GOLD FIRE

UPDATE 4 – WEDNESDAY

INCIDENT SUMMARY

Two separate wildfires, one in the north and the second in the south were called in by 2 CAL Trans employees on Monday, July 20, 2020.  The fires sparked by unknown ignitions would eventually merge into a single firestorm.   The cause is being investigated.

Located approximately 4-5 miles south of Adin on Hwy 139 in Lassen County, California.  It The fire has not crossed over Modoc County.

RESOURCES 

Incident Cooperators

• Lassen County Sheriff’s Office
• CA DOT
• Modoc County Sheriff’s Office
• CHP
• Lassen Co Public Health
• Shasta Co Public Health
• Surprise Valley Electric
• CA Conservation Corps
• CA DOC
• Lassen Co OES
• NWS
• BLM
• Sierra Pacific Industries

Command

CAL FIRE and Modoc National Forest are in Unified Command.

Personnel, Equipment

• 949 Personnel
• 105 engines
• 27 dozers
• 18 water tenders
• 21 crews
• 10 helicopters
• 159 other misc resources

CURRENT STATUS 

• 14,500 acres
• 15% contained
• 25 structures threatened
• Evacuations/road closures in effect
• $2.2 Million CTD

Photo Credit | @alertwildfire

MANDATORY EVACUATIONS IN EFFECT

The following evacation orders are currently in effect.

ZONE A

• All residents along Hwy 139 from Susanville Rd (A-2) south to Termo Grasshopper Road.

ZONE B

• Areas south of Ash Valley Rd
• West of Spooner Rd
• East of Hw 139
• North of Termo Grasshopper Road

ZONE C

• Areas west of Hwy 139, south of Haydenhill Road.
• South of Haydenhill Rd
• East of Anderson Ranch Rd/Dixie Valley Rd
• North of Long Flat Rd

ZONE D

• Ash Valley Rd at US 395 west to Spooner Rd
• South on Spooner Rd to Hwy 139
• East on Hwy 319 to Termo Grasshopper Rd to US 395

ZONE E

• Areas west of Hwy from Terom Grasshopper Rd
• South Gleghorn Rd
• East of Slate Creek Rd

Photo Credit | Crockett Carquinez FD

EVACUATION SHELTER

• Lassen Community College – 478200 CA-139, Susanville, CA 96130

INJURIES

2 Firefighters.

SOCIAL MEDIA

@nwfireblog – Twitter & Facebook — NW Fire Blog – Instagram

HASHTAGS

#CAwildfires #GoldFire #FireSeason2020

 

7/22/2020 1455 PT | 4 |  (c) 2020 NW Fire Blog | 1240 PT

GOLD FIRE

Update 4 – July 22, 2020

INCIDENT SUMMARY

Two separate wildfires, one in the north and the second in the south were called in by 2 CAL Trans employees on Monday, July 20, 2020.  The fires sparked by unknown ignitions would eventually merge into a single firestorm.   The cause is being investigated.

Photo Credit | Modoc County Sheriff’s Office

Located approximately 4-5 miles south of Adin on Hwy 139 in Lassen County, California.  It The fire has not crossed over Modoc County.

RESOURCES 

Incident Cooperators

 Modoc and Lassen County Sheriff’s Offices, CHP, CAL OES, BLM, USFS, CAL Trans, Lassen and Shasta County Public Health Departments, CA Conservation Corps, CA DOC, Lassen OES and NWS.

Command

CAL FIRE and Modoc National Forest are in Unified Command.

Personnel, Equipment

There are 736 total personnel along with 117 engines, 20 water tenders, 10 helicopters, 0 air tankers, 8 hand crews, 19 dozers and 50 overhead personnel.

CURRENT STATUS 

• 14,000 Acres, 5% containment reached
• 25 structures threatened
• Evacuation orders stil in effect
• Traffic impacted on Hwy 139
• Firefighters working relentlessly to contain fire

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS 

• 50 civilians evacuated
• $750,000 CTD
• 2 firefighters are home, on road to recovery

MANDATORY EVACUATIONS IN EFFECT

The following evacation orders are currently in effect.

• Butte Creek Area
• Hwy 139 from Susanville Rd (A-2) to Termo Grasshopper Road
• South of Ash Valley Road
• West of Spooner Road, East of Hwy 139
• North of Terma Grasshopper Road
• West of Hwy 139
• South of Hayden Road
• East of Anderson Ranch Road
• Dixie Valley and Long Flat Roads

SHELTER

• Lassen Community College – 478200 CA-139, Susanville, CA 96130

ROAD CLOSURES

• Hwy 139 at Susanville Road (A-2)
• Hwy 139 at Terma Grasshoper Road
• Hwy 139 at Butte Creek Road
• Hwy 139 open with escort vehicles

INJURIES

2 Firefighters.

Update

Small town Adin welcomes home its Fire Chief (Paul Lemke) and fellow Firefighter (Craig)  in style after they suffered injuries on this fire when they were forced to deploy their fire shelters due to a burnover.

They are home now and on the road to recovery.

Photo Credit | Modoc County Sheriff’s Office

We are thinking of them, their family members, fellow firefighters and communities they serve. May they both recover quickly. Prayers to all.

SOCIAL MEDIA

@nwfireblog – Twitter & Facebook — NW Fire Blog – Instagram

HASHTAGS

#CAwildfires #GoldFire #FireSeason2020

 

7/22/2020 1455 PT | 4 |  (c) 2020 NW Fire Blog

GOLD FIRE

Update 3

INCIDENT SUMMARY |  What would have started as two separate wildfires in the north and south areas on Hwy 139, would in the end merge into one single fire storm. Fires had been discovered by two observant CAL Trans employees on Monday, July 20, 2020.

It is located approximately 4-5 miles south of Adin, California on the Lassen County side.  The County Sheriff has confirmed it has not crossed over into Modoc County as of this evening’s post.

It is also burning north of nearby HOG FIRE, another large firestorm topping in at 9,000 acres with a 5% containment status.  It’s cause is also unknown.

CAUSE | Cause is unknown and under investigation.

RESOURCES 

30 engines. 2 water tenders, 7 helicopters, 0 air tankers, 7 hand crews, 4 dozers and 223 total personnel are assigned to this incident.

INCIDENT COOPERATORS | CAL FIRE, CEDR Digital Corps, Lassen County Sheriff Office, NWS Reno, USFS – Modoc, Modoc County Sheriff’s Office, CAL FIRE PIO, Butte Co AQMD, CHP, CAL OES, BLM.

Command | CAL FIRE and Modoc National Forest are in Unified Command.

Personnel | Multiple strike teams are en route at the time of this post.

Strike Team 2003 Charlie | Presidio FD, Oakland FD, Alco FD, Moraga Orinda FD, XAL  dispatched.

Strike Team 2140 Charlie | San Rafael FD, Marinwood FD E65.

CURRENT STATUS |   Listing the current situation.

• 8,500 acres. 5% contained (1937)
• Charlie Strike Teams en route to the fire line
• 16 structures under direct threat; 0 structures have been destroyed or damaged
• Expected containment is on 8/4/2020

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS | Significant events having occurred throughout this morning, day and evening.

• Fire observed at 9 miles long (0300)
• 4,500 acres. 0% contained. (0718)
• RED FLAG WARNINGS in effect around the fire
• Line of T-storms aproaching area, will impact within 1 hour. Dangerous outflow winds will likely occur. Fire behavior may become unpredictable and dangerous (1620)
• More evacuations in effect (throughout day)
• Air operations (including AA) shutdown and left the fire area due to impending thunderstorms; AA reports heavy fire activity as they are all leaving (1834)
• CAL FIRE LMU managing 2 large wildfires: GOLD and HOG FIRES
• While firefighters and support personnel fight these wildfires, the CA Public Health reported a total-to-date of 391,538 COVID cases as of July 20, 2020.

=== MANDATORY EVACUATIONS IN EFFECT ===

The following evacation orders are currently in effect.

• Butte Creek Area
• Hwy 139 from Susanville Rd (A-2) to Termo Grasshopper Road
• South of Ash Valley Road
• West of Spooner Road, East of Hwy 139
• North of Terma Grasshopper Road
• West of Hwy 139
• South of Hayden Road
• East of Anderson Ranch Road
• Dixie Valley and Long Flat Roads

== SHELTERS ==

• Adin Community Center, 605 CA-299, Adin, CA 96006.
• Lassen Community College Dorms.
• Pets are case-by-case

ROAD CLOSURES | Road Closures are listed below.

• Hwy 139 at Susanville Road (A-2)
• Hwy 139 at Terma Grasshoper Road
• Hwy 139 at Butte Creek Road

INJURIES | 2 Firefighters were injured on Sunday when they were forced to deploy their emergency shelters as a burnover occurred.  Both were transported urgently off the fire line and to a nearby LZ.  They were said to have an unknown degree of burns.  (7/20/2020 1624-1635).  We are thinking of them, their family members, fellow firefighters and communities they serve. May they both recover quickly. Prayers to all.

AIR EQUALITY | Good air equality reported in the Bay area so far but not so great in the State overall, due to larger burning wildfires such as the HOG, GOLD and MINERAL FIRES.

PHOTO(S) CREDIT | USFS – Modoc NF

SOCIAL MEDIA | @nwfireblog – Twitter & Facebook — NW Fire Blog – Instagram

HASHTAGS | #CAwildfires #GoldFire #FireSeason2020

UPDATED 7/21/2020 2100 PT |  (c) 2020 NW Fire Blog