Single Publication

Start Date: Aug 15, 2023

Location: Six Rivers National Forest

Cause: Lightning

Acres: 83,974

Containment: 8%

Personnel: 3,053

SWIMT2 takes command of Smith River Complex South

Highlights: A community meeting will be held for the Smith River Complex- South Sept. 1st, at 6 p.m. at the Del Norte Fairgrounds, Arts and Crafts Building, 421 US 101, Crescent City. A live-stream of the meeting will be available on the Six Rivers National Forest Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/SixRiversNF (no account is needed to view this live-stream).

Today, at 7:00 a.m., The Southwest Area Incident Management Team 2 (SWAIMT2), led by Incident Commander Dave Bales, assumed command of The Smith River Complex – South Zone from California Interagency Incident Management Team 15. The management teams met yesterday to begin the formal transition and review the strategic response and protection plan in place for the fire. Incident objectives continue to include firefighters and public safety, as well as protecting property, infra- structure, and other values at risk, including timber and watershed.

Operations/Weather: As predicted, winds at upper elevations were strong yesterday. These winds were accompanied by drier air which caused ridgetop relative humidity values to drop down to around 25%. These conditions caused the south- ern flank of the Kelly fire and the east side of the Coon fire to merge. Firefighters worked hard to secure a slop-over the east side of the 405 road utilizing air tankers and helicopters. Resources were well staffed on all the control lines around Gasquet and continued to patrol and secure any hot areas that could potentially threaten containment. Although there is still active fire above Gasquet, it remains on the east side of the North Fork Smith River. This natural feature is the planned primary control for this portion of the Kelly fire. The Hurdy Gurdy fire also remains active on the western flank as it backs down in very rugged terrain above Hurdy Gurdy Creek. Favorable weather is on tap for the remainder of the week as moisture rapidly returns ahead of an approaching cold front and Pacific Northwest trough. The potential for rain continues Friday and Saturday with localized wetting rains expected over the fire complex.

Safety: Heavy Fog is expected throughout the day, please continue to use caution on roads due to increased fire traffic.

Restrictions/Closures: Closures will be adjusted based on fire activity.

Smoke Air quality information is available at https://www.airnow.gov/

Evacuations: All evacuation orders are issued by the Del Norte County Sheriff's Office. If you are in the Del Norte County, area please sign up for their Community Alert System to receive emergency notifications.

Evacuation levels as of August 31, 10:00 a.m., as follows:

https://nifc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/sidebar/index.html?appid=1527d4f40887405b92e89ebb3559ec6e

Level 3 “Go Now”: Patrick Creek, Little Jones Creek, Copper Creek Drainage, Coon Creek/ 16n19 17n07, Washington Flat, Pioneer Road, Panther Flat Campground Area, all communities between Pioneer Road north to the Oregon Border along Highway 199, French Hill Road.

Level 2 “Be Set”: Gasquet, Low Divide, High Divide, Rowdy Creek, Big Flat/Rock Creek

Level 1 “Be Ready”: Hiouchi from Slant Bridge to the east end of North Bank Road

Fire Information: 505-460-0499 – 2023.smithrivercomplex@firenet.gov

InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/casrf-smith-river-complex

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SixRiversNF