Smoke lingering across Sacramento from wildfires in Northern California. Where are they burning?
The Shoe Fire burning on Shasta County forestland has grown to more than 3,200 acres, Cal Fire officials said in a Monday morning update, but air quality in Sacramento is much improved from what was a smoky weekend throughout much of the region.
Air quality in the Sacramento region was at its poorest Saturday, charting at 53 on the air-quality index, but was generally in the “good” range Monday. The average air quality index was 25 at mid-morning, said air quality officials, though some areas saw PM 2.5 readings in the mid-50s.
PM 2.5 is particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or smaller. Air quality officials say children, the elderly, and people suffering from heart or lung disease, asthma, or chronic illness are most sensitive to the effects of PM2.5 exposure.
Nearly 500 firefighters are battling the Shoe Fire, now just 7% contained and burning in steep, rugged terrain; while crews are keeping watch on a second spot fire that ignited little more than a mile northeast of the main blaze. Work on Monday was focused on the fire’s western flank. Crews hiked to a creek bed there that appeared to be acting as a fire break. Dubbed the Delta Hotel break, Jamie Rickard, a U.S. Forest Service operations section chief, said the fire is holding on the creek bottom.
“Everything’s holding in the creek, so we’re going to work on getting more resources in to shore that up and make sure that (the fire) holds on the creek,” Rickard said. Meantime, more firefighters and equipment are also moving to the northern end of the fire.
“The plan is to look for opportunity to go direct with equipment, as direct as possible to the north end of the fire,” she said.
But the Shoe Fire also continued its march eastward, jumping Bear Trap Creek, where mission planners had anticipated holding the line. Fire is now sitting on the east side of the creek. It’s not making big runs or moving fast, Rickard said, but fire officials will be looking at other locations where firefighters can hold the fire to the west of the creek.
Rickard said bulldozers are also being deployed to fire lines in the southeastern and southern section of the fire, still the most active areas burning on Monday, to keep the fire from progressing any farther south.
A late-night fire mapping flight 11 p.m. Sunday marked the fire at 3,231 acres.
In the capital region, Cal Fire crews tackled a blaze that sparked Monday morning on the edge of Shingle Springs.
The Ridge Fire, at roughly 2 acres, broke out about 10 a.m. in the area of Tulle Lane south of Holiday Lake. Cal Fire received reports of flames and smoke near a home in the area before crews responded and quickly controlled the fire’s spread.
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