Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency as two northern California counties race to extinguish growing wildfires that are threatening small mountain communities.
One man has died and several homes have burned in the Happy Camp Complex Fire, which continues to crawl through Siskiyou County next to the Oregon border.
The Smith River Complex Fire, in neighboring Del Norte County to the west, was ignited by lightning. A cause has not been determined for the Happy Camp blaze. Both fires started Aug. 15.
The state of emergency declaration will make it easier for those affected to get help from out-of-state contractors to restore electricity in the area. The proclamations also support impacted residents by easing access to unemployment benefits and waiving fees to replace driver’s licenses and other records.
Smith River Fire
The Smith River Complex Fire was only 7 percent contained Aug. 31 and had burned 83,974 acres in the mountains of the Six Rivers National Forest, according to the U.S. Forest Service.The fire lines were holding around Gasquet, an unincorporated mountain town in Del Norte County with about 600 residents.
Previously, Gasquet residents were evacuated, Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Deputy Kristen Debacker told The Epoch Times. So far, deputies have not responded to any calls involving injuries or other reports during the fire, she said.
The sheriff’s office has also issued evacuation orders for several small areas of the county, including all communities between Slant Bridge Road north to the Oregon Border along Highway 199. Other areas include Patrick Creek, Little Jones Creek, Copper Creek Drainage, Coon Creek, Panther Flat Campground area, and other less populated locations.
As of Aug. 31, more than 3,000 firefighting personnel were dedicated to the wildfire.
Winds arrived Wednesday with gusts up to 20 miles per hour in the upper elevations. An increase in moisture helped limit the fire activity overall.
The sheriff has also warned the small community of Hiouchi to be ready to evacuate.
The American Red Cross has also set up a shelter at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds in Crescent City for those displaced by evacuations.
Firefighting efforts by national, state, and local crews—including the use of drones and other technology—have helped keep flames away from the towns, according to Ryan Berlin, a spokesperson with the Smith Creek Complex Fire Information Center.
“The towns are looking better,” Mr. Berlin told The Epoch Times. “They’ve put a lot of resources and effort into saving [Gasquet].”
Happy Camp Fire
Officials are investigating what started the Happy Camp Complex Fire as fire crews continued to battle several blazes in the area. The fires grew Thursday to more than 25,000 acres in the Klamath National Forest near California’s border with Oregon.Several small fires have erupted since the incident started two weeks ago. Thunderstorms have also brought lightning and flames to the timber and rural regions.
The fire has caused one death, according to officials, as it rocked Scott Bar, a tiny community in Siskiyou County about 19 miles west of Yreka.
A 71-year-old man was found dead by Siskiyou County Sheriff’s deputies in the early morning hours of Aug. 16. The resident was found in the driveway of his home. An autopsy will be performed to find the cause of death, the sheriff’s office reported in a press release posted on social media.
The fires have also destroyed nine homes and damaged two others in the town, a Happy Camp Complex Fire spokeswoman Keila Vizcarra told The Epoch Times.
Del Norte County and Crescent City have also opened clean-air shelters to help residents affected by poor air quality caused by the fires, according to the Del Norte County Office of Emergency Services.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office continued to issue evacuation warnings for areas around the fire Wednesday.
Moisture was expected to move into the region, bringing a chance of rain to the area.
About 3,500 fire personnel were on scene and 336 people have been evacuated.
The Klamath National Forest is spread across 2,656 acres in Northern California and Southern Oregon. Forest officials have ordered two sections closed during the fire and a section of the Pacific Crest Trail has also been closed between the Shelly Fork Junction and Seiad Valley, California.
In 2014, Siskiyou County suffered another megafire, also called the Happy Camp Complex Fire, which was sparked by lightning on Aug. 12. The blaze began as 18 smaller fires and surrounded the community of Happy Camp.
By Oct. 31, 2014, the fires had merged and burned 134,000 acres along 28 miles of the Klamath River canyon.
‘Red-Flag’ Weather
California is positioning firefighting equipment and resources after northern Sacramento Valley issued its first “red flag” warning of the year, moving equipment to communities most at risk, according to the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.The National Weather Service issued the warning Wednesday as winds gusting up to 35 miles per hour coupled with low humidity were expected in the region.
“While wildfire season is year-round in California, we’re heading into some of the most challenging months for fire weather—and we’re better equipped than ever before,” Mr. Newsom said in an Aug. 30 press release. “We’ve sent additional equipment and firefighters to where the latest weather and prediction technology shows the greatest wildfire risk and are using some of the most advanced tools in the world to detect and monitor new wildfires.”
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFIRE) recently launched a pilot program that uses artificial intelligence to monitor live camera feeds and issue alerts if any anomalies are detected. The program has alerted CalFIRE to 77 fires so far, the forestry department reported.
