Northern California’s Shoe Fire now fully contained; blaze blackened more than 5,000 acres
The Shoe Fire in Shasta County is now fully contained, U.S. Forest Service officials announced this week, but with forecast rains come new concerns.
Forest Service crews contained the month-long blaze that burned through timber and chaparral in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest after it had charred 5,124 acres.
“The impact of the fire has been revealed, and the long-term effects on the affected area are significant,” officials said in an update.
Adding to the concerns, heavy rainfall Monday with a second round expected through the week over the burn area, threatening to undo the work done to repair the burn scar.
“If this crisis is not addressed properly, the potential consequences could be severe, due to the heavy rains forecast this week,” Forest Service officials said in a news release on Monday.
The fire broke out Oct. 9 near the Madrone Campground east of Shasta Lake. More than 500 firefighters battled the blaze at its peak as the fire marched through steep, rugged terrain. Crews were still patrolling the fire’s perimeter and the forest remains temporarily closed, Forest Service officials said.
The Shoe Fire was one of four burning in California and the largest of two burning in Northern California. A small fire burning in the Six Rivers National Forest was reported Tuesday as 50% contained, Cal Fire said.
The largest fire in the state is the destructive Mountain Fire burning near Camarillo in Ventura County. That blaze has blackened more than 23,600 acres and was 48% contained as of Tuesday morning — officials were confident that those lines would hold even as winds were forecast to slightly pick up.
“The fire is looking really good,” Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said late Monday. “The Mountain fire — we all feel comfortable — is buttoned up. You may see flare-ups, you may see dustups, and you’re going to feel a lot of ash and dust if you’re down wind from this fire.”
About 2,400 firefighters continue to battle the Mountain Fire now in its sixth day. The cause of the blaze, the south state’s largest since the Woosley Fire in 2018, remains under investigation.
As firefighters increase containment, new access to burned areas has revealed even more damage from the blaze that exploded last week during an exceptional wind event.
Officials on Tuesday said 207 structures have been destroyed, many of them homes, after more than a dozen teams inspected nearly 900 properties across the fire’s 20,630-acre footprint — an increase of more than 60 structures from the count on Monday. An additional 90 structures were also damaged, according to the latest tally from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Officials also reported more than $6 million in agriculture losses from the fire, which burned through avocado, citrus and raspberry fields, according to Korinne Bell, Ventura County’s agricultural commissioner.
In all, 7,594 wildfires have burned 1.04 million acres (1,625 square miles), according to Cal Fire. That’s up from the 308,897 acres burned in 2023 but below the state’s five-year average of 1.28 million acres burned.
One death has been reported during the year, the state’s forestry and fire agency said. Fires destroyed 1,437 structures and damaged 271 more.
This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 8:56 AM.
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