River Complex 2021 fires

River Complex 2021
River Complex 2021
	The Haypress Fire on August 2, 2021
Date(s)	July 30, 2021 –; October 25, 2021;
Location	Klamath National Forest, Siskiyou County, California, U.S.
Coordinates	41°08′35″N 123°01′05″W / 41.143°N 123.018°W
Statistics
Burned area	199,343 acres; 311 square miles; 807 square kilometres; 80,671 hectares
Ignition
Cause	Lightning strike
Map
	Location in Northern California

The River Complex 2021 was a wildfire complex burning in Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County, California in the United States. The complex comprises over 20 wildfires that started as a result of lightning strikes during a series of thunderstorms in late July 2021. As of 25 October 2021^[update], the fire had burned a total of 199,343 acres (80,671 ha) and became 100% contained. The largest fires in the complex were the Haypress–Summer Fire (183,145 acres (74,116 ha)) and the Cronan Fire (5,940 acres (2,404 ha)).

Progression

July

A series of late July thunderstorms created lightning strikes that, over a series of days, started 29 wildfires on the western side of Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County, California. Twenty-five of those fires started in the Salmon-Scott River Ranger District, resulting in the creation of the River Complex to manage the fires.^[2] The first fire was reported on July 30, 2021, around 7:00 AM, burning in timber and brush.^[1] The largest fire, as of July 31, was the Cronan Fire, burning 3.5 miles northeast of Sawyers Bar. At the time, it was reported to have burned 20 acres (8 ha). Five of the 25 fires were contained and two were declared "out" by fire crews, including the Bally Fire near Buckhorn Bally Lookout and the Lime Fire near Lime Gulch. On Saturday, July 31, two more fires were reported: a .25 acre fire (Glade Fire) on Sterling Mountain and a tree fire in the Slater Fire burn scar.^[2]

August

By August 2, a more robust evaluation of the fires burning in the Complex was available.^[3] Thirteen fires remained actively burning, including the three largest fires:^[4]

Haypress Fire at 600 acres (243 ha) burning two miles southeast of Shadow Creek Campground. This fire caused the evacuations of Taylor Creek and warnings to be put in place for Forks of Salmon and Sawyers Bar.^[5]
Summer Fire at 200 acres (81 ha) burning east of China Gulch Trailhead, near Cecil Lake. This resulted in the evacuation of the trail and immediate area and an evacuation center being opened in Etna, California.^[5]
Cronan Fire at 150 acres (61 ha) burning 3.5 miles from Sawyers Bar in Cronan Gulch.^[5]

Smokejumpers were brought in to tackle fires in remote areas, including the 20 acres (8 ha)^[5] Packers Fire burning on Packers Peak in the Trinity Alps Wilderness and the 3 acres (1 ha) Island Fire near Lake of the Island in Marble Mountain Wilderness.^[3] The next day, on August 3, evacuations were put in place for Cecilville and Caribou Road. Evacuation warnings were put in place for areas surrounding Cecilville. Limited firefighting resources, due to other larger fires burning in the region, resulted in smaller fires being left to burn out and a focus on structure protection.^[6] The number of fires in the complex was increased to 22. The majority of the fires were .5 to 20 acres (8 ha) in size and 13 were contained. By the evening of August 6, the Haypress Fire grew to 13,500 acres (5,463 ha), the Summer Fire was 6,611 acres (2,675 ha) and the Cronan Fire was 662 acres (268 ha). The entire complex totaled 29,783 acres (12,053 ha) and was three percent contained. Additional evacuation orders were put in place for Summerville and Petersburg. A portion of Callahan-Cecilville Road was closed.^[7]

Effects

Smoke from the River Complex impacted air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area from August 6 through August 8. The air quality levels prompted an air quality advisory for the area.^[8]

The Summer Fire resulted in an evacuation of the entire China Gulch Trailhead and a closure of the trail on August 2.^[5]