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Helped by cooler temperatures and higher humidity, firefighters across California have gained the upper hand this week on the massive wildfires that have been burning hundreds of thousands of acres across the state this summer.
As of Thursday, the three largest fires — the Carr Fire near Redding, the Mendocino Complex Fire near Clear Lake and the Ferguson Fire near Yosemite National Park — were all more than 70 percent contained.
“We are wrapping up a lot of these fires,” said Scott McLean, deputy chief of Cal Fire, the state’s primary firefighting agency.
“Weather was the predominant factor,” he said. “The cooler weather has helped quite a bit. It’s allowed us to get out ahead of the fires, and cut lines.”
Those favorable conditions could be short-lived, forecasters say, as hotter temperatures and a high pressure system are expected to return this weekend. Still, fire officials are appreciating the respite.
Two weeks ago, there were 14,000 firefighters in California battling 17 major wildfires. Thursday, that number had fallen to about 10,000 firefighters battling nine major wildfires, he said, several of which were burning in remote areas like Modoc County in California’s far northeastern corner.
The state’s most menacing blazes have killed 14 people this summer, including six firefighters, and burned thousands of homes, while sending enormous columns of smoke across the United States and Canada. For now, they are in retreat.
As of evening Thursday, the Carr Fire, which had burned 1,077 houses on the western edges of Redding, was 72 percent contained, at 215,368 acres, and was burning mostly in remote areas of Shasta National Forest, just west of Shasta Lake as fire crews continued to cut fire lines to slow its spread.
The Mendocino Complex Fire, the largest in state history, was still growing on its northern edges in Lake County and rural southern Mendocino County, at 370,294 acres. But it was 76 percent contained, up from 51 percent a week ago.
And the Ferguson Fire on Yosemite National Park’s western edges was 87 percent contained, at 96,810 acres. All roads into the park were open, while 833 firefighters continued to firm up containment lines, cut down dead trees and begin mop up work — down from twice that number a week ago.
Yosemite Valley reopened to tourists Tuesday morning after being closed for nine days at the height of tourist season. But visitors already have come streaming back.
Tuesday and Wednesday, the number of visitors was running at about 70 percent of normal, said Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman. All the campgrounds in Yosemite Valley were re-opened and booked up. Visitor centers were open. Ranger talks were back on and restaurants were open.
“There’s a little bit of haze still in the valley,” Gediman said. “There’s no smell of smoke today, which is different. But every day has been better. You can see the falls again.”
Meanwhile, in Southern California, the Holy Fire, which had threatened thousands of houses in Orange County over the past week, was 78 percent contained on Thursday, at 22,986 acres. Fire commanders have lifted all evacuation orders for communities in the area, which surrounds the Cleveland National Forest.
Fire officials cautioned, however, that although this week has provided some much-needed good news, there are still about 10 weeks left in California’s traditional fire season.
The later in the summer it gets, the higher the risk, because trees, bushes, brush and grasses dry out even more with each passing week, until fall and winter rains begin again in November.
“Historically, September and October are our worst months,” said Cal Fire’s McLean. “It’s not over yet.”
Add to that, weather forecasters say temperatures will be returning to normal starting this weekend. Over the past week, high temperatures have generally been in the 90s in the Central Valley and Sierra Foothills, and are expected to hit 100 again in the coming days, with Redding forecast for 104 on Saturday.
The reason is that a high pressure system near the Four Corners in the Southwest will shift over Northern California, and winds from the ocean, which have cooled the state and pushed smoke north and east, will be easing for the next few days.
“It’s going to be warmer, a little drier, and the winds are going to shift,” said Jim Mathews, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
Due to the higher fire risk this year, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration has provided resources for 300 more Cal Fire seasonal firefighters, and they are expected to help battle new blazes in the weeks ahead.
With so much dead brush and timber left from the 2012-2017 drought, much of the state is ripe for more big fires.
“It all depends on the weather,” said McLean. “The fuels are extremely dry. And I already see 100-degree weather coming back this weekend. It’s a roller coaster.”
