Rain soaks deadly McKinney Fire, shifting some concern to Northern California mudflows
A monsoonal rainstorm doused the McKinney Fire on Tuesday evening, quelling fire behavior on the deadly Northern California blaze while also introducing mudflow and flash flooding risks in nearby parts of Siskiyou County.
The U.S. Forest Service on Wednesday morning reported the McKinney Fire at 57,519 acres, or 90 square miles, with containment reported at 0%. The blaze ignited Friday afternoon in Klamath National Forest and grew explosively over the weekend, amid thunderstorms that stirred up heavy wind gusts.
At least four people died in the fire. Two were found Saturday in a burned-out vehicle along a residential driveway, and two others were discovered by search crews Monday at separate homes. All three residences were along Highway 96.
A contractor working on the fire was injured Tuesday night, authorities said.
“Last night we had a bridge give out near Humbug Road within the evacuation zone,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote in an update to social media Wednesday morning. “The individual inside was a private contractor working the fire and was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries.”
Fire isn’t the only problem after Tuesday’s rains. A mudflow around 8 p.m. Tuesday was “washing down entire trees and other debris” in the Whitney Creek area, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in social media posts.
“The berm holding Whitney Creek is at severe risk” of breaking or overflowing, which could flood the Mount Shasta Vista area, the Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.
Flash flood and debris mudflow warnings were issued for southwest Mount Shasta Vista and Juniper Valley and remained in place as of 8 a.m. Wednesday. Residents in those areas should be ready to evacuate on short notice.
The highest flash flood danger as of Tuesday evening was not in the immediate area of the McKinney Fire, with Tuesday’s evacuations about 15 miles southeast of Yreka.
Charlie Ray, 54, a homeless man from Yreka staying at the American Red Cross’s evacuation center in Weed, said he felt cautiously optimistic. He said he hoped Tuesday’s rain storms soaked the fire, but he was worried the lightning could have sparked more blazes.
“Hopefully it gets put out,” he said. “But sometimes rain can bring more fire.”
More than 1,800 personnel are assigned to the McKinney Fire, according to the Forest Service.
Crews braced Monday and Tuesday for additional scattered thunderstorms with potential to stoke flames with heavy gusts or ignite new fire starts via lightning, but no major flare-ups have been reported on the blaze since the weekend. After exploding to 55,000 acres by Monday morning, it has grown by fewer than 3,000 acres since.
Fire crews on Monday finished constructing bulldozer lines around Yreka to protect the city, which is home to about 7,500 people.
The Forest Service in a Tuesday incident report said the containment plan for the next 24 hours involves “direct and indirect line construction in all branches as weather has moderated fire behavior.”
The monsoon system continues to linger over Northern California. The National Weather Service office in Eureka issued a “hazardous weather outlook” advisory for northern Trinity County, advising of more isolated thunderstorms possible Wednesday afternoon and evening.
This story was originally published August 3, 2022 at 8:29 AM.
