Beckwourth Complex Morning Update: Saturday, July 10

Beckwourth Complex Morning Update: Saturday, July 10
Beckwourth Complex Acres Percent
Containment
Total
Acreag
e
Overall
containment Total Personnel
Dotta 670 80%
55,091 8% 1,256
Sugar 54,421 8%
Resources: 34 crews, 107 engines, 15 helicopters, 17 dozer, 15 water tenders
Current Situation: The Dotta Fire within the Beckwourth Complex exhibited no growth, while
the Sugar Fire had intense growth of over 16,365 acres, progressing further northeast reaching
Constantia Road, and spotting within one mile of Doyle Grade Road. Significant resources are
staged in the area for structure protection, which is currently under a mandatory evacuation
order among several other communities. This extreme fire behavior is due to several factors
coming alignment with critically dry and receptive fuels, hot temperatures, topography
arrangement and southwest winds funneling through them.
After the inversion lifted yesterday afternoon, the fire developed a highly visible, large
pyrocumulonimbus cloud, with reports of lightning on the east side of the fire.
Indirect bulldozer line was constructed in several areas for structure protection, focusing on the
south/southeastern flank of the fire behind community of Chilcoot, and the northeastern flank
below residences on Constantia Road. Additional areas on the northwestern flank of the fire
were scouted for constructing indirect lines down toward Dixie Valley to box the main body of
the fire in, taking into consideration how frequent the spotting behavior is.
During night operations, firefighters were successful in conducting strategic firing operations
from bulldozer lines constructed on the south flank of the fire to guide fire back up into the
main body of it.
High potential for extremely active fire behavior with group torching, long-range spotting and
pyrocumulous clouds development with powerful downdrafts which also increases intensity of
fire behavior.
Air operations are robust on this incident, including fixed and rotor wing. A night-flying
helicopter is also available dedicated for any potential emergency firefighter extraction.
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A damage assessment team has been ordered to validate reports of structures damaged/lost.
*** A virtual community meeting will be held this evening at 7:00 p.m. and
streamed on the Plumas National Forest Facebook page. ***
Evacuations: A new evacuation went into effect yesterday in Washoe County, Nevada, while
evacuations in Plumas and Lassen Counties changed.
Please check your local county’s social media pages for the latest on evacuations in your area,
and be sure to register for your county’s CodeRed emergency alert system:
• Plumas County: https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/6EB9E0DB3133
• Lassen County: https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/enUS/B69B31DD99B6?isMobile=false
• Washoe County: https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/169EBBD0A3AE
Evacuation centers:
• Lassen County Fairgrounds: 195 Russel Ave. Susanville, CA.
• Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center: 1350 N Wells Ave, Reno, NV.
Road Closures: There is a forest closure order in effect surrounding the fire’s perimeter, which
includes several roads. Please monitor Caltrans’s website or Twitter feed for updated highway
closure information.
Forest Closure: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/7601/
Weather: Today will be hotter and dryer, with low relative humidity and highly receptive fuels.
Winds will be slightly lighter, out of the southwest and gusting around 20 miles per hour. With
the forecasted heat wave this weekend, temperatures are expected to be 15 degrees higher
than normal, up to 100 degrees in the lower elevations. Poor humidity recoveries are expected
at night.
Air Quality: Beneath downdrafts produced by the collapsing of potential pyrocumulous clouds,
significant smoke will be present in the most active areas of the fire. Visit www.airnow.gov for
the most current smoke conditions in your area.