Humidity Helps Clear Lake Firefighters 77,000-Acre Blaze Threatens 400 Buildings Around Lake

A damp morning that had firefighters shivering provided the break exhausted crews needed Tuesday to get the jump on a 77,000-acre fire threatening 400 structures around Northern California’s Clear Lake.

“The early morning humidity was an aid to us,” fire information officer David Weitz said. “Firefighters are somewhat optimistic this morning.

“But this canyon country weather is strange on the fire line,” he added. “It can create its own little weather pattern so the potential still exists for a very active fire. Still, we’re taking advantage today of every weather opportunity.”

The blaze, located 100 miles north of San Francisco, was just one of dozens around the Western United States that had crews scrambling for an advantage in one of the earliest and fiercest fire seasons in years.

In Northern California’s Lake County, 600 soldiers from Fort Carson, Colo., joined 3,176 firefighters amassed from across the country to battle the Fork fire, which was threatening eight communities surrounding the popular Clear Lake resort area.

The firefighters were more than happy to put on jackets against a damp and chilly morning that gave them a chance to catch up with the flames. By mid-morning, they had the blazes 25 percent circled, but it was too early to say when the forward march of the human-caused fire might stop.

Meanwhile, in the Sierra Nevada, four separate lightning-ignited fires continued to threaten 22 historic homesteader cabins in Yosemite National Park and several reforested areas nearby. Residents of Tuolumne City breathed a sigh of relief when the flames headed away from their homes.

On the Central California coast, a wildfire that roared through Los Padres National Forest near San Luis Obispo destroyed a cabin biologists used to monitor captive-bred condors released into the wild.

That fire had blackened 69,500 acres and firefighters had surrounded only about half, California Department of Forestry spokeswoman Nena Portillo said. Crews expected to have it contained by 6 p.m. Thursday.

In southwestern Colorado, archaeologists and firefighters worked side-by-side to protect a visitor center and lodge as a wildfire atop Mesa Verde National Park swelled to 4,000 acres and reached almost firestorm intensity.

Workers removed valuable artifacts from the ancient Anasazi cliff dwellings as fickle winds threatened to whip the fire toward the museum and laboratory, park ranger Pat Bertram said.

That lightning-caused blaze earlier forced the evacuation of hundreds of tourists from the 10th century ruins. It was only 15 percent contained.

Elsewhere, in Portland, wildfires burning through stands of dead timber covered 13,000 acres in the Umatilla National Forest.

While the state’s biggest fire neared containment on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, firefighters on the Umatilla’s Tower and Bull complexes were far from corralling those blazes.

The 109,000-acre Simnasho fire burned 11 houses near Warm Springs over the past week.

In Montana, the 70,000-acre Powderville Fire Complex was 80 percent contained and all hands were working aggressively to put it out, state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation spokesman Bill O’Brien said.

Firefighters were mopping up and building additional lines as a hedge against winds predicted to hit the area later in the day. They were concerned about unburned fuel remaining between the fires and fire lines.

Near Ogden, Utah, winds fanned a 120-acre blaze caused by an illegal bonfire dangerously close to 30 homes on Tuesday. An aggressive attack and natural rock formations kept them at bay and containment was expected today, said Bob Tonioli of the Forest Service’s Ogden Ranger District.

Police questioned up to five teenagers and released them to their parents.

Elsewhere in Utah, erratic winds caused problems for firefighters battling a 1,300-acre blaze near Beaver. The Cunningham fire, about 185 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, was ignited by lightning Sunday.

And in Arizona, firefighters hoped that by Tuesday night, they could contain a 400-acre fire near the Grand Canyon’s north rim. The lightning-caused Saddle fire has been burning for about a week in a remote area of locust and oak brush.

There was minimal activity on the 30,000-acre Swet-Warrior Complex fire in central Idaho. What began several weeks ago as a natural burn was still being monitored and fire crews attacked any spot fires that erupted outside the designated area. Fire bosses still had not decided to take major action to quell the blaze.

In Washington, crews had contained a wildfire that burned 550 acres of scattered timber, grass and brush on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Authorities believed it started with an unattended campfire.