A Northern California wildfire has broken out northwest of Yreka in the Klamath National Forest, about 15 miles south of the Oregon border, sending up a huge ash cloud and sparking a flurry of evacuations in small forest communities in the northern Golden State. The McKinney Fire was reported at 300 acres Friday night without containment and exploded overnight, reaching 18,000 acres by Saturday morning, the U.S. Forest Service said. “The McKinney Fire has grown significantly as winds from late afternoon thunderstorms kept the fire active overnight,” the Forest Service said. “Runs were made on the north and south sides of the fire.” “Another day of very active fire behavior is expected with very high temperatures in the forecast,” the agency said.
Infrared video, taken by an aircraft flying over the McKinney Fire at 12:29 p.m. from the state Office of Emergency Services for the Fire Integrated Real-time Intelligence System, was posted on Twitter and showed the first had grown to 29,677 acres. OES Intel 12 Jul 30 #McKinneyFire KNF Video #2. The fire is mapped at 29,677 acres as of 12:29 p.m. pic.twitter.com/JzhaJzSFjA — FIRIS (@FIRIS) July 30, 2022 The fire was burning wild Saturday afternoon and evacuations extended west of Yreka. “Because of the erratic winds the fire is falling everywhere,” Caroline Quintanilla, public information officer for the US Forest Service, told SFGATE at 1 p.m. The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office issued evacuation orders Friday and more early Saturday before the sun rose. you can get the latest evacuation information on the sheriff’s office Facebook page. You can find the evacuation zone at ZoneHaven. Pretty monstrous fire behavior near midnight at the #McKinneyFire. Even some lightning caused by pyroCb this hour, about the last thing Klamath needs. New #China2Fire plume also visible to the west. Valley temperatures stay in the 90s. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/HaKTJljh2D — Bruno Rodriguez (@brunorodriguezq) July 30, 2022 The fire started at 2:38 p.m. on the Oak Knoll Ranger Area, west of the Walker Creek Bridge on the south side of the Klamath River, the U.S. Forest Service said. Thunderstorms moved through the area Friday night and may have exacerbated the blaze. “We had 100 lightning strikes in western Siskiyou County last night,” said Brad Schaaf, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Medford, Ore. “It looks like the fire definitely came first, before the storms,” ​​Schaaf said. “It appears that there was a gust of wind from the fire that helped develop the storm. The first lightning occurred after 7 p.m.” More lightning is forecast for Saturday, putting a red flag warning in place for severe weather. Schaaf said the fire put out a 39,000-foot-high cumulus cloud by 11:30 p.m. “It’s unusual for a fire to put out a fire cloud of this size late at night because fires usually stabilize after sunset,” he said. Cumulus clouds, also known as fire clouds, form when air heats up and moves upward, pushing smoke, ash and vapor with it. It is a sign that fire activity on the ground is increasing.
NWS meteorologist Bruno Rodriguez tweeted: “Very monstrous fire behavior near midnight on the #McKinneyFire.” Rodriguez added that there was even some cumulus cloud activity, with the fire cloud producing its own lightning — “about the last thing the Klamath needs,” he wrote. The #McKinneyFire in far Northern California is exhibiting extremely extreme and erratic fire behavior tonight, creating an almost 50,000 foot (!!) plume of ash as it spreads rapidly. This is the upper echelon of extreme fire behavior at night. #CAwx #CAfire pic.twitter.com/kAdPQ8fsbA — US StormWatch (@US_Stormwatch) July 30, 2022 Multiple roads were closed due to the fire, including Highway 96, Scott River Road, Highway 96 and Highway 263, the Siskiyou Office of Emergency Services said. #China2Fire has been combined with the nearby Evans Fire, 2-3 miles west of Seiad. Estimated size 300-350 ac in very rugged terrain. Warnings and evacuation orders are in effect and remain fluid. For real-time information on evacuations, visit https://t.co/rGbvQss5bY. — Klamath NF (@Klamath_NF) July 30, 2022 Two other smaller fires were reported near the McKinney Fire, the China Peak Fire and the Evans Peak Fire. The Klamath National Forest said at 11 a.m. Saturday that the China fire was combined with the Evans fire and was about 300 to 350 acres and 2 to 3 miles west of the town of Seiad Valley.