Air and ground attacks help limit Dunsmuir Fire to 49 acres

Aviation resources and ground crews, including hot shot crews, helped limit the Bradley Fire in Dunsmuir to 49 acres Tuesday on a hillside west of town.

A hand line and hose line were established around it, and hot shot crews from Trinity and Feather River staffed it throughout Tuesday night, according to incident commander trainee Drew Graham of the US Forest Service in Mount Shasta.

The plan for Wednesday, Graham said, is to “hold what we have” while “mopping up the perimeter and securing it so it will withstand any winds.”

Three helicopters are available Wednesday, if needed in Dunsmuir or elsewhere in the area, Graham said. He said 275 personnel were returning to the Bradley Fire.

Smoke will continue to be visible for a while, and there may be pockets of fire inside the perimeter, “but we’ll have people on it all the time,” Graham said.

The fire that was first reported about 10 p.m. Monday started about two-tenths of a mile behind the Little League field in Dunsmuir and spread quickly uphill on steep terrain during a warm night with low relative humidity.

As many as four air tankers and four helicopters were used throughout the day Tuesday to drop retardant and water on the fire while ground crews created a line around it.

Graham, who is working with incident commander Todd Mack, said they are continuing to mitigate safety concerns because of snags and rolling rocks.

It was clarified Wednesday morning that there were no mandatory evacuations in Dunsmuir because of the fire. But the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office did issue evacuation warnings for residents along Simpson, Scarlett, Haven, and Goodsell roads Monday night.

Although the fire was reported to be only 25 percent contained, Graham said the fire’s growth had been stopped, but there was still the potential for fire to get outside the perimeter.

If that were to happen, he said they are confident the resources are in place to quickly deal with it.

Resources involved have included Forest Service, CAL FIRE, Dunsmuir-Castella Fire Department, Mt. Shasta Fire Department, and Yreka Fire Department, along with hot shot crews from outside the area.

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