Even though the region has received a little bit of moisture, it is not season-ending. According to Paige Boyer, U.S. Forest Service Assistant Director for Northern Operations, “While we anticipate a fall burning season, we will wait for favorable weather conditions to implement the prescribed burning program.”
Of the eight large wildfires still burning on federal public lands, the River Complex in Trinity County consists of three fires, four make up the Gasquet Complex in Del Norte County, and the Nickowitz Fire is also located in Del Norte County.
Most wildfire starts in northern California have been kept small with quick response from firefighters and aerial firefighting resources. In addition, California Smokejumpers have made 411 jumps on 76 individual fires so far this year, making this their third busiest season in the past 10 years. “We continue to focus our efforts on interagency suppression efforts across all jurisdictions,” noted Boyer.
According to Predictive Services of the Northern California Service Center, a cool, moist weather system is due Wednesday bringing fairly widespread wetting rain. Relatively cool, moist conditions linger Thursday with lingering rain closer to the Oregon border. Winds will develop Thursday night and continue into Sunday morning which will quickly dry out some areas that don’t receive much of the upcoming rain. Warmer and drier weather will quickly return for the weekend followed by cooler weather returning early next week.
As recent weather does not eliminate the danger of escaped fires, hunters should remember to fully extinguish their warming and camp fires. For more information about interagency wildland fire prevention efforts in California, including the “One Less Spark” campaign, visit: www.preventwildfireca.org/.
