Coming front could push flames

‘ We are being wind tested,’ official says

As welcome as the cooler temperatures and cloud cover is for residents, they also bring the possibility of spreading the North Complex fires farther, possibly across containment lines.

Winds with gusts up to 22mph are forecasted for the upcoming front and are expected to last several days.

Fire officials with the Plumas National Forest warned that status changes could be possible, depending on the weather, including closure of Highway 70 which is now open. Drivers face onelane, escorted traffic through the Feather River Canyon, from Rock Crest to Rock Creek, but that was expected to open to regular traffic.

Caltrans website https://roads.dot.ca.gov will have the latest information on the road, along with Butte County and Plumas County sheriff offices websites and Facebook pages.

Containment on the fire is now at 88% with 318,930 acres burned.

Fire crews have been working on expanding containment lines, as well as contingency lines across Highway 70, should the fire spread. As of Thursday evening, it had not jumped Highway 70.

Aggressive runs through red fir and slope- driven runs to tops of ridges are possible, according to the Plumas National Forest report for Thursday.

“Dry fuels and winds pose a threat for spotting across the uncontained line.”

Gusty south- to- southwest winds up to 22 mph are expected over the next few days ahead of a developing Pacific storm system approaching the West Coast this weekend.

“We are being wind tested,” said Operation Section Chief Jake Cagle in the U.S. Forest Services’ evening briefing Thursday. “We have not picked up any spots.”

PG& E has restored power to the Bucks Lake and Haskins area.

Cagle also said the forest service expects to be able to work with local sheriff’s offices and open the Bucks Lake area by the end of the weekend.

He said the Forest Service briefings would be cut down to one per day in the evening in the future.

The Forest Service posts it’s virtual community meetings on the Plumas National Forest Facebook page www.facebook.com/USFSPlumas.