Minerva Fire – Day 8
7:30 p.m. update: The Forest Service is reporting tonight that the effort to fight the Minerva Fire is “going very well.” East Quincy residents will still see columns of fire that are expected to merge as planned. This site will be updated tonight if there is any additional news to report, as happened with last night’s spot fires and voluntary evacuation order. Otherwise there will be a fresh update after tomorrow morning’s 6 a.m. briefing.
4:30 p.m. update: Air and ground crews continue to implement today’s fire management plan which is to hold, secure and mop up some areas of the fire, and undertake more burn-outs for others. Smoke continues to be heavy in the valley. The key areas of concern are the Mill Creek Drainage and Boyle Ravine.
Sheriff Greg Hagwood said the managed burn has put up a lot of smoke, but the reports are good. He reminds downtown Quincy residents that the voluntary evacuation from Jackson Street south remains in place. Six individuals spent last night at the evacuation center which is located at the Mormon Church at 55 Bellamy Lane. Those who have elected not to evacuate at this time should remain prepared.
The Forest Service reports that the firefighter who was injured in the fire yesterday is continuing to improve. He was from the Mammoth Lakes area and now has family with him.
10 a.m. update: Firefighters continue their work on the Minerva Fire. Helicopters have resumed the air attack with fixed wing aircraft expected when visibility improves. Cloud cover is trapping smoke in the basin. Rain is expected today with a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. Winds are expected to be calmer than yesterday. According to the Forest Service, there likely will be more spotting today.
7 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5: The voluntary evacuation of downtown Quincy that was announced late last night will remain in effect until further notice. (South of Jackson from Nugget Lane to the end of Old Meadow Valley Road. An evacuation center has been established at the Mormon Church on Bellamy Lane.) There are no immediate plans for a mandatory evacuation. The voluntary evacuation was called after spot fires entered Boyle Ravine above downtown Quincy. At this morning’s 6 a.m. briefing, the Forest Service reported that there were 12 spot fires (that have been detected thus far) ranging in size from 1 to 12 acres. The good news, according to night ops chief Steve Watkins, is that the night shift was able to “control them last night.”
The fire now stands at 3,700 acres.
This morning, the air attack will begin again, with eight helicopters available. Quincy residents witnessed an amazing sight last night as helicopters raced to dump water on the spots that had traversed into Boyle Ravine.
It was reported that when the fire reached the crowns of trees, flames shot up as high as 150 feet, with spotting possible up to a quarter-mile away. The fire is one-half mile from town as of this morning.
This site will be updated as more information becomes available.
The best coverage of the fire is our own Plumas News. Thank you guys for keeping our community safe and keeping us informed! Your the best!
Great coverage! Thank you for keeping us so well informed. So many of us are interested in our neighbors’ plight and it is good to keep abreast of what’s happening! God bless all helping fight this fire and those keeping us in the know as well!
Thank you for all the information and photos you provide. My son is working on that fire. It helps to have the information, and it is great to see all the gratitude for the firefighters. Praying for everyone’s safety.
God bless you! We are so grateful and pray for his safety.
The Firesafe Council, The Firewise Community organizers, CalFire and the state are pushing private property owners to thin their property. Soon it will be mandatory. If creating defensible space becomes mandatory, many homeowners could lose their property because of the cost of compliance. Or if government grant money is used, the cost will be tens of billions to treat the many wooded private properties in California. Yet at the same time, endless government funds go to everything from sanctuary cities, trains to nowhere and Sustainable Development. And very little has been done to give rural forest dwellers “sanctuary” in their own towns by creating a wild land urban perimeter around towns in the forest.
The authorities mentioned above need to use their limited resources and grant money to treat PUBLIC land surrounding residential/commercial areas and stop threatening homeowners with CalFire inspections and illegal taxes. And put the resources into public projects. What’s the sense of individuals thinning their property when the state hasn’t thinned perimeters around habitable areas?
OR? Just stop the whole “safety” assault on private property owners, leave the forests and we’ll live like we always have. In fire danger area, accepting that stuff happens.
I did not write this to taunt Quincy residents or go off topic. It’s a good time now for people to be critical of how its government uses its resources and the results of their “safety” programs. Viewing the surreal picture of Quincy Safeway (how ironic) with a fire cloud about to engulf it should make people do just that…
Good luck Quincy.
Needless to say this is USFS land not CalFire…
Way to try and politicize this unfortunate event, go f**k yourself
No politics here wise guy. Just examples of how your state wastes money on everything, yet your town almost burned down. Learn how to read. And ditto to you.
Bob, You Are Absolutely Right! Many won’t admit this, because its not PC so they resort to accusing and name calling. When you speak the truth and trigger the sheep you know your speaking the truth hahahaa Love It! ” IN A TIME OF UNIVERSAL DECEIT, TELLING THE TRUTH IS A REVOLUTIONARY ACT” It is as if political reality has been privatized and illusion legitimized.
IT’S NOT GOOD TIMING POOR, POOR BOB!!!! How DARE you use this time to make your selfish point. I know, it’s too weak to bring up at a rational time. Take note: You’re not alone in this community … you have NEIGHBORS effected by how you care for your land. Not only are your facts incorrect, they are ignorant. Good going “Bob.” Please note: this is NOT the good or proper time to express your opinion. People are working hard to make sure all will be fixed and you, weak and selfishly, use it to make your lame attempt to push an irrelevant point. Your private property, if left neglected, effects EVERYONE around you. If you’re not willing to be a respectful, responsible human being you may very well loose your property and that of all those around you. Quincy doesn’t want you. What an odd time to push your opinions on sanctuary cities, trains to nowhere and sustainable development. Those all sound great to me and I think you’re nuts, pointless Bob.
It’s a perfect time to point out the fact that your government is not using its resources in the interest of rural dwellers. Maybe YOU should look past your BELIEFS and EMOTION. If the state had provided funds for thinning wildland urban interfaces around rural areas, rather than “sanctuary” cities, for example, maybe all you people from all over wouldn’t be bugging out, you idiot. You spelled lose wrong you rude pig.
Wow Just use any forum to whine about pet grievances! Just wow.
Why has your state not funded and created fire breaks around communities? When it funds sanctuary cities? That’s my point. Maybe you all wouldn’t be in this dilemma if your state protected its residents first. This is a perfect time to address this issue. But people like you are overwhelmed with emotion.
There has been no news of this fire in Orange County, CA
San Francisco Bay Area, nothing in our news at all about the fire. Why?
KCRA 3 had coverage first day and I havent seen anything since. Also havent seen anything on any Sacramento stations but they are all carrying news on the other fires in state. And there are no aerial pics of the back side of the mountain. I would like to see whats happening back there. Maybe they.dont want us to panic? I cant imagine why else. Is anyone aware of any news stations covering this?
Haven’t seen it on any news channels, half my family lives up there, all the information I’ve received is been from my family, and the forest service of Plumus County, Minerva fire.
Can’t watch…My childhood home is on the hill between Safeway and this fire…
Thank you to the rank and file firefighters who go above and beyond during any fire operation.
However, what the public is not aware of (on many USFS and BLM burn operations), is that while structures are being protected and hand and dozer lines are being constructed on various fronts by rank and file firefighters, other parts of a given fire are often purposely being allowed to burn. They are purposely steered and grown on other fronts by the strategic withholding of “full suppression” fixed wing attack aircraft and continued subjective geographical widening of containment perimeters. The US Forest Service calls these “wildfires” but they are really “managed” fires. These are not “full suppression” activity fires. And their is nothing “natural” about agency “managed” burns.
If you thought burn agencies were actually engaging in putting out all fires you are not correct. In fact the opposite may be true. Federal and Interagency burn managers follow the “Guidance for Implementation of Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy, dated February 2009”. This document gives federal agencies the ability and green light to grow and steer fires as they see fit. The information contained in this guidance document concerning true public smoke health effects, smoke management or real time technological smoke component monitoring is woefully inadequate or nonexistent.
Interagency Burn Managers purposely steer and grow huge and destructive “managed” burns, regardless of whether such burns are naturally caused or not. Agency created “managed” mega fires are then reported by Federal burn agencies to politicians and the public as “wildfires.” They blame recent mega wildfires on global warming and predict with a crystal ball undertone the threat of more to come if their fuels reduction and suppression budgets are not increased and approved year after year.
Agency “managed” burns are often done to reduce suppression costs and open up a given geographical area for huge logging contracts that otherwise would not have happened under various environmental restrictions. The forests service profits from these logging contracts. Agency “managed” burns are also carried out in the name of the half science of forest health.
I like how we booted the fire camp from the fairgrounds. Nice shady spot for the firefighters to recover. We have moved them to a desert. An open field with thistle and zero shade out past the Trilogy building. They are here to save our community and we treat them like that. Absolutely boils my blood!!!
We live in Wilton, southeast of Sacramento and find almost no news coverage of the Minerva Fire. Your newspaper and web site are the best source for up to the minute coverage. Thank you. My daughter will be starting at Feather River College in two weeks. We love Quincy.
I want to thank Doug for telling it like it is…
Eleanor
No news, no shade for the firefighters, WTF is wrong with you people? Quit waiting for the ain’t gonna do a damn thing Government and take to the streets, bring those boys water and set up shade structures for them, in other words get off your ass and help them. I read where somewhere he was upset cause his family house was going to go up in flames. GET OFF YOUR ASS AND GET A FIRE HOSE and protect what you believe to be yours.I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I have been in many situation where if the people hadn’t acted the total destruction would have been far worse. My Prayers are with you, Blessed Be.
The TV news media may not be watching the Minerva Fire, (though I did hear Quincy’s danger mentioned once on national news) but many small town community fire-watch/fire-alert Facebook groups in northern California and southern Oregon are following your news and praying for your town. You are not alone, not forgotten.
Thank you very much for your information (much appreciated) and your re-assuring words Jean. I think most of us will appreciate them.