The California Highway Patrol captured this photo of the McKinney Fire burning east of Yreka and burning about six miles south of the Oregon border. The fire grew to about 18,000 hectares by Saturday morning. [CHP photo]
A wildfire that broke out Friday afternoon in Northern California was classified as 51,468 acres by Sunday morning after growing 21,468 in the previous 24 hours, prompting evacuation orders in Northern California, closing a 110 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail and putting firefighters in Oregon. alert
The McKinney Fire, burning six miles west of Yreka, Calif., and about six miles south of the Oregon border, was first reported at 2:15 p.m. Friday afternoon on the Oak Knoll Ranger District of the Klamath National Forest.
The fire grew significantly overnight Friday into Saturday due to afternoon winds and thunderstorms, which caused breakouts on the north and south sides of the fire. Shortly before 9 am, the fire was estimated at 18,000 hectares. It had increased by 30,000 to 40,000 acres as of a 1:18 pm update from the Klamath National Forest.
The fire reignited around midnight on Sunday.
Firefighters focused their efforts on protecting points and defending structures. An incident management team from California arrived in Yreka and was scheduled to take control of the fire Sunday morning.
The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest was making plans for firefighting efforts that may be necessary if the fire moves north and threatens Oregon residents or the forest, according to a morning update from the Forest Service.
As of noon Saturday, the Forest Service had closed a 110-mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail from Camp Mt. Ashland to the summit of Mount Etna in Northern California due to fire. Any PCT hikers within the area should evacuate to the nearest town.
Due to a red flag warning for lighting issued by the National Weather Service in Medford for southern Oregon, issued when the agency identifies conditions that promote rapid fire spread, such as high winds, low moisture or storms, the city of Medford closed the 1,700-acre Prescott Park to the public for the duration of the alert, which is expected to be lifted at 8 p.m.
Ahead of the red flag warning, the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest has ordered additional resources. Nine Type 6 fire engines, five Type 3 fire engines, five Type 2 initial attack teams, one Type 3 dozer and two Type 2 teams are expected to arrive.
Four small fires broke out on lands protected by the Southwest Oregon District of the Oregon Department of Forestry Saturday morning, all of which were quickly contained by mid-day and were in the midst of cleanup. A fire about two miles north of the California border along Old Highway 99 South was contained to half an acre and is 70% contained; and three fires northeast of Prospect were contained to less than half an acre and are about 30 percent cleared. The cause of the four fires is under investigation.
Cleanup continues with a trio of small wildfires in the Sky Lakes Wilderness on the High Cascades Ranger District of the Rogue River-Siskiyou-National Forest.
The Slide fire was contained to 1-1/2 acres and is 50% contained. According to the Forest Service, teams including a Type 2 Initial Attack Team, rappels and the Galicia Type 1 Wildfire Module are working to build and reinforce the fire line through rugged and rocky terrain .
The Pond Fire and Wrangle Fire are each contained to a quarter acre as crews continue to mop up the fires.
Contact Mail Tribune Web Editor Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or nmorgan@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MTwebeditor.
