6 p.m. Sunday Update: Alpine County reports Tamarack Fire at 25,000 acres

The Tamarack Fire has grown to 25,000 acres, according to the latest update issued by Alpine County as of 5 p.m.

A half-dozen structures have been lost, as the air response has still been limited due to the smoke All the structures lost in Shay Creek were on state park property, according to the Tamarack Fire Facebook page established by the county. No private homes have been lost.

During a briefing with residents, fire officials said the fire is not laying down with flames on both sides of Hot Springs Road and Highway 89 toward Woodfords.

Growth on the fire is expected to continue east toward the former Washington Fire burn.

Heavy smoke in the region has prevented firefighting aircraft from helping hand crews contain the blaze. At 5:15 p.m. visibility at Minden-Tahoe Airport was at 2 miles, but the wind has picked up with gusts of up to 31 mph out of the southwest.

There has been a single injury on the fire. A firefighter was injured in a ground-level fall on Saturday afternoon.

Fire officials hope they can stop the fire at the meadows along Diamond Valley Road behind the school.

The National Weather Service issued a statement around 4 p.m. calling for scattered thunderstorms south of Highway 50.

“Storms may bring brief heavy rainfall, lightning and new fire starts and gusty and erratic outflow winds,” forecasters said.

As of 5:30 p.m. no serious lightning activity has been detected.

A red flag warning is in effect for tonight through Monday morning.

Radar shows a storm cell traveling north along the Highway 395 corridor with the brunt passing over Bridgeport as of 5:30 p.m.

A red flag warning for critical fire danger is in effect for abundant lightning on dry fuels over the Tamarack Fire burning in Alpine County.

The National Weather Service issued the warning through 11 a.m. Monday for Alpine and expanded it to include Lake Tahoe and Douglas County at 11:45 a.m. Sunday.

The warning is forecast to spread to Carson Valley by midnight tonight.

“Recent hot and dry conditions have created very receptive vegetation for new lightning fires,” forecasters said. “New fire starts may combine with outflow winds to cause a fire to rapidly grow in size and intensity.”

The Tamarack Fire is estimated at 18,299 acres and zero percent containment.

“There are thunderstorms predicted today in the afternoon that may cause erratic winds in the fire area,” fire officials said.

“Today, firefighters will continue to actively suppress the fire where they can do so safely,” according to a statement on the Inciweb Fire website for the fire. “Crews will be focusing on preserving life and property with point protection of structures and putting in containment lines were possible.”

Heavy smoke is hampering firefighting aviation, which will be used when possible. Visibility at Minden-Tahoe Airport was 1.5 miles at 11:35 a.m. Sunday.

Motorists are urged to use caution on Highway 88 south of Minden as fire equipment will be using the highway to reach the fire.

Visibility at Minden-Tahoe Airport dropped to a mile at 8:15 a.m. and stayed there due to the Tamarack Fire burning 14 miles south of Minden in Alpine County. 

The size of the fire was revised down to 18,275 acres on Sunday morning due to better mapping.

Low visibility will reduce the ability of aircraft to help fight the fire. Calm winds allowed the smoke to accumulate in Carson Valley, with air quality degrading from good around midnight all the way to very unhealthy by 7 a.m. An inversion kept smoke from fully descending on the west side of the Valley on Sunday morning.

The fire closed the Pacific Crest Trail from Highway 88 to Highway 4 in Alpine County, according to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

Firefighters streamed south on Highway 88 from their base at Douglas High School on Sunday morning heading to assignments in Alpine County.

The fire is exhibiting extreme behavior with crowning, long-range spotting and group torching, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center incident management situation report issued 8:30 a.m. Sunday. The report lists 10 structures lost, though that has yet to be confirmed by Alpine County authorities.

The report said 15 hand crews, 19 engines and two helicopters have been assigned to the blaze that grew from 37 acres to 21,000 over two days. The force more than quadrupled in size from the 120 reported on Saturday evening to 517.

The fire remains uncontained and burning quickly in the area between Markleeville and Woodfords.

Fire satellite mapping shows firefighters were able to defend Markleeville over night.

A Nevada Fire Camera at Hawkins Peak showed the fire continues to burn and pump out smoke.

Visibility at Minden-Tahoe Airport dropped to a mile at 8:15 a.m. and stayed there. Low visibility will reduce the ability of aircraft to help fight the fire. Calm winds allowed the smoke to accumulate in Carson Valley, with air quality degrading from good around midnight all the way to very unhealthy by 7 a.m. An inversion kept smoke from fully descending on the west side of the Valley on Sunday morning.

The fire closed the Pacific Crest Trail from Highway 88 to Highway 4 in Alpine County, according to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

Highway 89 is closed from Highway 88 to Highway 4 in Alpine County.

While flames are visible this morning from spots along Highway 88, there was no indication that Woodfords Junction was in any imminent threat from the Tamarack Fire as of 7:30 a.m. today. 

Hundreds of firefighters rolled down Highway 88 from Minden on their way to battle the 21,000-acre blaze. 

Satellite imagery does indicate the Tamarack Fire has a few hot spots north of Highway 88 on Sunday morning in Alpine County but observations from the highway didn't indicate any fires on that side of the road or in Woodfords Canyon.

The Fire Information for Resource Management web site showed the fire may have as much as doubled in size from the previous 21,000-acre estimate over the last 12 hours.

Air quality in Carson Valley is in the unhealthy range and getting worse as smoke from the fire settled in low spots on Sunday morning.

The Hawkins Peak Fire Camera shows smoke pouring off the fire this morning as the sun rose.

Firefighters are racing the weather to get a handle on the fire which as of last night had zero containment.

A red flag waring for thunderstorms and outflow winds could complicate the firefight.

As of last word, there were 120 firefighters working the blaze.

Evacuees have been directed to the Douglas County Community and Senior Center in Gardnerville, while fire officials have set up at Douglas High School in Minden.

Both locations were forced out of their locations in Alpine County as the fire overtook them.