The Flanagan Fire burning near the city of Shasta Lake is still 90 percent contained at 88 acres. Cal Fire says they expect full containment in the coming days.
The fire started last Friday when a burn pile lit by Cal Fire spread out of control. Cal Fire Public Information Officer Cheryl Buliavac said the weather conditions were initially safe, then changed in the afternoon.
“When the project was started that morning it met all of the criteria including being a permissive burn day, as set by Shasta County Air Quality Management District,” Buliavac said. “Later that day, far into firefighting efforts being engaged, Shasta County Air Quality Management District changed the burn day status … to negative burn day to help mitigate the potential of any other wildfire activity because of the change in the weather conditions and the winds.”
Shasta County Air Quality District Manager John Waldrop confirmed the change in weather and burn status, saying it was highly unusual.
Buliavac said Cal Fire is working to reduce their risk of possibly starting future fires. She said the agency has begun hiring back its seasonal workforce and has assigned more personnel than ever to fire prevention in anticipation of any wildfires that may ignite going forward.
"It is a critical part of Cal Fire’s mission implementing fuels management projects to prevent and reduce the threat of uncontrolled wildfires," Buliavac said. "And moving forward, these projects will continue to go on. We will be taking significant measures to ensure that the predicted weather is accurate and that we are closely monitoring that. "
While it’s still winter, Buliavac said anyone working with fire needs to be extra cautious as little rain in the area has led to elevated fire weather conditions.
"The significant lack of precipitation that California has received overall, with minimal snowpack on reserve, is very concerning …” Buliavac said. “So there definitely is probable cause to be very, very concerned."
The Flanagan Fire is currently largely inactive, Buliavac said. All evacuation orders have been lifted and no structures have been damaged.
