A fire truck passes near the McKinney Fire outside Yreka, California. [Noah Berger/Associated Press]
Warm and dry weather forecast
The McKinney Fire near Yreka in Northern California grew 1,210 acres between Tuesday and Wednesday and covered 57,519 acres as of Wednesday morning without containment, fire officials said.
Heavy rain on the eastern side of the fire helped firefighters add more hand-dug fire lines overnight. Crews are making good progress on a 200- to 300-acre spot fire on the fire’s northern edge, officials said.
Crews have built hand lines and excavators around several segments of the fire.
The rain prevented the fire from growing significantly, but firefighters have to work with extra caution in the area due to the risks of mud, fallen trees and rock slides. The humidity has allowed them to take a more offensive approach, attacking the fire both directly and indirectly, fire officials said.
Parts of the fire received a 3-inch deluge of rain in about an hour, Dennis Burns, fire behavior analyst for California Interagency Incident Management Team 2, said at a briefing.
“But other parts of the fire didn’t get any rain at all. We’re entering a warmer, drier period, so we expect to see activity pick up pretty significantly between now and tomorrow,” Burns said Wednesday morning.
The National Weather Service predicts highs of 96 degrees Wednesday with light winds, 95 degrees Thursday with gusts up to 20 mph and 96 degrees Friday with light winds. Highs will remain in the mid to high 90s through Tuesday of next week.
Several evacuation orders and warnings remain in effect. For current updates on evacuations, see facebook.com/SiskiyouCountySheriff or facebook.com/SiskiyouCountyOES.
A shelter has been set up at the Weed Community Center, 161 E. Lincoln Ave., in Weed, California. Highway 96 remains closed by the fire area.
A community meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Scott Valley High School, 237 Butte St., Fort Jones. The meeting will also be broadcast live bit.ly/McKinneyFireYouTube and the CAL FIRE Siskiyou Unit Facebook page a facebook.com/CALFIRESKU for those who cannot attend in person.
Questions can be sent in advance to 2022.mckinney@firenet.gov.
A 110-mile segment of the Pacific Crest Trail remains closed from Mount Etna to Mount Ashland due to impacts from the McKinney fire.
For more information on trail closures due to wildfires and fire risk, see the Pacific Crest Trail Association website at pcta.org/discover-the-trail/closures/.
Air quality was in the moderate category for Ashland, Talent, Medford, Shady Cove and Grants Pass Wednesday morning. For updates, please check oraqi.deq.state.or.us/home/map.
Contact Mail Tribune reporter Vickie Aldous at 541-776-4486 or valdous@rosebudmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @VickieAldous.
