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.

Blue Fire

Off Blue Walker Rd N/W of Blue Mtn, South of Seiad Valley

Siskiyou County, CA Acres 2,627.4 Containment 0% Status Active

Updated 2 minutes ago

Created by Watch Duty • 8 days ago • Aug 27 at 6:05 PM

Evacuation Order – Level 3 – Go

SIS-1007-A, SIS-1117, SIS-1118-B

Evacuation Warning – Level 2 – Set

SIS-1007-B, SIS-1118-A, SIS-1118-C, SIS-1233-A

Evacuation Notes

Genasys Evacuation Map

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Justin Roberts

 • Reporter

2 minutes ago · Sep 5 at 8:17 AM

9/5/25 Morning update from Klamath National Forest on Facebook:

Yesterday, there was predicted fire weather conditions and spotting was observed on the north side of the fire. The fire continues to actively burn north, and northwest influenced by rollout, which is when burning material rolls downhill and ignites vegetation. The fire will continue to move west with very little movement expected on the east side. Firefighters constructed contingency lines along Grider Ridge to the west, which runs parallel to the Pacific Coast Trail, and Slinker Ridge to the east.

Firefighters continue supporting structure protection in the Seiad Valley and Walker Creek areas. Miles of hose and sprinklers have been installed for structure protection requiring large amounts of water. This water is taken from deeper areas of the Klamath River to avoid using water from shallow tributaries that are colder and more desirable for Salmon and Steelhead migration. Resource advisors for the Blue Fire work closely with firefighters and the Karuk Tribe.

Temperatures are forecasted to decrease as relative humidity rises causing the fire to moderate. Fire intensity is expected to decrease with the coming weather and anticipated moisture early next week.

Maureen Bonessa

 • Reporter

About 3 hours ago · Sep 5 at 5:44 AM

The fire is 2,627.4 acres per the perimeter uploaded to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), which is visible on the Watch Duty map under the Active Fire Perimeters map layer.

9/4/25 Morning update from Klamath National Forest on Facebook

Size: 2,055 acres

Containment: 0%

Personnel: 506

Firefighters continue to focus the majority of their efforts on active structure protection in the Seiad Valley and Walker Creek Road. As the Blue Fire burns north toward Seiad Valley, fire resources continue to prioritize structure protection by coordinating with local fire personnel, installing sprinkler systems and constructing control lines around homes. A range of resources are being used on the fire including engines, bulldozers, masticators, and 20-person hand crews. Air operations will continue suppression support as conditions allow.

On the eastern perimeter, the fire continues to back down towards Walker Creek but has stayed west of the creek. Crews are constructing and reinforcing firelines on the eastern and northeastern flanks of the fire.

Infrared (IR) detection flights conducted nightly have shown that the fire is moving toward Salt Creek, No Name Creek, and Bark Shanty Creek, where heavy accumulations of dead and downed vegetation are fueling fire growth. These flights help map the fire perimeter and detect spot fires that may ignite. This data supports operational planning to focus on containment as the firefighters work towards keeping the fire footprint as small as possible.

Warmer and drier than normal conditions will continue today with highs in the mid-90s and relative humidity will decrease to 20 percent. Wind will be mild and driven by terrain with the potential of smoke settling and causing unhealthy air quality. Conditions will start to improve Friday through the weekend with gradually increasing humidity and decreasing temperatures.

Additional information can be found HERE

It appears that northern and southern California were spared major damage from the lightning storms that affected nearly the entire state. Central California–the western slope of the Sierra in particular–took the brunt of it. The historic community of China camp took significant damage.

Today will the the last day of the heat spell, with cooling and possible showers expected later in the week. For Siskiyou County highs will be in the 60s and 70s with lows in the 40s as we get an early taste of autumn. The outlook for quelling the fires is good.

The following is an update on the fire via InciWeb as of 11am:

“Size: 758 acres
Containment: 30%
Fire Resources: 404 personnel

An aggressive attack on the Root Fire has led to increased containment of a blaze that grew quickly in the past two days. The majority of the containment has been achieved in the southern half of the west flank of the fire, which is expected to prevent the fire from progressing to the southwest. Firefighters continued their direct attack strategy, constructing hand and dozer lines. Crews were also supported by hose lines and four water-dropping helicopters to combat the fire. Dry conditions present additional challenges such as spotting and torching. Evacuation Warnings and an Order are still in place – no structures have been damaged or destroyed. Firefighters located an area where the fire had pushed past a control line in the southeastern perimeter. This “slop over” was quickly surrounded by dozer line and handline. Crews will finish the last piece of handline around this area today with the assistance of air resources when available.

Fire Operations: Firefighters will go with a direct attack strategy where terrain permits. The priority today will be the northeastern and eastern flank of the fire, where crews will continue going direct with hand and dozer lines and reinforce with hose lines. Aircraft will support crews on the ground. On the northern perimeter, the fire is less than one mile from Castle Crags Wilderness. Dozers will continue to construct and improve lines on the northwest portion of the fire off the 39N44 Road with hoseline to box it in and prevent it from entering the wilderness. Firefighters will also construct handlines on the eastern flank off the 38N40 Road. Two “super scooper” aircraft and a helicopter from the Swift Complex Fire are aiding the firefight today. 

Fire Weather: Today’s weather conditions will be hot with low humidity with a slight chance of thunderstorms. Max temperatures for the area will be in the upper 80s to lower 90s with humidities in the low 20s. Winds will be terrain-driven with gusts up to 15 MPH in the afternoon expected.”

See a current view of the fire above from the Girard Ridge camera.

Red Flag Warning

9/2/2025 20:52 PDT through 9/3/2025 21:00 PDT

Red Flag Warning issued September 2 at 8:52PM PDT until September 3 at 9:00PM PDT by NWS Medford OR

* AFFECTED AREA…In California, Fire weather zone 285. In Oregon, Fire weather zones 617, 623, 624 and 625. * THUNDERSTORMS…Scattered thunderstorms with abundant lightningpossible. Storms may produce little or no rain, and lightning strikes outside of precipitation cores are possible, and may cause many new fire starts. Thunderstorms are expected to continue overnight and through Wednesday afternoon along and east of the Cascades. * OUTFLOW WINDS…Gusts of 35 to 50 mph could travel outward up to 25 miles from thunderstorm cores. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS…In addition to thunderstorm potential, conditions on Tuesday will be hot, dry, breezy, and unstable, adding to the heightened fire weather concerns for the day. * DETAILED URL…View the hazard area in detail at https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/map/?wfo=mfr

Instructions

Follow all fire restrictions. You can find your county’s emergency sign up form as well as links to fire restrictions at weather.gov/medford/wildfire. One less spark, one less wildfire. Be sure you’re signed up for your county’s emergency alert system. Familiarize yourself with your emergency plan and make sure you listen to emergency services. Visit ready.gov/plan for more information. A Red Flag Warning is issued when we identify weather conditions that promote rapid spread of fire which may become life- threatening. This does not mean there is a fire. These conditions are either occurring now or will begin soon. It is important to have multiple ways to receive information from authorities.

Root Fire

North of Forest Rd 25 & 3.8 miles West of Castle Crags State Park, Castella

Shasta & Siskiyou CountiesAcres669.2Containment30%StatusActive

Updated 1 minute ago

Created by Watch Duty • 1 day ago • Sep 1 at 12:52 PM

Evacuation Order – Level 3 – Go

Shasta County
CST-1070-B

Evacuation Warning – Level 2 – Set

Siskiyou County
SIS-6200, SIS-6203, SIS-6301

Evacuation Notes

Genasys Evacuation Map

Maureen Bonessa

 • Reporter

1 minute ago · Sep 2 at 6:17 PM

The fire is now 30% contained per the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)

Liam Winstead

 • Staff Reporter

3 minutes ago · Sep 2 at 1:46 PM

Zone SIS-1509-D has been downgraded to an Evacuation Warning from its previous order status.

Zone SIS-1604 has been lifted of its previous evacuation warning status.

Per the Genasys Evacuation Map. These zones are also viewable on the Watch Duty map.

9/2/25 Morning update from Klamath National Forest on Facebook

A Red Flag Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service for the area surrounding the Blue Fire. Starting at 1:00 p.m., abundant lightning from scattered thunderstorms is expected in the area that brings the threats of new fire starts. In preparation for unstable conditions, firefighters have been identified for initial attack response to address any fire starts.

Firefighters have been preparing for the weather conditions that promote rapid spread of fire with a defensive strategy to triage and defend local structures and cultural sites, with support from air tanker planes and several helicopters. Additional structure defense teams have been deployed to Walker and Seiad Valley communities to aid in preparing structures for defensible space. Structure protection efforts include portable sprinkler systems, preparing around structures, hose lays in place, and clearing vegetation that provides fuels for fire activity.

Additional information can be found HERE

Swift Complex (for the Peak and Lick Fires) Behavior Analyst Dennis Burns provides a fire update for September 2, 2025.

LINK for this update.

Maureen Bonessa

 • Reporter

33 minutes ago · Sep 2 at 9:37 AM

9/2/25 Morning update from Shasta-Trinity National Forest on Facebook

Size: 488 acres

Containment: 5%

Operations: On the east side of the fire, crews are holding and improving the containment line up to the Trinity Alps Wilderness boundary. On the northeast side of the fire, firefighters are strengthening containment lines by connecting them into natural granite features. On the south edge, firefighters are working to extend handlines from the south, up into the southwest side of the fire into Mule Creek. On the west side, crews are digging handline toward Granite Peak with the goal of successfully placing fire hose in that area. Firefighters are also improving contingency lines and identifying opportunities for any additional contingency lines around the Peak Fire

Fire Activity: fire progression will be primarily driven by fuels and topography. With dry fuels in the area and very steep topography, rollout remains a concern on slopes. Any fire activity that aligns with wind and slopes, especially in thunderstorms, could rapidly accelerate.

Fire Weather: There is a red flag warning over the fire area from 1 pm to 8 pm. There is a chance of dry thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening with wind gusts from 35-50 mph and little to no precipitation. Lightning could start new fires in the area. Daytime highs in the 80s with relative humidity values in the teens. Conditions starting Wednesday are expected to be similar to Monday’s hot and dry.

Closures: The Shasta-Trinity National Forest has issued a Peak Fire Closure Order – Forest Order No. 14-25-22. This is effective August 30, 2025, through January 31, 2026. To view the order and map, please click on the link to Peak Fire Closure Order.

Swift Complex (for the Peak and Lick Fires) Behavior Analyst Dennis Burns provides a fire update for September 2, 2025.

LINK for this update.