Tamarack Fire in Alpine County Updates for Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Details: Last Updated: Friday, 13 August 2021 10:27

Map for Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Note: 1,200 Pixels Wide
NOTE: Maps represent approximate information.

Click here for: Tamarack Fire in Alpine County Updates for Friday, August 13, 2021

Note: No Thursday Update was provided.

Evening Update: The Tamarack Fire as of Wednesday evening is now at 68,663 Acres with 82% Containment.

Basic Information

Current as of	8/11/2021, 5:43:30 PM
Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Lightning
Date of Origin	Sunday July 04th, 2021 approx. 04:00 PM
Location	16 Miles south of Gardnerville, NV
Incident Commander	Scott Stephenson, IC Tom Raw, Deputy IC
Incident Description	This Incident Continues To Be Managed With A Full Suppression Strategy, However Steep Inaccessible Terrain In Division Alpha Necessitates A Suppression Strategy Of Confinement.
Coordinates	38.628 latitude, -119.857 longitude

Current Situation

Total Personnel	403
Size	68,663 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained	82%
Estimated Containment Date	Tuesday August 31st, 2021 approx. 12:00 AM
Fuels Involved	Timber (Grass and Understory) Chaparral (6 feet) Timber (Litter and Understory)
Significant Events	Minimal Creeping Smoldering

Outlook

Planned Actions	Divs K & O - Keep fire south of China Spring and west of Highway 395. Keep fire south of Highway 88 and east of Blue Lake Road. Continue right sizing organization. Div K in patrol status. Divs A & Q - Keep fire north of Highway 89 (Monitor pass) and Hwy 4. Continue right sizing organization. Hazard tree mitigation in Markleeville and Pleasant Valley areas. Completing suppression repairs in Div O and Q.
Projected Incident Activity	12 hours: Sunny, haze and smoke. Light and variable winds overnight. Minimal fire behavior. 24 hours: Widespread haze and smoke in the morning. Warming trend with winds shifting to westerly, increased LAL and gusty outflow winds will test containment lines in Division K and possibly increase fire behavior in the Div A/K break and Div A/Q break.
Remarks	Acreage estimated from FireWatch flight on 7/29/2021 at 1322. Steep rugged terrain in Division Alpha necessitates a suppression strategy of confinement. Perimeter in Division Alpha represents 18% of the total fire perimeter. The remaining perimeter (82%) has been contained.

Current Weather

Weather Concerns	Overnight recoveries will remain poor to moderate, especially in thermal belts. It will be hotter the rest of this week with moisture and instability on the increase. This will bring back the threat for thunderstorms to the vicinity of the burn site, including lightning and gusty winds, and also with possible heavy rain and debris flow on the burn scar. Sunny with haze and smoke in the morning. Slight chance for a thunderstorm after 1200. Temps 92-94. RH 12-18%. Winds 6-12 mph may become gusty and erratic outflow winds to 40 mph near thunderstorms. LAL 2, CWR 5%. Tonight-partly cloudy with smoke and haze. Slight chance of thunderstorms. Temps in valleys 56-61. RH valleys 45-55%. West winds 6-12 mph. Thursday-partly cloudy. Haze in morning. Isolated showers and thunderstorms in afternoon. Temps 93-95. RH 11-17%. NE winds 5-10 mph, gusty and erratic around thunderstorms. Fire behavior will be diminished today into Thursday morning.

August 11, 2021 - The Tamarack Fire as of Wednesday morning is now at 68,663 Acres with 82% Containment.

Tamarack Fire Update

Monday, August 11, 2021 – 9:00 a.m.

Sierra Front Type 3 Incident Management Team 1

Scott Stephenson, Incident Commander

Information Phone: 775-434-8629 (public and media)

Email: 2021.tamarack@firenet.gov

Information Staffing Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Current Situation: Total containment is 82%. The strategy for this fire continues to be full suppression using a combination of containment in Divisions K, O and Q and confinement in Division A. Helicopters will continue to support firefighters with buckets of water on hot spots as weather and smoke conditions permit.

Two suppression repair groups are working on priority areas to minimize impacts of fire suppression activities on natural and cultural resources. Crews are repairing dozer and hand lines to prevent soil erosion and water channeling. They are also removing hazard trees. Hazard trees are fire-damaged and likely to fall on a road or developed site, threatening firefighter and public safety.

Divisions K and O – Divisions K and O have been combined and are now in a patrol status. Two engines and a Type 1 hand crew will be supporting the suppression repair crews and watching for hot spots, especially near communities. Engines and the hand crew will also continue mopping up as needed along the fire perimeter ensure containment near homes and structures.

Division Q – Two hand crews are working to strengthen the existing containment line and continue to mop up.

Division A –Two self-sufficient wildland fire modules and an additional hand crew are assigned to Division A. Because of the extremely steep, rugged terrain and the lack of fire movement, firefighters are using a suppression strategy of confinement in this area. Firefighters on the ground, supported by aircraft, are ready to act in the unlikely event the fire crosses established Management Action Points in the surrounding rocky terrain. Helicopter reconnaissance flights, infrared mapping, and time-lapse cameras assist with observation 24 hours a day.

Weather and Fuel Conditions: Smoke and haze will continue today, with light and variable winds in the morning. 15% chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. The predicted high is 93 degrees, with relative humidity as low as 15%. Fuels remain very dry. 

Closures, and Fire Restrictions: For closures and fire restrictions on National Forest lands, visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/htnf/alerts-notices.

Tamarack Fire Statistics:

Size: 68,663 acres

Containment: 82%

Total Personnel: 403

Location: Markleeville, CA

Reported: July 4, 2021

Cause: Lightning

For More Information:

Public and media information phone: 775-434-8629

Public and media email: 2021.tamarack@firenet.gov

InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7674/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/tamarackfireinfo