Local firefighting agencies are gearing up for a potentially busy summer wildfire season, as drought continues to impact the forests and high desert rangelands of northeast California and northwest Nevada.
Working under coordination of the Susanville Interagency Fire Center, cooperating agencies will be pooling resources and employing an aggressive initial attack strategy utilizing ground and air resources, including fire engines, hotshot crews, helicopter-based crews, and smokejumpers, among others. Air tankers and helicopters will be used as needed.
“We’re meeting frequently with cooperators to identify ways we can maximize our efficiency and best use our collective capabilities to suppress wildfire,” said Luke Minton, acting fire management officer for the Lassen National Forest. “Our primary goal is always to protect life, property, and natural resources.”
Toward that end, fire officials have been busy preparing for the 2015 fire season in a number of ways:
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Mapping areas that are particularly stressed by drought, including large stands of insect-killed trees.
- Evaluating water source maps and planning for contingencies where water is scarce.
- Requiring staff at all levels to take refresher courses focusing on the basics of fire suppression.
- Ensuring that all fire lookout towers are staffed.
- Identifying critical sagebrush habitat that supports greater sage-grouse. Protection of this habitat is a priority for the Bureau of Land Management.
As of mid-May, fire lookouts on the Lassen National Forest are being staffed seven days a week. These include the Antelope, Harvey Mountain, and Pegleg lookouts on the Eagle Lake Ranger District, and the Burney Mountain and West Prospect lookouts on the Hat Creek Ranger District. The Pegleg Lookout is a new tower owned by CAL FIRE that was unstaffed last year, but it will be staffed by the Lassen National Forest this year.
As of the first week of June, the Bureau of Land Management is staffing the Observation (eight miles east of Ravendale) and Fredonyer Peak (near Eagle Lake) lookouts seven days a week.
The Modoc National Forest has staffed the following lookouts seven days a week since the third week of May: Round Mountain (Township 41N Section 1) and Manzanita (Township 40N Range 10E Section 26).
CAL FIRE plans to staff the following whenever lightning is predicted: Landon Lookout/Green’s Peak (near Eagle Lake); Snag Hill (west of Hayden Hill Hold Mine); and Likely Lookout (seven miles west of Likely).
“The severity of our wildfire season depends on how many fires are started,” said Gary Zack, a co-manager at SIFC. “It is critical that residents and visitors in our area use extreme caution any time they use fires outdoors.”
Zack stressed the importance of these precautions:
- Campers should follow all seasonal fire restrictions. They must fully extinguish campfires with water, making sure they are cold to the touch before leaving camp. Campfire permits are required for areas outside of developed campgrounds.
- Firewood cutters must ensure their saws have functioning spark arresters and cut only during the cool part of the day. They should carry shovels and fire extinguishers.
- Property owners should move grass and brush only during the cool part of the day.
The Susanville Interagency Fire Center, locally known as SIFC, provides emergency response service to an area covering more than nine million acres of BLM-managed public lands, national forests, private lands and rural communities in northeast California and far northwest Nevada. When a fire or other emergency erupts, the center dispatches the closest available firefighters, aircraft, or other emergency responders regardless of agency jurisdiction, greatly improving response times and effectiveness compared to the abilities of any single agency.
More information is available at www.preventwildfireca.org.
