Tucker Fire burning near Modoc County wildlife refuge explodes to nearly 13,000 acres
A wildfire burning in Modoc County has exploded to nearly 13,000 acres as of Tuesday morning after sparking Sunday afternoon, according to the U.S. Forest Service and local law enforcement.
The Tucker Fire started Sunday afternoon near Highway 139 and Dry Lake in Modoc County, located in the northeast corner of California. The blaze grew by more than 10,000 acres over the course of Monday, up to a total of 12,973 acres as of Tuesday morning, according to a 7:30 a.m. incident update by the U.S. Forest Service.
The fire, which is now California’s biggest so far in 2019, remains 0 percent contained.
No evacuation orders are in place as of Tuesday morning, but the Modoc County Sheriff’s Office has issued warnings to residents near County Roads 114 and 202, and the Coyote Butte and Horse Mountain areas, according to a Facebook post by the sheriff.
The fire is burning less than 10 miles east of the Clear Lake National Wildlife Refuge, which covers more than 46,000 acres (73 square miles) and is a “critical wildlife habitat,” according to Tuesday morning’s incident report.
The U.S. Forest Service, which manages Modoc National Forest, is the lead agency handling the wildfire.
The U.S. Forest Service said in incident report updates throughout Monday that the Tucker Fire was not directly threatening homes, but had potential to impact power lines and outbuildings in the area.
After reporting good progress by bulldozers Sunday amid “erratic fire behavior,” the Modoc National Forest page on Facebook said in later posts that increased fire activity led the blaze to jump containment lines Monday afternoon.
The Forest Service says on its incident page that the Tucker Fire is suspected to have been caused unintentionally by humans, but did not give any further details on the exact cause, which remains under investigation.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for Modoc County last week, in effect Tuesday afternoon through that same evening, due to increasing winds and decreased humidity.
No such warning is currently in place for this week, but NWS forecasts anticipate wind gusts up to 25 mph Tuesday and Wednesday, with high temperatures in the mid-80s most of the week. Patchy smoke conditions are also anticipated through at least midweek.
This story was originally published July 30, 2019 at 8:14 AM with the headline "Tucker Fire burning near Modoc County wildlife refuge explodes to nearly 13,000 acres."
