Beckwourth Complex now at 38,056 acres with nine percent containment
Tonight’s operations update on the Beckwourth Complex showed that the fires have blown up to a total of 38,056 acres with nine percent containment, with growth again coming from the Sugar Fire over the course of Friday, July 9.
California Interagency Incident Management Team 4 System Operation Chief Jake Cagle reported that dozer lines are looking good off of Sugar Loaf Peak, with more dozer lines constructed in the Maddalena area.
“If it does come down to it, we’re prepared to have to fire the dozer line,” Cagle said. “To do that, we have more indirect dozer line, which means it is right off the fire’s edge.”
Crews with dozers are finding and utilizing ridgelines in the Frenchman Lake and Frenchman Village areas, with a focus on taking the threat out of the Chilcoot area.
“Much of the firefighting done today was done with aircraft, especially over areas that were too hot for resources to enter due to thick fuels, and the night shift will be working to advance progress through the night,” Cagle explained.
“The fire is backing in the Constantia Road area, which means it is slow moving and backing down the hill, which is what we want it to do.”
Mandatory evacuations have been activated across the Rancho Haven area, in an area that didn’t burn during the Loyalton Fire last summer. There is no imminent threat at this time, but Cagle acknowledged that they want to “honor the potential.”
Cagle spoke about fuels, with a change from forest to grassier areas that already burned causing flash fires, but it’s considered “workable country” as the fire moves towards the Constantia line.
There was spotting over Frenchman Lake in the Crystal Peak area, which is also projected to be captured when it hits Constantia Road.
Doyle Grade received a mandatory evacuation, and crews are doing structure preparation, while point protection is being done in Frenchman Village.
“It is very active in that area, with resources having to be pulled out- too big of flame leaps, too hot for them to be in there,” Cagle said. “We are focusing our efforts on protecting the structures in Frenchman Village, and also are working on structure prep in Dixie Valley should the fire change its path- the winds are southwest, so we don’t expect it to be a hard-hit impact to Dixie Valley.”
The Janesville-Frenchman road area experienced a lot of activity through the day, but a lack of resources and extreme fire behaviors caused resources to move to Frenchman Village, Dixie Valley, and Doyle due to a need for prioritization.
Everything remains the same in the original footprint of the Sugar fire, and the crews continue to mop up the Dotta fire. For more information, visit the U.S. Forest Service- Plumas National Forest Facebook page.
More updates will be published as they are made available in this developing story.
