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Windy Fire Update, September 30, 2021, evening recap
Windy Fire
Publication Type: News 09/30/2021
The #WindyFire is currently estimated to be 89,804 acres (a 1,736-acre increase from Thursday morning’s reported acreage). Containment is 37 percent. The acreage increase was primarily the result of (1) incremental growth on the eastern and southeastern perimeter, from Johnsondale south to Baker Point and slightly west along the southern perimeter and (2) a strategic firing operation on the western perimeter to prevent the fire from advancing further westward on the Tule River Indian Reservation.
Numerous aircraft—seventeen helicopters, one UAS (i.e., drone), two CL-415s (i.e., Super Scoopers), and a Cobra (an intelligence-gathering helicopter)—are assigned to the incident. Today’s clear skies made for a busy day for air operations. Helicopters conducted numerous water drops, particularly on the west side of the fire, as they supported the firing operation and other fire-suppression activities. The Super Scoopers were used on the southern two-thirds of the fire, primarily along the eastern side where the steep terrain above the M99 corridor and the Kern River is inaccessible to firefighters. The UAS, unlike the helicopters assigned to the incident, can detect heat sources through smoke. It surveils the perimeter, detecting isolated heat sources that the ground crews then locate and extinguish. It is also being used on this incident to fly over and assess the condition of the giant-sequoia groves.
On the southwestern side of the fire, crews are holding the fire within its current footprint and continuing to mop up hotspots in and around several small communities, such as Sugarloaf Mountain Park, Pine Flat, and California Hot Springs. There are 2,500 people assigned to the fire, the majority of whom are in the field, day and night, working hard to protect natural values and structures around the entire fire perimeter and attempting to suppress the fire as quickly and safely as possible.