Feather Publishing
8/22/2012

10:00 p.m. Update -

The Chips Fire is now at 63,147 acres and up to a 40% containment...

Fire Status: Today, winds were lighter and temperatures cooler, allowing fire fighters to make excellent progress moving towards containment goals. Smoke lingered in the area most of the day, however, limiting use of aircraft support over much of the fire area. Throughout the day, crews scouted and contained several spot fires caused by burning material transported ahead of the main fire during yesterday's wind event. All of the detected spot fires have been contained, however patrols will continue in the area and throughout the communities of Canyon Dam, Prattville and the Big Meadows areas to ensure no spot fires remain undetected.

Today, hand crews also engaged in mop-up of previously burned areas as well as back-haul of equipment left on the fire line. Mop-up is a critical action in which crews ensure all hot spots up to 300 feet inside the fire's perimeter are extinguished. Preparation of indirect fire lines was completed in anticipation of night time burnout operations in both the Red Mountain area and the area continuing south away from Canyon Dam and to the west of Highway 89. With these areas prepped, night crews will conduct burning operations throughout the night tonight. As has been successfully implemented in previous nights, burning during the evening hours when temperatures are cooler and humidities are higher allows fire managers to reduce fuels between the fire line and the main fire. This takes away fuels from the main fire, providing for less active fire behavior and threat to the fire line when temperatures and winds increase during the day.

Late in the day today, two areas of the fire became active. However this increased activity did not pose a threat to the fire line. The two areas that became more active were the Red Mountain area, scheduled for burning operations tonight, and the Rattlesnake Peak area, well within the interior of the fire east of Butt Valley Reservoir.

Along the west flank of the fire, hotshot crews continue to slowly and methodically build fire line directly along the fire's edge, working from north to south towards the Chips Creek drainage. Terrain in this area is extremely rugged, making progress slow but steady.

The Wildland Fire Module, which is a specialized crew of ten people trained to work self-sufficiently in the back country for extended periods, which arrived on the south-west area of the fire yesterday identified opportunities for containing the fire in this area by constructing hand line and using natural barriers. Due to heavy smoke throughout the fire area, the infra-red mapping scheduled for today in the south-west flank of the fire was not conducted. It is anticipated that this will be accomplished tomorrow. The aerial infra-red mapping will pin-point hot spots for the crew to focus on extinguishing.

Along the northern flank of the fire, crews continue to mop up into the fire's interior, remove equipment left behind from fire-fighting activities, and begin repair of areas damaged by fire suppression activities. This work will continue throughout the fire area as containment is gained.

Several injuries occurred today, including three knee injuries and one ankle injuries. These injuries were directly related to the steep, treacherous, unstable terrain fire fighters are working in while fighting the Chips fire.

Evacuations and Closures: No changes have occurred to evacuations and road closures. The Plumas County Sheriff's Department continues to enforce Mandatory Evacuations for the communities of Prattville, Canyon Dam and the Big Meadows area. A Voluntary Evacuation is in place for Almanor, and an Advisory is in effect to all West Almanor and East Shore residents (Hwy. 147) advising of the potential threat of the fire to the areas. An evacuation Center continues to be available at the Chester Memorial Hall on Gay Street.

Highway 89 from Butt Lake Road to 4.3 miles north of Greenville is closed to all traffic due to heavy smoke and a large amount of emergency equipment on the roadway. For more information, please go to: http://www.countyofplumas.com/CivicAlerts.aspx

Community Meetings: A community meeting will be held tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. at the Hamilton Branch Fire Station, 3791 Big Springs Road, Westwood, CA 96137.

 

5:10 p.m. update

An updated Chips Fire Progression Simulation from about 11 p.m. Tuesday night has been posted in the Fire Management Links on the right side of this page. Once you get to the page that loads, press the Play (>) button in the upper left corner.

2:45 p.m. update

Chips Fire now listed as 62,820 acres, and 37% containment.

STATE ROUTE 89 in Plumas County is CLOSED to northbound traffic at the Junction of SR 147 (0.59 miles north of Canyon Dam) and to southbound traffic at Butt Lake Rd (6.9 mi south of Jct SR 36) due to wild land fire.

STATE ROUTE 147 in Plumas County is now OPEN but subject to traffic control and closure depending on continued fire activity.

Disclaimer: Road conditions change continually during a wildfire event...

 

1 p.m. update:

The following message was posted on InciWeb about 12:30 p.m.:

Rumor Control:  "There have been no new fire starts today. Mop-up continues within containment lines."

10:00 a.m. update

Chips Fire. 62,541 acres. 37% contained

Fire Status: High winds pushed the fire into containment lines along Highway 89 yesterday as crews secured and mopped-up small spot fires that escaped the perimeter. This operation continued through the night with firefighters patrolling the area and containing every spot that was identified.

Long range black and white photo of the Chips Fire taken from the top of Dyer Mtn. on Wednesday, August 22, 2012 at 5:36 a.m. Photo compliments of DigitalPath.

Today, crews will continue to patrol the communities of Big Meadows, Prattville and Canyon Dam while also mopping-up the edge of the fire from Butt Lake Road through the Canyon Dam area. Firefighters will also be in Seneca mopping up control lines around the community.

Crews along the southern edge of the fire will prepare for a burnout operation in the Caribou and Red Hill areas that will be executed tonight. This burnout operation will take advantage of the lower temperatures and increased moisture in the air to complete a low intensity burn in an area where firefighters have had difficulty securing the control line. This will also protect a critical communication site from uncontrolled fire in the area.

Winds will decrease significantly today and temperatures will moderate to normal seasonal levels allowing firefighters to continue building fire line directly along the fire's edge on the western flank. Two Wildland Fire Modules, which are specialized crews of ten people per module who are trained to work self-sufficiently in the back country for extended periods, will be working in the Chips Creek drainage from south to north. This crew will utilize infra-red mapping to pin-point and extinguish hot spots while constructing fire lines.

Evacuations and Closures: Per the Plumas County Sheriff's Department, Mandatory Evacuations are in place for the communities of Prattville, Canyon Dam and the Big Meadows area. A Voluntary Evacuation is in place for Almanor. An Advisory is in effect to all West Almanor and East Shore residents (Hwy. 147) advising of the potential threat of the fire to the areas. The evacuation center located at the Chester Memorial Hall on Gay Street has been closed because no residents needed assistance. It will be reopened as needed.

Highway 89 from Butt Lake Road to 4.3 miles north of Greenville is closed to all traffic due to heavy smoke and a large amount of emergency equipment on the roadway. For more information, please go to:http://www.countyofplumas.com/CivicAlerts.aspx

Community Meetings: A community meeting will be held tonight evening at 7:00 p.m. at the Lake Almanor West Community Park, 177 Lake Almanor West Drive, Lake Almanor West, CA 96020.

There will also be a community meeting tomorrow, August 23, at 6:00 p.m. at the Hamilton Branch Fire Department, 3791 Big Springs Road, Westwood, CA 96137.

Additional Fire Information: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3052/ or call (530) 283-3593 and (530) 283-3288 between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.

 

9:50 a.m. update:

From ONCC Predictive Services News and Notes: Chips Fire. 62,541 acres. 37% contained. Numerous spot fires were detected over the fire line. At this time all have been caught and lined. Crews continue to mop up, patrol and hold line where necessary.

Caltrans traffic alert update -- August 22, 2012 at 8:53 am

STATE ROUTE 147 in Plumas County is now OPEN but subject to traffic control and closure depending on continued fire activity.

STATE ROUTE 89 in Plumas County is CLOSED to northbound traffic at the Junction of SR 147 (0.59 miles north of Canyon Dam) and to southbound traffic at Butt Lake Rd (6.9 mi south of Jct SR 36) due to wild land fire.

SR 44 remains CLOSED to eastbound traffic at Bent Hill Road and westbound traffic, 2.5 miles west of Lassen National Park entrance while the Ponderosa Fire remains active in the area.

Stay tuned for more Chips Fire updates here on our Wildfire Page...