Update on Delaware Forest Service wildfire crew in California
Department of Agriculture | Forest Service | Date Posted: Thursday, August 6, 2015
Department of Agriculture | Forest Service | Date Posted: Thursday, August 6, 2015
HAYFORK, Calif. (Aug. 6, 2015) — A team of 20 wildland firefighters under the direction of the Delaware Forest Service is working with 1,165 personnel currently battling the Fork Complex, a group of lightning-caused fires near Hayfork, California that totals 11,862 acres but is only 7 percent contained. Fire resources on the Fork Complex include 26 crews, 4 helicopters, 128 engines, 30 dozers, and 30 water tenders with road closures and evacuations in effect for the area. California officials declared a state of emergency late last week due to the widespread wildfires that have burned upwards of 190,000 acres.
For the past two days, Delaware’s crew has been working on the Peak Fire, a 706-acre blaze burning on Plummer Peak, south of the town near Highway 3. According to fire officials, Delaware’s job is to “Establish indirect control lines” and “Hold and patrol established lines.”
Kyle Hoyd, the Delaware Forest Service’s assistant forestry administrator, summarized the crew’s effort: “We did a burnout with two engine teams on the Peak Fire off of a dozer line and put hand line around several structures in the same area.” Earlier in the week, Hoyd reported that “everyone is doing well” but the “fire is in steep terrain with multiple hazards.”
The crew’s hard work and effort has been paying off. According to the U.S. Forest Service, “The Peak fire was active throughout the day with continued burning to the west; crews remained in place protecting structures (homes, residences, and out buildings). Significant progress was made with a dozer line completion on the northwest division of the fire, east of Highway 3.”
Crews might not get relief from the weather forecast. Officials say that “Warm and dry conditions will continue through the end of the week and as the smoke inversion begins to clear; this presents the possibility of more direct heat in and around the fire areas as well as more intense burning.”
The Delaware Forest Service also dispatched James Dowd from Blackbird State Forest to work as an equipment manager on the Mad River Complex, along with Michael Nelson of Pennsylvania, who is assigned to the Reynolds Fire in Montana.
Related Topics: Delaware Forest Service, Delaware wildfire crew, Delaware wildland firefighters, Fork Complex, Northern California wildfires, U.S. Forest Service
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Department of Agriculture | Forest Service | Date Posted: Thursday, August 6, 2015
HAYFORK, Calif. (Aug. 6, 2015) — A team of 20 wildland firefighters under the direction of the Delaware Forest Service is working with 1,165 personnel currently battling the Fork Complex, a group of lightning-caused fires near Hayfork, California that totals 11,862 acres but is only 7 percent contained. Fire resources on the Fork Complex include 26 crews, 4 helicopters, 128 engines, 30 dozers, and 30 water tenders with road closures and evacuations in effect for the area. California officials declared a state of emergency late last week due to the widespread wildfires that have burned upwards of 190,000 acres.
For the past two days, Delaware’s crew has been working on the Peak Fire, a 706-acre blaze burning on Plummer Peak, south of the town near Highway 3. According to fire officials, Delaware’s job is to “Establish indirect control lines” and “Hold and patrol established lines.”
Kyle Hoyd, the Delaware Forest Service’s assistant forestry administrator, summarized the crew’s effort: “We did a burnout with two engine teams on the Peak Fire off of a dozer line and put hand line around several structures in the same area.” Earlier in the week, Hoyd reported that “everyone is doing well” but the “fire is in steep terrain with multiple hazards.”
The crew’s hard work and effort has been paying off. According to the U.S. Forest Service, “The Peak fire was active throughout the day with continued burning to the west; crews remained in place protecting structures (homes, residences, and out buildings). Significant progress was made with a dozer line completion on the northwest division of the fire, east of Highway 3.”
Crews might not get relief from the weather forecast. Officials say that “Warm and dry conditions will continue through the end of the week and as the smoke inversion begins to clear; this presents the possibility of more direct heat in and around the fire areas as well as more intense burning.”
The Delaware Forest Service also dispatched James Dowd from Blackbird State Forest to work as an equipment manager on the Mad River Complex, along with Michael Nelson of Pennsylvania, who is assigned to the Reynolds Fire in Montana.
Related Topics: Delaware Forest Service, Delaware wildfire crew, Delaware wildland firefighters, Fork Complex, Northern California wildfires, U.S. Forest Service
Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.
Here you can subscribe to future news updates.