Smoke along coast should lighten through week
Evacuation warnings remain in effect for SoHum areas
Strong winds over the weekend caused wildfires burning to the northeast and to the south of Humboldt County to pick up, pushing smoke to the coast and causing renewed evacuation warnings for parts of the county.
The smoke should subside along the coast as the week progresses according to National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Kidwell, stationed at the Eureka branch.
Kidwell said winds coming off the coast Tuesday are helping to push the smoke out east. Wednesday night and into Thursday winds blowing south to north should help abate smoking skies along the coast further.
“It’ll be pretty smoky inland, not too far east of the coast, though,” Kidwell said.
August Complex fire
Heavy winds caused the north zone of the largest fire in modern state history to threaten portions of southeastern Humboldt County.
Evacuation warnings are in effect for areas east of Alderpoint Road to the Trinity County border and south of Showers Pass Road to Mountain Creek.
The northernmost flank of the north zone is uncontained and is burning on either side of Ruth Lake, and has jumped north across state Route 36, prompting the closure of the highway from the Humboldt-Trinity county line to Bowman Road in Tehama County.
“All roads on the east side of Ruth Lake and Ruth area roads are closed,” the U.S. Forest Service stated in a release. “All roads in Van Duzen, Mad River, Ruth, Hettenshaw and Zenia areas are closed.”
The changing winds are not making the firefight easy.
“Dry fuels and winds can carry fire quickly,” the U.S. Forest Service stated. “The winds are expected to shift to a flow from the north to northwest today, which will push the fire generally toward the southeast. However, the terrain can also funnel winds, shifting wind direction… Crews continue working in Ruth, Post Mountain, and Forest Glen defending structures and conducting structure triage.”
The August Complex fire as a whole had burned 938,044 acres and was 43% contained as of midday Tuesday.
The West Zone of the fire had burned 116,759 acres and was 65% contained as of Tuesday morning.
Evacuation warnings due to
the west zone are in effect for areas east of Bell Springs Road to the Trinity County line and south of Pipe Creek to the Mendocino County line. The West Zone is burning primarily in Trinity County.
Red Salmon Complex fire
The fire had burned 120,236 acres and was 31% contained as of Tuesday morning.
The fire is 14 miles north of Willow Creek and is burning in Humboldt, Trinity and Siskiyou counties.
The forest service reported Tuesday morning, “On the southwest portions of the fire, firefighters will secure control lies along Tish Tang Ridge to Box Camp to protect the Hoopa Valley Reservation, Willow Creek, Salyer, Hawkins Bar, and adjacent communities. On the west flank, firefighters and dozers (supplied by the Hoopa Valley Tribe) are building containment line to surround about 100 acres of fire, which pushed over the containment line in the Colgrove Branch of Mill Creek during Monday’s windy conditions.”
There are no evacuation orders or warnings for residents in Humboldt County due to the Red Salmon Complex fire.
Air quality update
The North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District on Tuesday issued an air quality advisory for northeastern and southeastern Humboldt County as air quality in those regions is expected to remain unhealthy and worse through Wednesday.
Smoke from the Red Salmon Complex fire is causing “unhealthy” conditions in Weitchpec, Hoopa Valley and Willow Creek.
Smoke from the August Complex fire is causing “unhealthy to very unhealthy” conditions in Fortuna and communities in the Eel River drainage, and in Garberville and Redway.
The smoke hanging over Eureka and the majority of coastal Humboldt County from Rio Dell to Trinidad caused “unhealthy” conditions Tuesday.
“Air quality will be highly dependent on fire activity from the August Complex as well as other fires burning regionally,” the district stated in a release. “… Smoke will settle into valleys each night and morning and may be slow to lift or remain in place the entire day.”