Fires prompt closure of nine national forests

With two huge uncontained fires burning in the Sierra north and south of Lake Tahoe, officials are closing nine National Forests Sunday night through Sept. 6.

The Calder Fire grew to nearly 74,000 acres as of Friday morning, according to fire officials. According to the National Interagency Coordination Center situation report, the fire has claimed 104 structures near Grizzly Flat south of Pollock Pines, with another 6,905 threatened.

The Dixie Fire burning toward Susanville grew another 37,019 acres to exceed 700,000 acres on Friday.

That loss includes 260,724 acres of private timber estimated to be worth $1 billion with another $1 billion still threatened.

Highway 395, which had been closed after the fire jumped the route near Honey Lake, reopened on Thursday.

Concerns about the significant resources being used to battle those two and other fires have prompted the Forest Service to close

“Fires are running very quickly due to the drought conditions, dry fuels, and winds. This makes initial attack and containment very difficult and is even more challenging with strained resources who are battling more than 100 large fires across the country,” said Regional Forester Jennifer Eberlien.

Among the forests closed are the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and Tahoe National Forest, in addition to the Eldorado National Forest.

The closure order can be found at https://go.usa.gov/xF7EM.

A shift in the wind is expected to bring more smoke into Western Nevada today.

“West to southwest winds are projected to continue through the weekend and into next week … assuming the California fires remain active,” forecasters said.

The Bureau of Land Management and Alpine County officials are closing public lands in the vicinity of Indian Creek Reservoir.

The area three miles northeast of Markleeville will be closed while workers rehabilitate the region after the Tamarack Fire.

The closure starts Saturday and expires Nov. 30, unless it’s rescinded earlier.

The closure includes all areas, and trails, but excludes Airport Road.

The order will be posted at the main entry points to the area. A copy of the order and the map of the area is available at https://www.blm.gov/office/carson-city-district-office and at the BLM Carson City District Office, 5665 Morgan Mill Road.