Don Zirbel
• Staff Reporter
About 2 hours ago · Sep 6 at 9:20 AM
September 6 Morning Update from Klamath National Forest:
Operational Updates: Firefighters continue constructing containment lines along Walker Creek on the eastside of the Blue Fire. The fire continues to progress north to northwest. Yesterday, crews conducted strategic firing along Walker Creek in order to reduce unburned fuels between the main fire and the control line to protect homes in the Seiad Valley community along Walker Creek Road. This will allow firefighters to put control lines directly along the fires edge to keep the fire footprint as small as possible and protect structures.
Fire activity was reduced yesterday due to clouds and smoke covering and shading the fire. Today, cooler temperatures and rising relative humidity are expected to moderate the fire, decreasing its intensity. Anticipated moisture early next week should further reduce fire intensity.
Look for smoke to move north and east of the fires this weekend, driven by persistent southwest winds. Smoke will increase along Highway 96 causing unhealthy air quality. Both Hamburg and Happy Camp are experiencing significant smoke impacts. In Hamburg, air quality is forecast to be unhealthy throughout the day, with conditions deteriorating to potentially very unhealthy levels this afternoon. This unhealthy air is expected to continue into Sunday. Happy Camp will also see persistent smoke today, resulting in unhealthy air quality at times. A slight improvement is predicted for tonight, but smoke is expected to return on Sunday, bringing back periods of unhealthy air.
A virtual community meeting for the Blue, Dillon, and Log fires will take place this evening at 6 p.m. Check it out at the Klamath National Forest Facebook page.
