Crews Gain Upper Hand on Huge Walker Fire

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After scorching more than 75 square miles of the Plumas National Forest, more than 1 thousand firefighters are gaining ground on the massive Walker Fire.

In this satellite photo, you can clearly see the Walker Fire’s smoke plume and that of the Red Bank Fire to the west.

On Tuesday firefighting efforts were helped by clouds and even some rain as a cool weather system passed over the area. The fire continues to burn about 20 miles south of Susanville, and is now 20 percent contained but that number is expect to rise significantly today.

With favorable conditions today, fire managers are hoping to construct hand and dozer lines around much more of the blaze. Time may be short as hotter weather is forecast for the end of the week into the weekend, with showers possible on Monday.

The Walker fire is the largest fire of the season in California, which has seen far fewer dangerous blazes and much less acreage burn than either of the past two seasons.

Meantime, crews are also having success on the large Red Bank Fire in the hills west of Red Bluff. That fire has burned almost 9 thousand acres, but was reported to be 80 percent contained today.

Elsewhere in Northern California, a complex of suspected lightning caused fires are being battled in the northwest part of the state, including one of the largest, the Lime Fire which is burning near Yreka and has blackened more than 1900 acres. That fire is 20 percent contained as of today.