Lightning ignites several massive fires throughout the region

The Day Fire in California’s Los Padres National Forest burned for nearly one month, ultimately charring more than 160,000 acres.(Photo Mike Meadows)

The 2006 fire season in Washington, Oregon and California was long and reasonably strong, with several fires topping the 100,000-acre mark. The hardest-hit places were old stomping grounds for firefighters, especially Southern California’s Los Padres National Forest and northern Washington’s Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Northern California’s coastal mountains also had several large, persistent fires, and the only part of Oregon that didn’t experience many large fires was the typically fire-prone southwest region.

A Season to Remember
During the winter months, Oregon and Washington were very wet, with some areas setting rainfall records. Areas east of the Cascade Range were expected to see average fire activity in the early months of the season, with the exception of southeast Oregon, which was expected to see higher-than-average fire activity; areas west of the Cascades were expected to see below-average fire activity.

By early July, it was evident the fire season was going to be more active than expected. Frequent waves of widespread lightning touched off fires throughout the Northwest, and some of the fires persisted until a low-pressure front moved across the Pacific Northwest in mid-September, dropping rain and some snow onto the fires. For many of them, like the Tripod Complex in northern Washington, the weather change wasn’t strong enough to end the incident, but it was a corner-turner.

September closed with plummeting temperatures and the promise of rain. Relatively few places saw actual rain, but the showers that did fall in early October took a lot of heat out of many of the West Coast’s worst fires. The huge Day Fire in Southern California withered, and snow helped douse the Tripod Complex. However, the Uncles Complex in Northern California shrugged off the moisture and kept on burning until a stiffer rainstorm in mid-October turned the remaining smoldering flames into mud.

During the heart of fire season, helicopters and other resources were sometimes hard to find. Heavy helicopters in particular were fewer in number due to post-hurricane demands in the Gulf Coast region. However, the national airtanker fleet, having never fully rebounded after being severely cut back a few years ago, saw a sizable newcomer enter the picture—a DC-10 leased by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF). Further, crews from Canada were brought in to bolster the ground troops, and specialists from Australia and New Zealand were brought in to ease the shortfall in some key fire overhead positions.

The fire season had its tragedies, too. On Aug. 4, a Heavy Lift Helicopters’ Sikorsky plummeted into the Klamath River while working the Happy Camp Complex, killing its two crewmembers, Terry Jacobs and Andrei Pantchenko. On Sept. 6, a CDF air tactical aircraft crashed near Springville, killing Rob Stone, a CDF battalion chief, and George "Sandy" Willett, a pilot with DynCorp.

California
Southern California launched the West Coast into the fire season with the Perkins Fire, which broke out June 19 on the Los Padres National Forest south of Cuyama. Strong winds quickly pushed this brush-and-grass fire into steep, rocky country. The fire then merged with the 55-acre McPherson Fire, becoming the Perkins Complex. The complex was contained June 25 at 15,043 acres.

The CDF’s DC-10 made its historic first drop on the Sawtooth Fire, which was kindled by a lightning strike north of San Bernardino County’s Yucca Valley on July 9. The fire later moved into the San Bernardino National Forest, but the majority of it burned on land protected by the CDF. The CDF deployed the DC-10—with its three external tanks carrying 12,000 gallons of retardant—to help with a primary objective: Keep the fire out of the resort community of Big Bear.

The Sawtooth Fire became the Sawtooth Complex in mid-July when its managers inherited the Waters and Ridge fires. Soon thereafter, the 10,000-acre Millard Complex was also added. The Sawtooth Fire, which burned nearly 60 homes and three times as many other structures, was contained July 18 at 61,700 acres. Scattered wet thunderstorms across Southern California helped quench the 24,000-acre Millard Complex in early August.

Lightning also kept firefighters in Northern California on their feet for most of the summer. Among the persistent fires was the Uncles Complex, which started July 23 in the Klamath National Forest’s Marble Mountains Wilderness. The complex included the Uncles, Snoozer, Ethel, Rock, Hancock, Rush and Katherine fires. Another shotgun pattern of fires—-the Bar, Bake, Oven, Pigeon and Little fires—was grouped into the Bar Complex, located northwest of Weaverville in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. By Oct. 18, the Uncles Complex had scorched 30,400 acres, and the Bar Complex was well over 100,400 acres. Rain and significantly cooler temperatures played a large role in their containment. The Uncles Complex cost $15.5 million to fight, and the Bar Complex cost more than $61 million.

Back in Southern California, the Day Fire, located 22 miles northwest of Santa Clarita, erupted in the Los Padres National Forest on Labor Day. Burning in chaparral and timber, the fire soon swelled to mammoth proportions and threatened residences in the Ojai Valley. On Oct. 3, the Day Fire was contained at 162,702 acres. It had burned 11 structures and cost more than $73 million to fight.

Just as Californians thought the fire season was winding down, an arsonist set the deadly Esperanza Fire in Riverside County on Oct. 26. The same day, while trying to protect a house in the desert hills near Palm Springs, the five members of Forest Service Engine 57—Jason McKay, Daniel Hoover-Najera, Jess McLean, Mark Loutzenhiser and Pablo Cerda—were trapped by a fast-moving firestorm. McKay, Hoover-Najera and McLean died at the scene. Loutzenhiser, their captain, died a few hours later. Cerda died on Oct. 31. As of press time, the fire had burned approximately 40,000 acres and destroyed 34 homes and 20 outbuildings.

Oregon
The Cascade Crest Complex, composed of the Black Crater, Puzzle and Lake George fires, burned into mid-September and blackened more than 20,000 acres in central Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest. The Black Crater Fire kicked off the marathon in late July after a string of lightning storms sparked fires throughout the area. The Black Crater Fire quickly swelled to 2,000 acres, and evacuation alerts were sounded for neighborhoods west of Sisters, a city of nearly 1,000 residents, which has seen more than its share of fires in the past few years. Although the Black Crater Fire was contained by Aug. 10 at 9,400 acres, it wasn’t out, and resources were being absorbed by dozens of other fires and complexes in the West. After the Lake George Fire popped up within eyesight of the Black Crater Fire, the two were administratively merged. The Puzzle Fire, which was burning along the eastern flank of the Willamette National Forest, was gathered into the fold in late August. Crews were withdrawn from the Puzzle and Lake George fires by Sept. 10.

Elsewhere in eastern Oregon, the Twin Elk Complex (the morphed product of the Elkhorn and the Twin Lakes complexes) and Shake Table Complex were contained late in September. The Shake Table Complex ultimately burned 14,453 acres, and the Twin Elk Complex burned 13,000 acres.

Washington
Lightning also ignited numerous fires in Washington’s northern Cascades, including one of the nation’s largest complexes, Tripod, which burned primarily in the Pasayten Wilderness. The Tripod Complex was comprised of the Tripod, Cedar Creek and Van Peak fires, as well as the Tatoosh Complex, and it burned through bug-killed lodgepole pine and spruce, as well as other forest fuels. Fire is no stranger to this country, so the complex burned within the footprints of numerous old burns. Access was a continual problem, necessitating the use of many helicopters and mule teams. As the fires sprawled, concern grew about the flames crossing into Canada, prompting joint management with Canadian fire officials.

The Tripod Complex continued growing throughout August and September and was still kicking in mid-October, even though the arrival of snow and rain had prompted most fire crews, helicopter and mule teams to leave the area. In the end, it cost $82 million to fight the 175,000-acre complex.

Southeastern Washington made a valiant stab not to be outdone by Tripod. Lightning ignited the Columbia Complex on Aug. 21. It spanned several counties, involved multiple jurisdictions and agencies and one Native American tribe. The DC-10 airtanker was also put to use on some flanks of the fires. The Columbia Complex burned into the first week of October before rain stopped fire growth at 109,422 acres. This sweeping collection of fires, generally located south and east of Dayton, ultimately burned 28 structures, tracts of wheat fields, grassland and a chunk of the Umatilla National Forest.

Looking Ahead
With the 2006 fire season on the wane in most West Coast states, forecasters predict another El Niño season for 2007. This may mean a warm, wet winter for Southern California and therefore increased landslide activity in the areas that burned this year. In the Pacific Northwest, El Niño often triggers a dry winter, which could result in an early and potentially longer-than-normal 2007 fire season.

Brian Ballou is a wildland/urban interface specialist in southwestern Oregon.