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State's tinderbox erupts Dozens of fires char California; Oregon, Nevada even worse off Larry D. Hatfield, Chronicle Staff Writer |
Monday, August 13, 2001
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Stinging wasps, precipitous terrain and searing temperatures hampered firefighters battling three major wildfires and several smaller ones in Northern California's tinder-dry forests today. Dozens of other smaller lightning-kindled blazes burned untended. It was even worse in Nevada, where seven high-desert wildfires have charred more than 100,000 acres since Wednesday. In Oregon, firefighters were contending with at last 40 lightning-caused fires driven by 40 mph winds, and crews in Washington's Wenatchee Forest were battling two dozen lightning-sparked blazes. Forecasters said that dry lightning associated with looming afternoon thunderstorms could make the fire situation throughout the West even worse in the coming days. One of the biggest California fires for the moment was a 16,000-acre blaze in the Blue Lake area of Lassen County. "Because of extreme drought, erratic winds and fire behavior, it's been really cooking," said fire spokeswoman Nancy Gardner of the lightning-caused blaze that started Thursday. The fire forced the evacuation of the 48-unit Blue Lake campground, although campground buildings and an eagle's nest apparently were spared when the blaze veered yesterday afternoon. "The eagles are back," Martinez said. "That's our good news." The bad news is that temperatures have been around 100 degrees and humidity has been dropping to as low as 7 percent as the afternoon winds pick up, Gardner said. About 1,200 firefighters are on the blaze, dubbed the Blue Fire, located some 13 miles east of Likely in heavy timber. Another fire was on the outskirts of Cedarville, in Modoc County. Some 38 smokejumpers parachuted into the South Warner Wilderness to fight another blaze there. Many fires were burning unchecked. "We've got fires all over the place," Gardner said, estimating as many as 50 fires were burning in forests in northeast California this morning. There were no estimates on when the fires would be contained. To the south, a fire on the Glenn-Colusa county line in the Mendocino National Forest had grown to 12,086 acres and was only 51 percent contained. The fire, burning in heavy chaparral, brush, grasses and oak woodland just four miles west of Stonyford, has destroyed 10 of the 27 homes in the area and six of the 70 other outbuildings, said fire spokeswoman Paula Martinez. Ten of the 1,501 firefighters on the blaze have received minor injuries, several of them stung by bees and wasps, and some from heat exhaustion, sprained limbs and cuts. Fire officials said swarms of yellow jackets, which are particularly active in hot weather, added to the challenges firefighters faced. Canyon winds up to 20 miles an hour and temperatures in the 90s joined with some of the driest fuel supplies in years to make fighting the fire extremely difficult. "We're going to have hot weather for another couple days at least," Martinez said. "We don't expect a cooldown until maybe Thursday and that's a problem." The cause of the Mendocino National Forest fire is under investigation. Along the California-Nevada state line northwest of Reno, air tankers and bulldozers fought to protect about 25 homes from a 19,300-acre fire in the Sierra Nevada. The blaze, about 10 miles east of the California hamlet of Doyle in Lassen County, was moving away from the homes this morning, but had destroyed five outbuildings, fire spokesman Kirk Frosdick said. At the mile-high elevation on the other side of the Sierra, a 300-acre fire was burning in dense and dry brush a mile and a half south of Emigrant Gap in the Tahoe National Forest. Spokeswoman Carol Kennedy said there were light winds in the area yesterday, but added, "we had pretty active fire behavior as it burned out of timber into real brush." The fire was 20 percent contained, with full containment expected by 6 p.m. tomorrow. Kennedy said fire officials had suggested a voluntary evacuation of several cabins in the area. There has been one minor injury among the 350 firefighters on the blaze. Gusty winds, more lightning-packed thunderstorms and continued drought made Nevada the hardest-hit of the western states. The largest blaze, in rugged high desert 25 miles north of Battle Mountain, nearly doubled in size yesterday as wind shifted directions. It had grown to 82,000 acres this morning. "It kicked our butt yesterday," fire spokesman Nick Zufelt said early today. "But crews last night made great progress." The fire closed a stretch of the Union Pacific Railroad for a few hours yesterday. Flames and towering plumes of smoke from the fire could be seen from Interstate 80 near Battle Mountain. Many parts of Nevada are in the middle of their driest year in a century; in Reno, this is the driest on record since 1872. Oregon officials were most concerned about a 3,000-acre grass and brush fire 20 miles southwest of Medford that threatened expensive hillside homes and other structures. The Associated Press contributed to this report. / E-mail Larry D. Hatfield at lhatfield@sfchronicle.com |
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