Good morning everyone, here is the latest on the Whaleback Fire as of 7:30a.m.
A public meeting will be held today, August 5th, at 1:00p.m., in Jensen Hall at the Lassen County Fairgrounds to provide the Spalding residents information about the conditions they will face once they are allowed to return to their homes.
Crews continue to mop up and secure the fire’s edge. Suppression repair work will continue today over areas of the fire.
Fire officials say that with continued breezy conditions hazard trees will remain a safety concern as several fire weakened trees fell yesterday. Main continued concerns are firefighter and public safety as the crews work to secure the area around Spalding and to keep the fire within the containment lines.
Interior islands will continue to burn and produce smoke in the area. The Red Flag Warning has been rescinded but hot and dry weather will continue into the week. Winds will be from the southwest today 15-20mph with gusts to 25mph. Any new spot fires or new fires could grow rapidly. Fire crews continue to aggressively mop up and are engaged in suppression repair.
Fire Size: Approximately 18,726 acres with 80% containment burning on Whaleback Mountain and in the Brockman Flat Lava Beds on the west side of Eagle Lake about 20 miles northwest of Susanville.
Road Closures: County Road A1 is closed to the north at Lakeside Dr. near Buck’s Bay and to the south at Alta Drive in Lake Forest. County Rd 105 is closed at HWY 44, and County Rd 231 remains closed.
Evacuations and Closures: There is significant damage to LMUD power lines that provide power to Buck’s Bay, Stones Landing and Spalding communities. A generator has been delivered to Spalding and will be operational as soon as possible. As assessments of infrastructure continue, Spalding remains under evacuation order and the evacuation warning for Buck’s Bay and Stones Landing has been rescinded as of 8:00 a.m. Friday, August 03, 2018.
Campgrounds and day use areas remain closed to public use. Public lands have been temporarily closed in the fire area to provide for public safety. The closure orders and accompanying maps can be found at www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/lassen/alerts-notices and www.blm.gov/programs/public-safety-and-fire/fire-and-aviation/regional-info/california/fire-restrictions.
Evacuation Center: Assembly of God Church on Richmond Road in Susanville, (530) 310-2783.
Resources Assigned: 766 total personnel, including 17 hand crews; 4 helicopters; 44 engines; 12 bulldozers; 25 water tenders.
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Lassen Municipal Utility District crews have completed repairs at the south end of Eagle lake; restoring power to the Marina, Youth Camp, and Eagle’s Nest according to an announcement from the utility made Saturday afternoon.
“Crews are working on installing the generator and transformer that will restore power to the other communities affected by the ongoing Whaleback Fire outage,” explains LMUD Spokesperson Nick Dominguez.
In preparation for repopulation of the remaining communities, LMUD asks that residents please keep the following in mind:
LMUD will announce via news outlets, Facebook, text alert, and the LMUD Outage Center on www.lmud.org when the power restoration process begins.
Once the process begins it will take between 6 and 8 hours to restore power to all customers. Power will be restored in small sections to reduce strain on the generator.
LMUD asks that customers disconnect any generators not equipped with a transfer switch and be prepared to operate any manual transfer switches once power is restored.
Please conserve energy by turning off unnecessary lights, large appliances, and air conditioners before power is restored. Once power is restored it will be important to continue conserving energy.
If you observe any hazardous conditions, please notify LMUD immediately by calling 530-257-4174.
