SISKIYOU COUNTY — Firefighters battling the McKinney Fire near the California-Oregon border faced another day of hot breezy weather with the possibility of lightning Saturday as the massive blaze topped 60,000 acres.
Cal Fire’s latest figures on the fire that started over a week ago in Siskiyou County placed it at 60,044 acres with 30% containment as of Saturday morning.
Crews dealt with hot, sunny weather on Friday with dry conditions and low humidity as temperatures ranged from the lower 80s on the ridges to near 100 in the valleys.
There was poor to moderate humidity recovery overnight with hot and breezy conditions returning Saturday morning. Officials said there is still enough moisture and instability in the atmosphere that thunderstorms and possible lightning strikes cannot be ruled out over the area.
Lightning strikes over Humboldt and Trinity counties on Friday started a series of fires that have forced some mandatory evacuation orders in Humboldt County.
The Six Rivers Lightning Complex Fire — also being referred to as the 2022 SRF Lightning Complex Fire Incident — triggered the evacuations in the areas east and south of Willow Creek Friday evening. Three zones were under mandatory evacuation orders with a number of other areas coming under evacuation advisories.
The fires are burning in areas of steep terrain and dry conditions. The U.S. Forest Service for Six Rivers National Forest is managing the incident with Cal Fire deploying additional resources Saturday to assist in the firefighting efforts.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies continue to patrol the areas under evacuation order to notify residents of the order and conduct looting prevention.
California and much of the rest of the West is in drought and wildfire danger is high, with the historically worst of the fire season still to come. Fires are burning throughout the region.
At the McKinney Fire’s southeastern corner, evacuation orders for sections of Yreka, home to about 7,800 people, were downgraded to warnings earlier this week, allowing residents to return home but with a caution that the situation remained dangerous.
About 1,300 people remained under evacuation orders, officials said at a community meeting Wednesday evening.
More than 100 homes and other buildings have burned and four bodies have been found, including two in a burned car in a driveway.
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