Cosumnes fire crews battling West’s biggest fires including Dixie, Tamarack
Cosumnes Fire Department firefighters are on the battle lines of major fires burning in California and across the West.
Cosumnes Fire Department has personnel at five incidents including the massive Tamarack Fire burning near Markleeville in Alpine County and the Dixie Fire raging northeast of Paradise, the site of the deadly, devastating Camp Fire in 2018, Cosumnes Fire officials report on the agency’s website.
Cosumnes Fire serves Elk Grove, Galt and parts of unincorporated south Sacramento County. The agency is called on by the California Office of Emergency Services to assist in larger incidents.
The Dixie Fire, now just 17% contained, has blackened nearly 104,000 acres in Butte and Plumas counties, chewing through steep terrain above the Cresta Dam in Feather River Canyon, Cal Fire officials said Thursday.
Firefighters on the Dixie lines were aggressively battling the flames, carving out control lines and defending homes and structures as the fire continued to move to the northeast.
In Alpine County, more than 1,200 personnel are battling the lightning-ignited Tamarack Fire which has burned more than 50,000 acres with just 4% containment, according to the U.S. Forest Service’s InciWeb incident information system Thursday afternoon.
The fire moved to Highway 395 and burned north and south along the highway on Wednesday, but fire crews were able to hold the line and stop it from crossing the roadway. Crews also kept the fire from crossing Highway 88. On Thursday afternoon, Forest Service forecasters were warning of gusting winds and aggressive fire behavior, with the potential for “high rates of fire spread.”
“The winds continue to be the driver of the fire with near-critical conditions again this afternoon,” forecasters said.
Crews are also working three major incidents in Oregon and Washington state: the nearly 400,000-acre Bootleg Incident in Oregon’s Fremont-Winema National Forest; and the Red Apple and Cedar Creek incidents in Washington state. Those fires have burned a combined 30,000 acres, U.S. Forest Service officials say.
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