Fire updates: Fork, North, Slink, Creek

There are over 40 major fires currently burning in California, filling skies with heavy smoke from the ocean to the Sierra up and down the state. While there are no fires in the Lake Tahoe Basin, there are a few close enough to be responsible for sending smoke into the region. The closest is the Fork Fire east of Lake Tahoe about 13 miles northeast of Pollock Pines. To the south is the Slink Fire and northwest is the large North Complex.

Fork Fire

Statistics on the Fork Fire have not been updated all day. As of 11:00 a.m. Wednesday the estimated size was 2,500 acres.

Full suppression strategy with confine/contain tactics; minimize fire spread within Rubicon River drainage; protect communities of Volcanoville, Quintet, Stumpy Meadows and Georgetown; protect private timber sales; protect critical hydroelectric infrastructure and a critical high voltage KV line that provides power to the Sacramento region.

Evacuations: El Dorado County Sheriff's Office issued a mandatory evacuation for Volcanoeville, Quintet and Stumpy Meadows last night, affecting approximately 600 residents; an evacuation service center has been set up at the Cool Community Church at 863 Cave Valley Rd. in Cool, CA. Please note, the community of Georgetown is NOT under the evacuation order at this time.

For more information, visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7165/.

Slink Fire

The Slink Fire southwest of Topaz Lake has burned 22,474 acres, with 36 percent containment. It was reported on August 29 at 6:00 p.m. in the Slinkard Valley. It is burning in Ponderosa Pine, Pinyon-Juniper and mixed conifer and was a result of recent lightning in the area.

The fire has grown to 22,474 acres, with 36% containment. 542 personnel are on scene.

Evacuations are no longer in effect for Cunningham Lane south to the town of Walker. Highway 395 is open.

The hard work of all fire personnel on the Slink Fire made it possible for firefighters to continue to construct direct and indirect line on active areas of the fire. Containment lines on the east side of the fire above Highway 396 is well established. This allows the crews working along the line to move from fire suppression, to repair.

The western flank of the fire is still actively engaged in fire suppression and containment. The main focus of these efforts is in the areas of Mineral Mountain, as well as the East Fork Carson River drainage. To suppress and contain in these areas, crews are building and extending lines, utilizing aviation resources to apply water, and installing pumps and hose lays. Fire Managers are utilizing all of the available resources to prevent fire from spreading to the west side of the East Fork Carson River.

For more on the Slink Fire, visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7105/.

North Complex (Bear, Claremont, Sheep Fires)

The North Complex Fire continues to grow. It is now 252,163 acres and has dropped to 24 percent containment. he North Complex Fire experienced extreme fire behavior and growth throughout the night after jumping the Middle Fork of the Feather River yesterday morning. Topography, high winds, and dry fuels aligned to produce unprecedented fire behavior. Spread rates of 1,000 acres per 30 minutes resulted in an additional 80,000 acres being added to the North Complex to the southwest of the original footprint.

The fire is meeting up with the dozer lines of the Camp Fire so firefighters will be utilizing those to build containment lines to the north of Lake Oroville, and building up dozer lines to the south above LaPorte and Challenge. It is unified command now with USFS and Calfire.

1,352 firefighters are working on the combined three lightning caused fires.

Wind expected with southwest flow on Thursday and continued warm and dry conditions.

An Evacuation Advisory is in effect for: Meadow Valley: From Bucks Lake Road at Big Creek Road east to Snake Lake Road and Feather River Canyon (HWY 70): From the Plumas/Butte County Line east to Belden, this includes the Community of Belden for Plumas County.

Butte County Evacuation Information: Residents are highly encouraged to reach out to friends and family to create a plan for themselves and their animals in the event an evacuation order is issued. Resources are available; however, due to the situation surrounding COVID-19, resources may become limited.

Butte County Sheriff's Office has issued the following Evacuation Orders:
An Evacuation Order has been issued for the communities of Berry Creek, Brush Creek, Forbestown, Clipper Mills and Feather Falls. An Evacuation Order has been issued for residents living east of Miners Ranch Road at Highway 162 & Oro Bangor Highway, which includes Bangor and the Mt. Ida area. An Evacuation Order has been issued for the communities of Kelly Ridge and Copley Acres. An Evacuation Order has been issued for Cherokee Road at Hwy 70, south to Thompson Flat Cemetery Road, and all areas east to Lake Oroville.

For more information on the North Complex, visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6997/.

Creek Fire

The Creek Fire was responsible for sending heavy smoke into the Lake Tahoe Basin after starting on September 4. 166,965 acres have burned with no containment. There are 1,336 personnel on site.

North Zone - Fire activity remains active about the inversion layer. Under the inversion, fire activity was low to moderate.

South Zone - The fire activity burned throughout the night with short range spotting and active runs. The critical fuels were completely consumed in portions of the fire. Active crown runs were observed in timber stands in the higher elevations.

All evacuations orders and warnings are still in place and it "will be awhile" until repopulation. They are still looking for people hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and John Muir Trail and waiting for them to come out so they can be transported safely. Creek Fire info - https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7147/.