Aug. 24 p.m. update on the Dixie – West calming down; East heating up
Another day spent on the fire and a little more progress on containment. The Dixie Fire is now 733,475 acres and is 43 percent contained.
West Zone
Ditto for the Westwood section of the West Zone, which includes the Lake Almanor Basin, Westwood and toward Susanville. “It is looking really good.” Though not a threat to containment lines, Brunton said crews are receiving continuous calls from people seeing smoke. “Those are basically well into the burn,” he said of the incidents.
That point was reiterated by Cal Fire’s Scott Packwood as he pointed out that “smokes can linger for many months.” Resources are focused on stopping the perimeter spread, rather than extinguishing the interior fire.
Moving north of 36 into the Lassen Sector, crews are putting in dozer and hand lines and “it’s just going to be a work in progress.”
Fire continues to burn in the national park, but it hasn’t burned north out of the park.
Sheriff Dean Growdon said that most areas in Lassen County have been repopulated with the exception of Juniper and Silver lakes.
Incident Commander Billy See said that over 5,000 personnel remain on the fire, though some resources have been reallocated to the Caldor Fire, which is closing in on the Lake Tahoe Basin. “We will retain resources to keep the perimeter under control,” he said.
The action was more intense on the East Zone today, where crews continue to battle in the Genesee/Taylorsville areas and work to keep the fire from threatening East Quincy, Quincy and the Highway 70 corridor.
