New command takes over at Tamarack Fire - No containment, 39, 045 acres burn

6:00PM UPDATE: Woodfords, Markleeville and Mesa Vista continued to be evacuated. Conditions over the fire continue to be drier and hotter than normal this time of year with a mass of unstable air, creating acceleration of the Tamarack Fire.

Highlights from the 6:00 p.m. briefing by fire command: As of now, the northern corner of the fire is seeing success from firefighters. The northeast side continues to see active fire, getting close to the state line. Highest priority is the Hwy 395 corridor and the northeast corner of the fire so they are looking for areas to create dozier lines to prevent progress. Eastern side of the fire had been laying low but made movement Tuesday. Hot conditions and dry fuels enable the fire to continue to be active. The south end of the fire has step, natural barriers and rocks, but a fair amount of fuel....it is currently unstaffed with firefighters and fire behavior is minimal. Towards Woodfords on the northwest size there has been a lot of fire activity, making it another big priority for firefighters. They want to keep the fire spread west of SR 89 and south of SR88.

They have 24-hour staffing and will add additional resources as needed.

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The Tamarack Fire is approximately 39,045 acres and is 0 percent contained this morning. Nearly 1,100 personnel are working on the fire and more resources are on order. The objective for managing the fire is full suppression, and all efforts will be directed towards meeting that objective with public and firefighter safety foremost in mind.

Command of the fire has changed. A Rocky Mountain Area Type 1 Incident Management Team assumed command of the fire at 6:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. Team members are mainly from Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. Dan Dallas is Incident Commander.

The dedicated fire social media pages have changed:

InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7674/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tamarackfireinfo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tamarack_fire
Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCllqup_9I-v-O6woWUCATfA/videos

From 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., the following contact information is available

Information Phones: 775-434-8629 Email: 2021.tamarack@firenet.gov

As a fire gets larger and additional resources are brought in, the fire is broken into geographic areas called Branches and Divisions to help focus suppression efforts and to help with supervisory span of control. We will use these terms in our updates to provide specific information about each part of the fire perimeter. Branches and Divisions are shown on the fire maps.

Branch I: Today in Division K, firefighters will focus on improving the existing dozer and hand firelines on the north side of the fire and extending them further to the east. In Division O, where the fire was very active yesterday, the focus will be on looking for options for direct and indirect fireline construction that will prevent further movement to the east. This is the highest priority for today. Along Hwy 395, a structure protection group will be conducting structure assessments and doing structure preparation where needed in the event the fire makes another push to the east and impacts the area.

Branch II: Fire personnel in Divisions T and Z on the south end of the fire will be scouting the area looking for options for fireline construction. There has been little recent fire movement in this area, so it is lower priority than other areas of the fire. Once additional resources arrive, fireline construction in the area will begin.

Branch III: On the west side of the fire in Division F, the fire was active into the night, burning west of CA-89 and south of CA-88. This is another high priority area of the fire. The structure protection group will be providing point protection as needed in Sierra Pines, Woodford, and around other structures in the division. Firefighters will be scouting for potential direct fireline options. Division A will be monitored today pending arrival of additional resources that have been ordered.

Weather & Fuel Conditions: About 0.05” of rain fell on the fire yesterday, and a few isolated lightning strikes occurred on the fire’s north side. The next several days will bring a warming and drying trend with light upslope winds changing to the SW at 10-15 mph in the afternoons, gusting to 25 on ridgetops. Fuels remain very dry and fire behavior will continue to be aggressive, with potential for high rates of fire spread.

Evacuations, Closures, and Fire Restrictions: For the latest information about pre-evacuation or evacuation notices, visit https://www.alpinecountyca.gov/AlertCenter.aspx…. For the latest on area, road, and trail closures and fire restrictions on National Forest lands, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/htnf/alerts-1069notices/… .

Temporary Flight Restriction (TRF): A TFR is in place over the Tamarack Fire. Wildfires are a No Drone Zone. If you fly, we can’t. Whenever a drone is spotted near the fire all aircraft are grounded until we can be sure the drone is clear of the area. For more information, visit http://knowbeforeyoufly.org.