Northern California wildfires: Dixie Fire tops 100k acres; questions raised over Tamarack Fire

As two major California wildfires continue to spread rapidly, one politician is questioning whether federal fire crews have a handle on the situation.

The Dixie Fire expanded 18,000 acres through Wednesday, topping 100,000 acres total. It will soon surpass the Beckwourth Complex to become California’s largest wildfire this year.

But it is the Tamarack Fire, which as of Wednesday night has charred over 50,000 acres with minimal containment, that drawing attention on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Tom McClintock has asked the U.S. Forest Service chief why there appeared to be a lack of action to contain the Tamarack Fire in the Humboldt-Toyaibe National Forest earlier this month.

“When was the decision made to monitor this fire instead of immediately acting to suppress it? Why was this decision made?” the Elk Grove Republican asked in a letter Tuesday to Vicki Christiansan of the Forest Service.

“Who made this decision and which USFS officials were consulted and informed? What legal authority authorized the USFS to allow this wildfire to burn in lieu of immediate full suppression?”

The Tamarack Fire in Alpine County, first triggered earlier this month by lightning, exploded in size last week fueled by strong winds and bone-dry vegetation.

“Given the number of wildfires and their increasing size coupled with severe fire danger conditions throughout the West, I recommend that you immediately re-evaluate current U.S. Forest Service direction that allows wildfires to burn and instruct all Regional Foresters that all wildfires be suppressed as soon as possible,” McClintock said.

He also is seeking six different fire-related documents, including incident status summaries, from the day the fire began July 4 through the day when it erupted, and Fire Decision Support Documents “from the start of the fire to the present.” McClintock also is requesting fire progression maps and incident action plans from the time the fire began to now.

The Tamarack Fire has nearly doubled in size since the time McClintock made these requests Tuesday.

Here are updates on the major wildfires burning in California.

Dixie Fire

The Dixie Fire grew to 103,900 acres (162 square miles) from 85,000 acres Wednesday morning. Containment is at 17% according to Cal Fire’s Butte unit, a slight uptick from 15% Wednesday.

The fire is burning in the Feather River Canyon in Butte and Plumas counties.

Six more structures were destroyed yesterday, bringing the total to eight. Another 1,500 structures are threatened as the fire continues to spread to the east and the north, according to Cal Fire.

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in numerous areas of Plumas County, and within the communities of Jonesville and High Lakes in Butte County. Wednesday afternoon, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office issued additional evacuation orders for Chester and the Lake Almanor peninsula. More detailed information on Plumas evacuations is available via the county website.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in a Sunday night filing to state utility regulators suggested its equipment likely sparked the wildfire; a troubleman observed the fire, as well as two blown fuses on a power pole, while inspecting an outage near its origin zone, PG&E wrote. PG&E announced Wednesday that it would move 10,000 miles of power lines underground in the coming years to decrease fire risk.

More than 3,900 personnel are now assigned to the Dixie Fire.

Tamarack Fire

As of Wednesday evening, the Tamarack Fire was reported at around 50,100 acres, according to Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest officials Crews have gained 4% containment over the fire.

The fire ignited in Alpine County and on Tuesday night crossed the border into Douglas County, Nevada. The fire jumped Highway 395 in Nevada on Wednesday afternoon, closing the road. Caltrans also closed Highway 395 between the Highway 89 junction and the Nevada state line.

The wildfire has prompted mandatory evacuations in Alpine County for Markleeville, Mesa Vista and other surrounding communities and campgrounds. Douglas County officials also issued evacuation warnings in some western parts of the county.

Over 1,200 firefighters are assigned to the incident, which was sparked by lightning more than two weeks ago but laid mostly dormant until gusty winds roared it to life over the weekend.

Caltrans closed stretches of Highway 88 and Highway 89 in Alpine County this week. Highway 88 remains closed from Picketts Junction in Markleeville to the Nevada state line. Highway 89 is closed at the intersection with Highway 4.

Other wildfires

▪ The Beckwourth Complex, a pair of fires burning in Plumas National Forest, stands at 105,670 acres and has not grown in four days, Forest Service officials said in a Wednesday evening update.

The fire complex is now 96% contained and officials lifted all evacuation orders and warnings.

The larger of the two fires within the incident, the Sugar Fire, flared and destroyed several homes in the town of Doyle last week.

Like the Tamarack Fire, lightning started the Beckwourth Complex in early July.

▪ The Frenchtown Fire, which ignited Tuesday afternoon in Yuba County, was fully contained Thursday morning. The blaze charred 45 acres near Frenchtown Dobbins Road and Seward Lane.

The fire briefly prompted evacuation orders and warnings for several residents in and around Frenchtown and Dobbins. The fire did not end up threatening any structures.

This story was originally published July 22, 2021 at 9:30 AM.