles. The fire, which has been burning for several days, has grown to nearly 8 square miles.

Napa Fire Lines Holding

Crews battling a fire east of Napa Valley held their ground Saturday, more than a week after the blaze started about 45 miles east of Napa's wine country.
More than 12 square miles in Solano County have been charred, but the fire was 95 percent contained, and crews expected to have it fully corralled on Monday.
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