Sorting through some audio files I found this interview with Forest Service Entomologist Danny Cluck that kind of slipped through the cracks as the Dixie Fire wound down in 2021. We talked about the fire behavior of the Dixie Fire, impacts on wildlife, effectiveness or lack thereof of some of the fuels treatments, and trying to save what’s left of our green forests:
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Can somebody explain exactly what this nut did?
The statements in the article do not really make sense.
The Shasta-T is not where the Dixie fire was.
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“Maynard admitted to setting the following fires during this arson spree: the Cascade Fire (July 20, 2021), the Everitt Fire (July 21, 2021), the Ranch Fire (Aug. 7, 2021), and the Conard Fire (Aug. 7, 2021).”
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Also on the Lassen national forest.
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At one point I was hearing statements that the Dixie was spotting anywhere from 2 to 10 miles ahead of itself.
I have wondered if some of these arson fires might have been what people were actually referring to.
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He was setting fires behind crews. Real nut
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Yes, we were working near Genesee when a “spot” was reported near Susanville. Pretty far for a spot.
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The long distance spots when it blew through the Humboldt line were definitely wind-blown, I watched them happen.
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Thanks for that info. Was that where the 5 mile spotting took place?
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Regarding spotting thread on Garnet Fire…
I’m pretty certain Dixie didn’t spot 10 miles.
There was a fire that about 4.5 miles from the leading edge of the fire, near Antelope Lake. I called it a spot in my reporting, and published a map showing the spot was 9.5 miles from JANESVILLE, not from the fire’s edge. If you Google ‘Dixie Fire Spot Fire’, it brings up an AI overview that links to my reporting. Be careful quoting AI as authoritative!
There’s also a link to this recent scientific paper, which goes into greater detail. They cite my reporting in the paper, but in the post they reference, I only say the new fire was 5 miles out from the main fire.
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Wasn’t there an arsonist eventually arrested after this that was lightning fires while the Dixie was burning? We were on spot fires that in no way could have traveled some of the distances from the main?
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The arson fire was the Fly Fire which burned into Dixie. As the FBAN in the East zone did see several days with spotting out to 3 miles. There was also some curious “spotting” along the zone break along Hwy 70
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Yes - see
https://www.courthousenews.com/california-arsonist-sentenced-for-contributions-to-dixie-fire/
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Pardon my immensely long post. I think which spot/associated fire happened where has gotten a little tangled. I’m of the opinion that Dixie probably did spot that tremendous distance.
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The Fly Fire was a separate start on July 22. The California Public Utilities Commission determined it “most likely originated from a white fir tree … falling onto the 12kV distribution conductors of the Ganser 1101 circuit” (a PG&E) line. Here is a link to their redacted report.
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The arson fires were started by a mentally unwell individual who set one fire near Mount Shasta on July 20, and another on July 21, both of which were contained at <1 ac. He was seen in the vicinity by witnesses and investigators, so federal agents got wise to him quickly and began tracking his cell phone on July 30. They put a tracker on his car on August 3. He set a fire on August 5 along Mooney Road on the Lassen National Forest (contained at just a couple feet across). He set a fire off Conard Road off Hwy 44 on August 7 (contained at <1 ac). He set another fire three miles away shortly after and was arrested by CHP that same day. He could not have started any other fires between July 30 and August 7 not already accounted for because of the 24/7 tracking. He could have started other fires before then—we may never know. Here is a link to the federal criminal complaint against him.
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The incredible spotting claims are separate to either of these. The research article Zeke linked discusses three “spot fires” that all ignited on August 16, well after the arson fires and the Fly Fire. It talks about how all three fires were in line with the major bent-over columns that day, that the atmosphere supported long-distance ember transport, and that the probable timing of ignitions corresponds to big intensity pulses in the main fire.
- Spot fire #1 was the fire that eventually descended the escarpment to 395 and Janesville. It ignited 17 km (10.6 mi) ENE of the active part of the fire.
- Spot fire #2 was 12 km (7.5 mi) ENE of the same part of the fire (i.e. further upwind than #1).
- Spot fire #3 was 7 km (4.3 mi) ENE from a different part of the fire.
(The paper says they did rule out lightning as causes for all three. They could not rule out human causes, though spot #2 was not accessible by road nor trail. They think that given the radar evidence, true spotting is the most likely cause.)
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Speaking of curious..
So someone says that there were “curious” spot fires near the zone break.. the comment stands.. I comment that it is a “ridiculous” statement to make and my comments are taken down and I receive a message from someone asking me what I meant.. well it is what I meant.
SO.. as the duty chief on the day of the fire began and the ops chief on the incident until the team arrived.. and then one of the Ops on it for 4 weeks.. I think I can speak about the Dixe.
Nothing the Dixe did was within any sort of reason.. the fuel moistures and commensurate fire behavior stretched the metrics of what we all thought would and could happen.
I interfaced with two CF teams and 2 Federal teams. There were a lot of challenges, the fire burned into multiple counties three CF Units a National Park and two National Forests.
There were things that happened in both zones that made me scratch my head.
To insinuate that there were curious spot fires near the zone break does nothing to enhance the relationships between agencies.
But because I have been outspoken and at times pushed back against one particular moderator…. My comment is removed.
I guess that is how it goes….
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Well, I’m probably gonna get yelled at too, but I’m on your side. I feel that comment was insinuating that one agency or another along the zone break was either acting your irresponsibly or even criminally. Having also spent a very long tour on the Dixie fire. I find the insinuation to be insulting whether it’s directed at Cal Fire or the forest service. The post was made by a person who I don’t know what agency they work for so when I say it is flatly inflammatory regardless of the direction, it was intended to I feel your questioning of the comment was justified.
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Well I was thinking that “curious” spot fires were perhaps arson caused. That was my first interpretation. Just me…
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Oh, man, you should read the Facebook comments from locals any time the fire comes up.
There’s a pretty good local contingent that is absolutely convinced that it was “allowed” to burn so long and big because either a.) Calfire and Forest Service management/command/workers were somehow getting rich off of it (don’t ask how, of course), and b.) They want to force everyone out of the mountains and into the cities (don’t ask who they are, of course). Taking away your guns is also somehow involved.
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When the fire passed Chambers Peak our chances of catching it dwindled. The line we put in on the 2008 Pit and Camp Creek fires was on top of Tobin Ridge. It bypassed that as well. Once it entered Rock Creek it moved onto the plateau above that area and Rock Creek winds back to the north. This allowed the fire to move north and come out of that steep creek and move quickly to the north.
The narrowest portion of the FRC is at Tobin. The canyon walls slope back to the south which means they are perpendicular to the normal up canyon winds every afternoon. As the fire worked its way up the canyon we wanted to keep it above the tracks.. but it rolled out and started running below them. This meant Rockcrest Camp and Storrie and Tobin had to be defended. The fire got to Tobin and got into the fuel modification that PG&E had done under the power lines. This area was now grass and light brush. As the fire moved into those lighter fuels it coincided with the upcanyon afternoon winds. It came out of that grass and hit the timber and went thermonuclear. It spotted across the canyon in two places upstream from Tobin. There is no access to the other side of the canyon until you get to Roger’s Flat. We tried to set up a boat crew to go after it and a type 1 copter was keeping it in check until it had to go down for a fuel cycle. The larger spot.. about 10 acres ran to the ridge and the ridge top winds caught it.. within a half hour it was almost 100 acres..
That went into the Bucks Lake Wilderness. That was when the East Zone was created.
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