Wind gusts are not all that popular with firefighters. Yet on Friday bouts with significant breezes barely affected their progress against the Elk Incident.
As of 8 p.m. on Friday evening, the blaze, which originated along Elk Mountain Road north ofUpper Lake, remained stalled at 670 acres consumed. Meanwhile fire crews increased containment to 40 percent.
To accomplish this, however, firefighters battled gusts of 30 miles per hour cresting the ridge line — as well as a fire that seemed content to turn back on itself.
Cal Fire reported that crews managed to block the outward spread of the incident, several areas of unburned grass and timber within the boundaries of Elk caused problems. In addition, hot spots close to the perimeter drew the attention of mop up crews.
Teams from Cal Fire, the U.S. Forest Service and the Northshore Fire Protection District spent much of the day hacking out a prevention line around the expected advance of the blaze. Helicopters made repeated runs and other crews improved upon the existing containment lines.
The state felt comfortable enough with progress on Elk they did not forward additional resources to the location. In fact, throughout the day they pulled heavy equipment — bulldozers — from the line. Only three remain committed to Elk, along with 26 engines, four water tenders to help patrol the line and 270 men and women. Four helicopters continue to hit the perimeter from the air.
The confidence level increased throughout the day. Roads remain open with only cautions for drivers to be wary of fire equipment applied. Meanwhle PG&E restored power to the homes affected by outages directly related to the Elk fire.
Although Cal Fire has not yet confirmed initial reports that a lawn mower sparked the fire on Wednesday afternoon, they did issue a reminder to residents asking for care when using equipment.
The request urged recognition of the fact that activities such as parking, mowing, dragging tow chains, using chainsaws or cooking near dry fuels — grass, brush, trees — may lead to tremendous fire damage.
