Northern California wildfires: Weather improves as crews fight Dixie Fire, other major blazes

Thousands of firefighters continue to battle multiple major wildfire incidents in Northern California, including the massive Dixie Fire, which has burned more than 1,100 square miles.

Containment on the Dixie Fire has ticked up to 40%, but it has charred 725,821 acres and is still growing, Cal Fire said in a Monday morning update. It remains the second-largest wildfire incident in recorded state history.

The west zone of the Dixie Fire stayed active late Sunday night but calmed some early Monday morning due to cooler weather and smoke settling back over the fire, according to Cal Fire. “Much quieter” weather is expected to continue to help crews most of this week, the fire agency wrote.

On the eastern zone of the fire, crews are working to secure containment lines near the Janesville and Taylorsville areas.

Severe drought is contributing to extreme conditions at the Dixie Fire and other incidents across the state.

“Fuel conditions are much worse than previous years,” Cal Fire wrote in its Monday morning update. “Firefighters are experiencing conditions never seen before, such as increased spread rates, spotting and active nighttime burning.”

Sprawling sets of evacuation orders include numerous communities and campgrounds in Plumas, Lassen and Tehama counties, along with evacuation warnings in Butte County.

More than 6,000 fire personnel are assigned to the blaze. Some engines on the Dixie Fire were rerouted early last week to the Caldor Fire in El Dorado County, which now has about 1,750 firefighters responding.

The cause of the Dixie Fire remains under investigation by Cal Fire, but Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in a filing to the state’s utility regulator acknowledged that equipment on one of the company’s power poles likely involved in sparking the wildfire.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday requested a presidential major disaster declaration, specific to the Dixie, Antelope, McFarland, Monument and River fires that have burned in parts Lassen, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties.

If approved by the Biden administration, the declaration would assist with support programs including housing assistance, food aid, medical and legal services and more for wildfire victims. It’d also offer funds to state, local and tribal governments.

The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said a subsequent declaration for the Caldor Fire burning in El Dorado County may be requested “once fire conditions allow state, local and federal officials to safely assess the scope of damage.”

Nine national forests that cover millions of acres are closed to the public due to wildfire impacts.

National Park Service officials wrote that seven of eight cabins on the shore of Juniper Lake at Lassen Volcanic National Park have been destroyed by the Dixie Fire.

The cabins “have been passed down through families and are very important to the history of those families,” park superintendent Jim Richardson wrote in a statement. The fire has burned nearly 50,000 acres on Lassen Volcanic National Park land.

Caldor Fire

The Caldor Fire continues to burn in rugged terrain along Highway 50 in the Sierra Nevada foothills, reported Monday at more than 106,000 acres with just 5% containment.

Nearly 25,000 El Dorado County residents in the areas of Pollock Pines, Sly Park and Kyburz have been evacuated.

Cal Fire and U.S. Forest Service officials now say more than 400 homes have been destroyed by the Caldor Fire, many of them in the ravaged town of Grizzly Flats, home to about 1,200 people.

Highway 50 is closed for 46 miles between Pollock Pines and Meyers due to the fire, which spotted across the highway near Kyburz on Saturday.

Trinity County fires

A pair of lightning-sparked wildfires, the Monument and McFarland fires near Trinity County, have each surpassed 100,000 acres since igniting in late July.

Activity is slowing because of improving weather conditions and increased humidity, according to the Forest Service, but there are still large amounts of extremely dry fuel that are receptive to burning.

The Monument Fire is now 150,011 acres with 20% containment, continuing to threaten more than 10,000 structures south of Del Loma near the Trinity River, according to a joint update Monday morning from Cal Fire and the Forest Service.

Evacuation orders remain in place for multiple communities including Hayfork, Junction City, Big Bar, Del Loma, Big Flat, Helena and Cedar Flat. Detailed evacuation information is available via the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office page on Facebook.

The McFarland Fire is 118,090 acres and 68% contained as of Monday morning, according to the Forest Service. Highway 36 remains closed between Harrison Gulch and Vestal Road.

Evacuation orders remain in place for the Shasta County community of Platina, where about 200 people live, as well as areas west of Vestal and Weemasoul roads in Tehama County along the Tehama-Shasta county line.

This story was originally published August 23, 2021 at 8:42 AM.

Michael McGough

The Sacramento Bee

916-326-5508

Michael McGough is a sports and local editor for The Sacramento Bee. He previously covered breaking news and COVID-19 for The Bee, which he joined in 2016. He is a Sacramento native and graduate of Sacramento State.