CBS News reports : Park Fire “hell on Earth”

A wildfire that started Wednesday afternoon in a park near Chico, California, north of Sacramento, grew quickly to 6,465 acres by late night then exploded overnight to 45,549 acres, Cal Fire said. The Park Fire was 3% contained.

Authorities in Butte County and neighboring Tehama County issued evacuation orders and warnings, CBS News Sacramento reports, but there was no word on how many people were affected. Shelters were set up for people and for animals.

It wasn’t clear how many, if any structures were damaged or destroyed and there were no reports of injuries or deaths.

Click to access Newsletter-July-2024-PDF.pdf

Escalating fire danger ahead per Dr. Daniel Swain at weatherwest.com

“

Escalating wildfire activity across western U.S. and Canada likely to continue for weeks to months

Fire Season 2024 is now already (as earlier predicted) escalating rapidly throughout western North America. During the recent record heatwave, numerous fires broke out in California–some of which have become large (in the 10s of thousands of acres) and causing some loss to structures. In recent days, however, this elevation in wildfire activity (both ignitions and fire behavior) has become much more widespread along the West Coast, from southern CA northward into Oregon, Washington, and western Canada (including not only interior British Columbia but also northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories). Many of these new fires, fostered by record warmth and worsening drought in many areas, were sparked by a mix of wet and dry thunderstorms. Several still-burning major fires in CA, mainly in the Southern Sierra, were sparked by lightning; hundreds more, however, have ignited in recent days across OR, WA, and western Canada with yet more ignitions likely due to widespread lightning again today.

One notable statistic: the recent period of sustained record heat in California and parts of Oregon appears to have yielded a record-high amount of atmospheric evaporative demand–i.e, “atmospheric thirstiness”–during this period as well, drying vegetation to record-dry levels in some areas for the time of year and accelerating seasonal drying trends even at moister higher elevation regions. This sets the stage for what might come next, wildfire wise, in the coming weeks/months.

Evaporative demand as well as the vapor pressure deficit (indicative of “atmospheric thirstiness”) reached record levels across much of California, Nevada, and Oregon over the past month. Data via climatetoolbox.org.

Unfortunately, the fire weather outlook for virtually all of these areas looks favorable for continued escalation in fire behavior/intensity and ignition likelihood over the next couple of weeks. More lightning is likely, some of it dry or nearly so (mainly outside of CA, though some is still possible in the far northern mountains and Sierra Nevada), along with continued anomalous heat into August except for a brief cooler interlude in late July (which may compensate by temporarily increasing southwesterly winds in fire areas). With the expected expansion of the anomalous intense and broad Western ridge again by early August, the first half of the month may well be characterized by once again hotter than average temperatures and below average precipitation along the West Coast and across the interior of western Canada. In fact, the core summer monsoon region in the Desert Southwest, which has benefited from a couple of recent weeks of unusually active thunderstorm activity, may also dry out considerably during this period amid what would usually be the peak of the monsoon–perhaps allowing seasonal predictions of a drier-than-average monsoon in many areas to come closer to reality despite a wetter-than-expected start (except perhaps in New Mexico, which does appear to have gotten quite a lot of water in recent weeks). Firefighting resources are starting to become stretched thin as numerous large fires spread in both the western U.S. and Canada (which share a finite pool of personnel and equipment during peak fire season), so as extreme fire weather episodes occur in the coming weeks (lightning, heat, and/or wind events) things might become progressively dicier.”

WILDFIRE MITIGATION PROJECTS

Over the past 22 years the Fire Safe Council Siskiyou County has been privileged to fiscal sponsor approximately 40 grants for various Fire Safe endeavors throughout Siskiyou County including but not limited to fuel reduction for ingress in egress, defensible space plus many educational outreach and training opportunities. This quarter we would like to feature three of our projects.

Dunsmuir Fuels Mitigation and CEQA

Project Description
The Dunsmuir Fuels Mitigation Project will reduce hazardous fuels in the Dunsmuir Wildland-Urban Interface in the City of Dunsmuir located in southern Siskiyou County. The project will seek environmental compliance on approximately 690 acres in the community with a subset of that area, approximately 183 acres, receiving on-the-ground fuel reduction treatments.

Only approximately 510 acres of the project area will need to obtain CEQA compliance. Landowner access agreements will not receive on-the-ground treatments through this grant, however, it will be in position to seek funding for treatments in the future.

Currently the CEQA document has been completed and is under review by CAL FIRE.

Landowner Entry Agreements have been obtained for about 20 percent of the parcels within the treatment area. A general archeological survey has been conducted on 349 acres (51 % of CEQA review area) and cursory survey completed on 382 acres (41 % of the CEQA review area).

If you are interested in defensible space being created at no cost to you on your property you may email or call the lead contact for this project.

Kristine Cloward, (Dunsmuir Fuels Mitigation Contractor)
VESTRA Resources, Inc.
kcloward@vestra.com
Tel: (530) 223-2585

Lake Shastina CEQA and Fuels Reduction Project

Project Description
The original Lake Shastina CEQA and Fuels Reduction Project’s primary purpose was to produce the CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) studies and final documents in the north portion of the proposed project area in order to be prepared for future large landscape-scale fuels mitigation in the Greater Lake Shastina area.

Treatment upon completion of the CEQA and NOE requirements will enable us to expand the treatment areas plus expedite implementation in order to improve fire protection for the Lake Shastina development. There is an anticipated 128 acres of fuels reduction in this area for approximately 200 feet on either side of the identified roads.

Project Update
After consulting CAL FIRE Foresters, we have moved from the CEQA process to a Vegetation Treatment Plan (VTP). This will allow more diverse use of the plan and the land in the future. Project Specific Analysis will include over 6,000 acres, exceeding the 197 acres originally respectively.

Shasta Valley RCD has been contracted as VTP/CEQA lead agency, which will expedite review and finalization of the CEQA document when complete,

If you are interested in defensible space being created at no cost to you on your property you may email or call our lead contractor for this project:

Kristine Cloward, (Lake Shastina Fuels Reduction Contractor)
VESTRA Resources, Inc.
kcloward@vestra.com
Tel: (530) 223-2585

Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG)

Project Description
The Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) project is a 5-year grant program and consists of 4 components (phases) that work together in tandem. These phases include: Conducting FREE wildfire home assessments to Siskiyou County residents; Complete Defensible Space work on approximately 500 homes; Identify and prioritize areas for fuel reduction and roadside fuel breaks to create safer ingress and egress for firefighters, emergency personnel, and residents; and, Coordinate, plan and execute community outreach events reaching 29 communities across the county.

History
In 2022, the Fire Safe Council of Siskiyou County (FSCSC) and CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) began partnership to promote fire safety in Siskiyou County. The agency’s worked in conjunction on the Dunsmuir Pilot Program that completed home assessments, created defensible space around 40 homes, promoted the first Firewise community in Siskiyou County, and provided public outreach.

In 2024, the two agency’s are now working collaboratively on the CWDG Project for Fuels Reduction and the Defensible Space Program throughout Siskiyou County. The 5-year grant was obtained through the USDA Forest Service.

Don’t let another #ShellyFire catch you off guard.  The Fire Safe Council of Siskiyou County and CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) invite you to sign up for a FREE home assessments for Defensible Space.  

We will provide detailed information on how you can identify wildfire mitigation efforts around the perimeter of your home, and provide handy informational resources to guide you through the process.