Dixie Fire likely to push past date for containment
The rains which came through the north valley Monday had little effect on the Dixie Fire. Officials with the Dixie Fire West Zone information line said there were substantial winds and the two had an off-setting effect.
Dixie Fire Rocky Mountain Incident Management team blue Public Information Officer Cass Cairns said given the large footprint of the Dixie Fire, some areas got no rain, some got as little as 1/10th of an in of rain and one area just south of Old Station got up to ½ inch of rain. Cairns said the rain helped as it brought cooler temperatures, and moisture and relative humidity levels rose.
The Lassen and Plumas National Forests released their final updates Tuesday for the Dixie Fire. Cairns said the original projected containment date for the
Dixie Fire was Thursday, however fire managers are currently evaluating the fire and officials will be making a revision on the date in the near future.
The Dixie Fire began at approximately 5:15 p.m. July 13 in the Feather River Canyon near Cresta Powerhouse. As of Tuesday the Dixie Fire was 94% contained and had burned 963,309 acres in parts of Butte, Tehama, Lassen and Plumas counties.
Fire officials are expecting minimal fire activity
with cooler temperatures and light winds Tuesday. Smoke may be visible throughout the week in parts where heavy fuels continue to burn within containment lines.
The National Weather Service said there is elevated fire weather concerns through Thursday morning due to breezy winds and low humidity. Winds were expected to shift Tuesday from the southwest to the north. Relative humidity levels will be 13-18% with temperatures scheduled to slowly rise next week.
Interior fires burned Monday after a red flag warning was issued because of winds between
20 and 40 miles per hours. Fire officials said control lines were never threatened Monday and ground crews worked with air support to put water on hot spots north of Mill Creek.
While fire suppression repair efforts are in the works, attack response to new or increased fire activity remained a top priority for firefighters Tuesday.
A closure order remains in some parts of Lassen and Plumas National Forests and can be found by visiting https://inciweb. nwcg.gov/incident/closures/7690/. A new interactive Dixie Fire forest closure map can be found at https:// arcg.is/1re8my0.