ALTURAS, Calif.— A total of 17 lightning fires have been identified to date resulting from the storm last week. Though a large majority remained less than one acre, firefighters made great progress containing the few that got larger.

Following is a wrap up on all fires greater than one acre:

Fox Fire (T40N R8E Sec34) – 13.2 acres, 100-percent contained
McGinty Fire (T45N R13E Sec29) – 28.5 acres, 90-percent contained
North Fire (T45N R13E Sec33) – 27.7 acres, 100-percent contained
Wood Fire (T43N R12E Sec13) – 14.8 acres, 100-percent contained
Telephone Fire (T45N R11E Sec24) – 25 acres, 20-percent contained

The Fork Fire in the South Warner Wilderness is currently one-tenth of an acre burning in a remote area. With firefighter safety as top priority and the knowledge that healthy wildfire enhances resilience to future fires and benefits wilderness characteristics such as aspen stands and other wildlife habitat, a Wildland Fire Module has been ordered to contain this fire.

A Wildland Fire Module is a 10-person crew with expertise in fuels management and specialized monitoring equipment. This module will work with Modoc Fire and Fuels personnel to contain this fire with burnout operations anchored from natural features connected and augmented with hand line. This technique will have the lightest impact on this Congressionally-Designated Wilderness while safely containing the fire and limiting overall duration.

Much like a prescribed fire, this naturally-caused fire will help reduce the dead and down fuel loading and improve wildlife habitat. The results are expected to promote long-term ecosystem integrity and sustainability by reducing the risk of high-severity wildland fires in the future.

Please expect to see smoke from these operations for the next few days.

“This is a good opportunity for us to use natural features to safely suppress this lightning-caused fire while supporting the overall long-term health of this fire-adapted wilderness,” said Forest Supervisor Amanda McAdams. “We will make every effort to assure firefighter and public safety on this incident while also contributing to the safety of future firefighters and forest users.”

Klamath Falls News coverage of the 2019 Wildfire Season is brought to you by Ace Towing and Turn Thom Point S.