Hotlum Fire

 The danger of wildfire became an unnerving reality for residents of the Mt. Shasta Vista Volunteer Fire Company (MSVVFC) district and neighboring Lake Shastina and Juniper Valley communities on February 26 when a United States Forest Service (USFS) control burn leapt out of control in the Hotlum area of the national forest and swept toward the Mt. Shasta Vista subdivision – an event dubbed the “Hotlum Fire”.  

The reason for the burn was to improve wildlife habitat. Fire is a natural part of the life cycle of a forest. It removes dense, dead brush, allowing room for new growth. Some plant species depend on fire to release seeds so that they can sprout. Animal species, especially deer, need the new growth to survive. The dead brush in the Hotlum area before the fire was so dense you couldn’t walk through it. The tender new growth that will soon take its place will be more nutritious and plentiful for the wildlife.

Ironically, the forest service had difficulty getting the fire started on Wednesday. The control burn continued as planned until late Saturday night when significant gusty winds fanned the flames, causing the fire to escape and burn about three acres outside of its initial control lines.

 That is when California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) Battalion Chief Jeff Burns, who is entering his 25^th firefighting season, was pulled from sleep and dispatched to the site of the control burn. CDF, USFS, Weed City Volunteer Fire Department, Lake Shastina Fire Department, two CDF Deadwood fire crews and one CDF bulldozer fought throughout the night and successfully contained the fire. Deadwood is a California Department of Corrections minimum-security inmate conservation camp that works in conjunction with CDF to provide the community with local community projects, fire prevention projects and firefighting efforts.  A CDF Fire Captain supervises each 15 to 17 person fire crew.  

“The fire escaped again late Sunday morning due to 50-60 mph gusts of wind,” says Burns. Two CDF Deadwood fire crews, a CDF bulldozer, two forest service engines and one water tender were on scene when the fire jumped its control lines. Warm temperatures and dry conditions created by the gusty South winds set the stage for extreme fire behavior.  The gusty winds fanned the flames to greater heights and created clouds of glowing embers and dense smoke. Smoke built to a blinding density, creating a single vehicle crash on SR97 as it blew across the highway toward the Mt. Shasta Vista subdivision. “Unfortunately, there is not much you can do with those kinds of winds, says Jeff Burns. “The wind fans the fire and can throw embers ahead of the main fire where they can start new fires up to a half mile or more away.”  Evacuation efforts began when the fire jumped SR 97 late Sunday morning.  

The Whitney Creek flood of July 2003 that swamped roadways and nearby parcels may not have seemed like a blessing at the time, but it led the Mt. Shasta Vista Property Owners Association to bulldoze a wall of sand along the edges of Whitney Creek to contain future flows. The berm appears to have helped slow the spread of fire into the subdivision as glowing embers crashed into the non-flammable volcanic
                                         

MSVVFC Newsletter Spring 2006 Page 1

MSVVFC Newsletter Spring 2006 Page 2

MSVVFC Newsletter Spring 2006 Page 3

MSVVFC Newsletter Spring 2006 Page 4

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