9/13/2018 Natchez Fire Update

Happy Camp, CA – The forecast calls for seasonally cool temperatures today and tomorrow with excellent relative humidity recovery.  This cooler period should last into the weekend.  Warm and dry weather is expected to return next week.   

Yesterday’s Activities: Fire behavior was smoldering and creeping with uncontained fire edge moving slowly to the south.  Crews monitored the fire along the peaks, ridges and containment lines on the west flank. Firefighters continued repairing the contingency fireline located west of the fire from Crazy Peak to the south and continued suppression repair on the east side.  Repair work on 115 miles of roads used for fire suppression activities is about 25% complete. The helibase moved from the Illinois Valley airport to the Happy Camp airport. 

Today’s Activities: Two Wildland Fire Modules (crews of 7-10 firefighters specializing in back-country fire suppression) will camp out near the western edge of the fire to monitor fire behavior and assess tactics for future suppression actions. Fire suppression repair work will continue throughout the week along the north and east flanks. This work involves removing berms and creating waterbars to mitigate erosion. Repair work on roads will continue with back-hoes, graders and water tenders.  
Evacuations:  All Evacuation Warning notices issued by the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office have been rescinded. The Level 1 evacuation notice for the community of Sunstar issued by the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office has also been rescinded.

Know Before You Go: With the advent of general deer hunting season in Northern California, hunters need to be aware that there continue to be area closures in effect for the national forest roads, trails and lands on both the Klamath and Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forests in the area the Natchez Fire. Information and maps on the closure area can be found on Inciweb at: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/5948/ 

Smoke:  Air quality and health information are available at http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com. Information from a temporary air quality monitor located in Happy Camp can be accessed at: https://bit.ly/2o2Z4xf.