The McKinney fire in Northern California is approaching 60,000 acres. Photo courtesy of the Incident Information System
Firefighters put out another fire nearby
The McKinney fire near Yreka in Northern California grew 968 acres in 24 hours to 59,636 acres by Friday morning, fire officials said.
The fire responded to warmer, drier conditions but did not show significant new growth. In some areas, flames advanced toward fire lines dug by firefighters and bulldozers, with some short-range embers spotted, said the fire behavior analyst for the California Incident Management Team Dennis Burns at a briefing Friday morning.
Most of the fire is surrounded by fire lines, but firefighters have not been able to do significant cleanup inside the lines, he said.
“There is still a lot of fuel that needs to be consumed. So there’s still a pretty significant threat that this fire could be extinguished under the right conditions,” Burns said.
Friday’s storms could bring strong downwind winds that could fan flames and push spot fires over power lines, officials said.
More than 2,400 people are assigned to the fire, which was 10 percent contained as of Friday morning, officials said.
They said firefighters are making great progress adding hand-dug fire lines around the perimeter of the fire and tying new lines in with previously made lines. Excavators have scraped emergency lines to help safeguard communities if fire lines don’t hold.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Smokey Fire was burning just north of the perimeter of the McKinney Fire, about two miles south of the Oregon border. With McKinney Fire resources so close, firefighters were able to quickly respond to the initial attack on the new 34-acre fire. Firefighters have control lines and hoses completely around the Smokey Fire, and aircraft continue to be used in the area as needed, fire officials said Friday morning.
Temperatures are expected to reach 95-105 degrees in lower elevations and 85-95 degrees in higher, smoky areas Friday, fire officials said.
Several evacuation orders and warnings remain in effect. For updates, see facebook.com/SiskiyouCountySheriff or www.facebook.com/SiskiyouCountyOES.
A new shelter has been established at the Karuk Wellness Center, 1403 Kahtishraam, Yreka.
A US Forest Service closure order is in effect for a 110-mile segment of the Pacific Crest Trail from the summit of Etna to Mount Ashland.
A community meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday in Building 1 at the Siskiyou Gold Fairgrounds, 1712 Fairlane Road, Yreka.
The meeting will be broadcast live on bit.ly/McKinneyFireYouTube.
Contact Mail Tribune reporter Vickie Aldous at 541-776-4486 or valdous@rosebudmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @VickieAldous.
