‘Ready to burn’: Tinder-dry conditions add to Siskiyou blazes
Mike Chapman
Major fires that have burned thousands of acres in Siskiyou County so far this summer show conditions are at a flashpoint.
"This time of year, our fuels are significantly drier. The grass is completely dried out and our timber and brush is ready to burn, too," said Aaron Johnson, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection who's assigned to the Mill and Mountain fires in Siskiyou County.
The state's persistent drought combined with dangerous red flag conditions create challenges for firefighters and keep residents on edge. About 84,000 acres have burned in the Mill, Mountain, McKinney, Yeti and Alex fires this summer.
"Our fuels are significantly ready to burn with any fire starts," Johnson said. "In the drought conditions over the past couple of years, the fires — when they do start — they seem to spread fairly quickly."
The deadly Mill Fire that started Friday afternoon in Weed had burned 4,263 acres as of Tuesday morning and was 55% contained, Cal Fire said.
Two women have died in the Mill Fire. One woman was 66 and the other was 73, according to Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue. They were found at separate locations; authorities have not released their names. There have been three civilian injuries.
The Mill Fire, located in the city of Weed and Lake Shastina, had destroyed 91 homes and damaged another 17 homes. Another 411 structures were threatened, Cal Fire said.
The larger blaze is the Mountain Fire, which was 11,690 acres and 20% contained Tuesday morning, Cal Fire said.
The Mountain Fire is in a more remote location, west of Interstate 5 and about 9 miles southwest of the community of Gazelle. It also started Friday afternoon.
Just two homes were destroyed in the Mountain Fire, but 690 were threatened.
Cal Fire estimates the blaze will be fully contained Sept. 19.
Causes of both of Friday's blazes were under investigation.
Other major fires that have burned in Siskiyou County this summer are the McKinney Fire west of Yreka that overran 60,138 acres in the Klamath River area. Four people died in that blaze.
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The Yeti and Alex fires, also in western Siskiyou County, burned 7,886 acres.
A smaller fire called the Edgewood Fire burned about 2 acres of timber and brush Monday near old Edgewood Road and the Weed Golf Club, Cal Fire said. The Weed Fire Department and Cal Fire stopped its forward spread.
Road closures as of Tuesday
Lake Shastina hard closures
- Big Springs Road at Rancho Hills Road/Seldom Seed Road
- Big Springs Road at Jackson Ranch R
- Jackson Ranch Road at Edgewood
Weed hard closures
- Hwy. 97 at W. Inez
- Alamo Ave. at Railroad
- Hwy. 97 at Hoy Road
- Hwy. 97 at Lincoln (east and west)
- Lincoln East/Broadway at Roseburg Parkway
- Hwy. 97 at Alameda Ave.
- Lakeshore Drive at Rainbow Road
- Big Springs Road at Shortcut
- Lakeshore Drive at Palmer Drive
Mountain Fire road closures
- Gazelle Callahan Road at Hwy. 99
- Gazelle Callahan Road at Hwy. 3
- Gazelle Callahan Road at Macks Gulch Road
As of Tuesday, Rescue Ranch in Yreka had in its care 91 dogs evacuated from Mill Fire communities. Other pets evacuated on Friday were picked up by their owners over the weekend. For information on evacuating animals call 530-842-0829.
Mike Chapman is an award-winning reporter and photographer for the Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif. His newspaper career spans Yreka and Eureka in Northern California and Bellingham, Wash. Support local journalism by subscribing today.