North Complex

North Complex Resources: 33 dozers, 155 engines, 16 handcrews, 15 helicopters, 31 water tenders

There will be a virtual community meeting tonight at 5 p.m. Representatives from the Fire Management team will be available to provide updates on the North Complex fires: Sheep, Claremont, & Bear. Join the live Zoom meeting at https://usfs.zoomgov.com/j/1607397992

Current Situation on the North Complex: The North Complex consists of multiple lightning-caused fires (August 17, 2020) on the Plumas and Lassen National Forests. Crews will again take advantage of cooler, moister air this morning to get a head start to build or strengthen dozer and hand line on the Sheep, Claremont, and Bear Fires. To date, the Sheep Fire has destroyed 9, damaged 1, and threatened 2,000 residences. Crews reinforced dozer lines yesterday on the north side of the Claremont Fire below Quincy enough to consider a portion of that line contained. On the Bear Fire, crews worked to strengthen a defensive line along Slate Creek Spur on the north side of the fire in an effort to catch any threat of it moving towards Quincy.

Of the many smaller fires associated with the North Complex, and outside the management delegation with the California Incident Management Team 1, the Plumas National Forest is reporting that the Evans, Copper, Iron, Branch, and Paxton are now considered CONTROLLED and will continue to be monitored. Davis, Davis 2, Kessler, Meyers, and Neer are considered OUT. Anna, Monitor, Monitor 2, and Monitor 3 were considered OUT on August 23. The Copper and Iron Fires remain 100% contained and are under mop up and patrol. Those fires ranged in size from .1 acres to 8 acres.

Weather: It will be mostly sunny today with mild temperatures and modest relative humidities. Winds will be terrain driven until early to mid-afternoon, and then will become generally southwest once again. It's likely to become hotter and drier Thursday into the weekend with temperatures jumping 10 degrees for highs. Dry conditions will lead to bigger diurnal temperature ranges later this week into the weekend. Southeast flow Friday will bring a slight chance of slow moving thunderstorms. Otherwise, hot and dry will be the theme this weekend into early next week.

Air Quality: Quincy and Susanville continue to be impacted by Unhealthy to Hazardous levels of smoke. Southwest winds should keep smoke moving to the northeast of the fires. For more information on air quality and to see monitors near you, visit Airnow or the California Smoke Blog. For more information on what you can do to protect yourself and loved ones, visit the EPA's site on fires and your health. Your local health department is also a great source of information!

Closures/Evacuations: Evacuation Advisory Alert is in effect for the communities of Cromberg and Sloat. Residents there should make preparations to evacuate. Hwy 70 is currently open with a police escort from La Porte Road to Spring Garden.

An evacuation center remains in place for Susanville at the Lassen Community College Dormitories. Large animals can be housed at the Lassen County Fairgrounds.

For immediate text notifications about emergency alerts, residents can sign up for the Plumas and Lassen County’s CodeRed Emergency Alert System from their respective websites: Plumas—https://www.plumascounty.us/; Lassen —http://www.lassencounty.org/dept/sheriffs-office/sheriffs-office Visit CalTrans at quickmap.dot.ca.gov or call 1-800-427-7623 for the latest maps and information of road closures in your area.

COVID-19: California Interagency Incident Management Team 1 has implemented precautionary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in both fire the surrounding communities.

North Complex Fires: Claremont Fire – https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6996/ Bear Fire – https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7025/ Sheep Fire – https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7067/ Forest Closures: https://fs.usda.gov/alerts/plumas/alerts-notices