The Park Fire is nearly defeated with 99% containment after burning 429,603 acres and 709 structures in Butte and Tehama Counties. Crews have been protecting water quality downstream by repairing damage done during fire suppression. They’ve been clearing a lot of damaged or clogged culverts as catch basins had filled with brush and debris during suppression activities. Managers are concerned about higher temperatures and lower humidity that make the area more susceptible to new starts, and strain the bodies of crews working on repair. A closure order remains in effect for parts of the Lassen National Forest. Anyone traveling in the fire zone should be aware of equipment moving around, particularly in the Highway 36 area.
The Boise Fire near Orleans in Humboldt County has been picking up an acre or two a day, now at 12,913 acres with 84% containment. A number of evacuation orders are still in effect.
There were a couple of small vegetation fires between Corning and Chico Wednesday. The Rowles Fire near Merrill’s Landing and the Broyles Fire near Highway 99 and Broyles Road were both held to about a half acre.
Firefighters battling a Sierra County wildfire that has burned 3,280 acres north of Lake Tahoe are making significant progress slowing its growth. Still, hundreds of residents of Loyalton near the Nevada line whose homes are threatened by the blaze remain under evacuation orders. Official containment is still at 0%, but fire officials say the blaze only grew a few hundred acres Wednesday.
-Steve Gibson