1730 Aug 17 Update: Catching up on some radio comms and notes over the last few hours
4-11 Fire: Newville Road around Black Butte Lake. Getting a lot of resources off other fires to this one. T94 arriving solo for an IA drop. C205 might be on this one after his fuel cycle at Vina…
Bat 3 LCA: sounds like this was activated for stuff much higher than the valley floor. They are looking at Elkhorn Peak area - just outside the forest boundary and southeast of Tomhead. This was where CalFire made a huge stand on the 2019 SHF-South fire to keep it out of SRA.
Hearing plenty of talk about the new start in the Yolla Bolla from aircraft, TGU LCA, some MNF, and the SHF Southfork District. If I find something significant on the SHF I’ll start the SHF Lightning thread. 669J doing recon now in the area. Keeping it here otherwise…
0700 Thursday Aug 20 (can’t make 3 posts in a row, sigh)
CA IMT4 has assumed command of the BTU/TGU Lightning Complex as of 0700 this morning. Mods, if you complex us, can you keep Butte and Tehama as separate threads? Not sure if they’re Zoning the two counties, or we become additional Branches to Butte. We haven’t had the resources to Branch anything in TGU, just running off the three LCA’s setup.
Ivory Fire - behind and surrounding the west side of community of Elk Creek, was estimated 4000 acres last night. Lots of direct structure protection yesterday and into the night. Limited resources.
3-4 Fire - Elkhorn Ridge, just south of Tomhead Mtn. 7000+ acres last night. Worked its way down Wednesday morning into the valley along Pettyjohn Road and got two heads established to the northeast and southeast. Extremely remote, tucked in between last year’s SHF-South and TGU-Red Bank fires. Helibase established at Red Bluff Airport. Last year those two fires brought in CNG Chinooks for crew shuttle. It’s 1.5 hours drive time from Red Bluff to the closest flame, and about 3 hours to the heel of the fire.
Tehama Communications on CMD7, Air Tactics 164.1375, Rotor Vic 126.875, Air/Gound 159.270 (CDF Tac 15). All on scancal live scanner.
2200 Thursday:
(tired tonight so copy pasting from a community FB group I have been updating)
Not much to add for the 3-4, other than they’re applying the plans set in place earlier today. Dozer line along the south end they’ve been working on since daybreak sounds optimistic. A lot of sloppy fire on the west back side over the top of Elkhorn Ridge with some structure defense happening where they can. Other parts of the fire looking good. Not sure on that north end where things are. Expecting some decent westerly downslope winds tonight which is not in our favor on the north side. They pulled the trigger for Evac ORDER for R Ranch and Hwy36W around Vestal, and later, an Evac WARNING for community of Platina, due to the historical fire behavior the last few nights, and the lack of resources available to enter the community and protect fleeing citizens that are unaware. There is the SHF-Spring fire lightning start just north of Platina as well, behind Knob Peak off Deer Lick Springs area. They got tankers on that one this afternoon.
I believe CalFire put a big fight up for Salt Creek Camp all day as well, firing around the camp and holding the fort as the Doe Fire advances down the hill into the saddle where the camp sits. The Doe has also wrapped around to the west of Salt Creek Camp, and has reached Goat Hill and nearly the M4 along the eastern half of Log Springs Ridge. Thomes Creek canyon west of the gorge is all that separates it from the newer Gulch Fire coming down west of Paskenta. However there is another fire (of course there is) called the Glade Fire, that is due west, behind the Gulch Fire. That is along the Elk Ridge off the M2. Three Prong is smack between Glade and Gulch. This fire can influence the Doe and Gulch depending on wind and smoke column behavior, especially since they all now share any influence in the massive east-west aligned Thomes Creek drainage.
0900 Friday - Can someone help me? Please make a comment as I can’t post more than 3 comments in a row. Rescue me from this purgatory of verbosity! (thanks @ljpm2002a)