Virtual community meeting discusses Sugar Fire activity

The United States Forest Service and California Interagency Incident Management Team 4 held a virtual community meeting at 7 p.m. via livestream from the C. Roy Carmichael Elementary School campus on Thursday, July 8.

The meeting opened with comments from Planning Section Chief Joe Scuri, who introduced members of California Interagency Incident Management Team 4.

System Operation Chief Jake Cagle reported that those working the Beckwourth Complex, especially the Sugar Fire are experiencing extreme fire behavior and conditions.

“We don’t usually see this type of weather with these fire conditions this early in July,” Cagle explained. “At this time, we are focusing on life safety and structure protection- we’re working to anchor and box this thing in.”

Cagle reported that all available resources are being utilized to attack the ever-growing Sugar Fire, with multiple dozers on the ground, constant attack from air support, and repeated attempts to establish lines in rough terrain.

Today, the Sugar fire crossed Frenchman Lake Road and is heading up towards Adams Peak, with more spread anticipated through the night.

“We’re coordinating with a lot of different agencies on this, such as BLM, CalFire, and the local government units,” Cagle said. “We expect the fire to hang up around Adams Peak and slow by 8 p.m., as it has done each night around that time. Then we start working aggressively to minimize what impact we can to the day shift.”

The fire is being staffed around the clock, but Cagle noted that efforts are most productive in the nighttime hours, when the weather and relative humidity are most conducive. “We have beefed up our night shift,” he added.

“We were run out more than once by the erratic behavior of this fire, and so are focusing on point protection and establishing anchor points where we can box things in,” Cagle also noted.

There was a run around 10 a.m. this morning on the Sugar fire, and it bloomed at about 2 p.m. as wind gusts kicked up to 30 miles per hour or more and temperatures rose.

Above normal temperatures are expected to continue, with a record-breaking heat wave predicted from Saturday to Monday, and conditions remain extremely dangerous as the fire blazes on.

Fire Behavior Analyst Diondray Wiley noted that we are looking at a “high risk burn environment,” and stated, “We are in a very dry, dangerous situation. The fuels are extremely dry and receptive.”

It was reported that there is a very large burn period with this fire, lasting from 12 to 15 hours, which is preventing fire fighters from making much headway on containment until after midnight.

There has been spotting activity today on the Sugar fire as well, with multiple spot fires reported up to a mile ahead of the leading edge.

It was also noted that resource competition will become significantly more difficult as we get further into the fire season.

Mayor Bill Powers spoke briefly to thank all agencies working the incident and noted that Plumas Unified School District Superintendent Terry Oestreich had volunteered both schools in Portola to be used as needed for operations.

It was mentioned that there may be some structure loss in the Carmen Road vicinity but at this time, there is no confirmed information on structure loss, with assessment taking place currently.

Cagle was asked a question regarding why crews had been released on Monday, and he responded that some resources had been diverted to other incidents that were a higher priority at that time, such as the Lava Fire in Shasta County.

It was reiterated that all should heed evacuation orders and to stay out of the area to allow resources to do better do their jobs.

Mandatory evacuations remain in place for the entire area around Dooley, Big Cove, Frenchman Cove, Frenchman Village and Frenchman Lake, including all campgrounds and residences around the lake and Maddalena. The orders have also been extended to mandatory for residents of Dixie Valley.

Plumas National Forest Supervisor Chris Carlton also issued a Forest Closure Order for the Beckwourth Fire Complex on the Beckwourth Ranger District today, in effect from July 8, 2021, through August 1, 2021.

An evacuation center has been established at 171 Gulling St. in Portola. The Sugar Fire, that broke out July 2 due to lightning, is just one of the two fires that are part of the Beckwourth Complex. The other is the Dotta Fire, which broke out June 30, also attributed to lightning.

Crews remain on that fire to get rid of smokes and improve depth of containment lines. At last report, the Beckwourth Complex was at 12,469 acres and at 30 percent containment.

More information will be added as it is made available.