News

A fire burning south of Weitchpec is close to containment according to a press release from the California Interagency Incident Management Team 11 (CIIMT 11).

The Milepost 21 Fire on the Hoopa Valley Reservation, burning since July 20, is close to containment today at 83 percent and remains at 100 acres. Full containment is expected this evening.

Read the full press below:

Due to the hard work of the firefighters, the Milepost 21 Fire on the Hoopa Valley Reservation is close to containment at 83% and remains at 100 acres. Full containment is expected by this evening.
All containment lines around the fire have been mopped-up to 300 feet in the interior; all burning wood remnants or other materials generating heat have been extinquished. Crews have been working on backhauling all trash, hoses and any other tools or materials used in fighting the fire. Handlines have been rehabbed: any berms built in the firefighting process have been smoothed down and water bars, channels to direct water off areas to reduce erosion have been put in place. A wood chipper will be used to chip up cut
brush and an excavator is working to water-bar and place slash and cut-brush over the dozer lines.

Yesterday at approximately 3:30 PM, a fire was reported five miles south of the Milepost 21 Fire and east of Hwy 96. Five engines, one water tender and one helicopter from the Milepost 21 Fire assisted the Hoopa Fire Department to quickly extinguished this fire at one acre.

Weather for the area: High pressure over the region will continue to bring hot and dry conditions over the fire area today with a slight chance of isolated thunderstorms in the late afternoon and early evening hours.

Cumulus buildups may be noticeable to the north and east of the incident and any thunderstorms may contain strong downdrafts that could impact the fire. Warmer and drier conditions are expected, but relative humidity will recover to over 50% overnight.

The fire management organization will transition to a smaller Type 3 organization tomorrow morning. The fire camp will close in Willow Creek on Monday morning.

Fire information:
Start Date: 20 July 2020 at 11:22AM
Cause: Human
Fire Resources:
3 crews 7 engines 1 helicopter 2 dozers 3 water tenders 190 personnel