Single Publication

Start Date: Aug 15,2023   Location: Six Rivers National Forest   Cause: Lightning    Acres: 83,974

Containment: 9%  Personnel: 3031

More Evacuation Levels Updated

Highlights: The Del Norte County Sheriff’s Department, in collaboration with the Del Norte County Office of Emergency Services, lowered the evacuation level in Patrick Creek Lodge and the Little Jones/Washington Flat Residential Area, to LEVEL 2. Repopulation of these communities began Friday, September 1st, at noon. An Interactive Evacuation Map is available to keep residents informed on current evacuation levels. Residents are encouraged to remain vigilant as the evacuation level could be raised again if fire activity and conditions change. All county roads remain closed to the public.

Operations: Firefighters took advantage of the favorable weather to burn several slash piles in the Smith River Complex footprint. The Slash piles were a result of forest treatment thinning operations conducted previously by the National Forest. With rain occurring over the next few days, crews plan to continue tactical burning operations to stop fire growth. High humidity and heavy rain will keep active fire to a minimum, with the main carrier of the fire being heavy and downed fuels. However, the rain received last night was not sufficient to completely suppress the fires within the Smith River Complex.

Weather:  A Flash Flood Warning remains in effect: NOAA Flash Flood Warning.  Heavy rain Friday showed measurements of close to an inch in some areas. 75 lightning strikes were recorded within our response area last night. Smoke is likely to increase in the next 3-5 days.

Safety: Fire traffic combined with piloted commercial conveys could lead to congested areas on Highway 199. Please refrain from any unnecessary travel, especially between the hours of 6:30 AM and 8:30 AM.

Area and Road Closures: Closures will be adjusted based on fire activity. All county roads will remain closed and at a LEVEL 3. Highway 199 remains closed north of Pioneer Road. Additionally, Rowdy Creek Road remains closed at the top of Low Divide.

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 September 1st, 12:00 noon are as follows: Interactive Evacuation Map

LEVEL 3 : “Go Now”: Refer to the Interactive Evacuation Map for roads in LEVEL 3.

LEVEL 2: “Be Set”: Gasquet, Rowdy Creek/Low Divide, Big Flat/Rock Creek, Patrick Creek, Patrick Creek Lodge, Little Jones/Washington Flat Residential Area

LEVEL 1 : “Be Ready”: Hiouchi

Fire Information:2023.smithrivercomplex@firenet.gov

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

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