While the McKinney Fire continued to grow slowly Thursday in Siskiyou County, firefighters were reporting “excellent progress” as they began to rack up some containment on the state’s largest wildfire, according to authorities.
As of Thursday morning, the McKinney Fire — which was 10% contained — had scorched more than 58,600 acres near the border of California and Oregon, according to Cal Fire. Authorities have reported that four people have been found dead in the burn zone, surpassing the total death toll of California’s 2021 fire season, which saw three deaths.
Heavy rainfall earlier this week gave crews battling the massive blaze the breathing room they needed to establish some containment lines, which led law enforcement in the area to even allow some residents to return home. Thanks to containment lines put in just north of the cities of Yreka and Hawkinsville, authorities on Wednesday reduced the evacuation orders within parts of those cities to warnings.
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Still, residents in those warning zones were instructed to remain alert.
“We all saw how fast the fire grew on the first night, and we want to be prepared if that happens again,” Yreka Police Chief Mark Gilman wrote in a letter to residents. “We are not out of the woods yet, but we might be close.”
While the rainfall briefly helped to reduce flames, fire officials warned that as temperatures warmed up and humidity dropped, fuels will dry out rapidly, causing fire activity to ramp up again.
“Were happy to have that (containment) line in,” Forest Services spokesperson Mike Lindbery said Thursday morning, “but we have a lot more to accomplish before we feel totally good on that.”
With humidity levels expected to plunge into the single digits on Wednesday, officials said people in the area should also expect to see more smoke coming from the fire zone.
“In a lot of places in the country, that would be considered bone dry — and the fire will respond in kind, ” Fire behavior analyst Dennis Burns said about the 11% humidity on Thursday morning.
Check back for updates.
