Regional
Yuba Fire: Facts, Figures and Thanks
Author: YubaNet
Published on Aug 21, 2009 - 11:37:31 AM

NEVADA CITY, Calif. August 21, 2009 - The Yuba Fire is still burning, even with 90% containment achieved. Containment means there is a solid line around the perimeter of the fire. Even with 100% containment, a fire is not "out," only its progression is stopped. Once all the interior of a fire has stopped burning and is "out cold," a fire is declared 'controlled,' which in layperson's terms means "out." Firefighters are still working towards containment, but are also beginning the rehabilitation of their suppression efforts. Rehab includes erosion control, obliterating dozer lines and cleaning up the fire camps that house personnel.

Yuba Fire by the Numbers

Start date: August 14, 2009 12:28 pm (first report by the lookouts)

Cause: Fire investigators have confirmed the initial fire was started by a red-tail hawk that got into a power line, but another fire in the area remains under investigation.

Estimated containment date: August 23, 2009

Acres burned to-date: 3,891

Containment achieved: to-date: 90%

Firefighter injuries: 41

Structures destroyed: 2

Cost to-date: $10.6 million

Gallons of retardant dropped on the fire as of August 20th: 317,116

Maximum number of firefighters assigned: 1,691 (on August 19, 2009)

Numbers of incident maps produced for firefighter use: 700 per day

Meals served in fire camp (as of August 20th): 12,124

Daily loads of laundry in fire camp: 340

Aircraft Facts and Numbers

At the height of the fire, ground crews were assisted by 16 helicopters and five tankers. The five tankers ranged from the S2T air tankers carrying a payload of 1,200 gallons of long-term fire retardant to the DC-10 Tanker 910 which can dump as much as 12,000 U.S. gallons of retardant in as little as eight seconds.

Impact on Agencies

The fire has many impact on the community and agencies in the area. Power generation, recreation and tourism are impacted by the fire and will be for a long time to come.

Curt Aikens, General Manager of the Yuba County Water Agency (YCWA), shared his agency's damage assessment with YubaNet:

YCWA Watershed Damage: The fire caused a near total loss of plant and animal life in the 3,500 acre burned area. The loss of vegetation will likely result in increased landslides and impaired water quality runoff. This will impact the Yuba River, its tributaries and Lake Francis.

YCWA Colgate Generation Loss: The fire and the associated firefighting efforts shut down the 230 Kv transmission line connecting the 340 Mw Colgate Powerhouse to the electric grid for about 2 days. This shut down of the Colgate Powerhouse required a spill of 1,200 cfs of water from New Bullards Bar Reservoir for about 38 hours to maintain water flow for the same period of time. The spilled water results in a loss of about 4,180 MWh of electric generation or about $170,000.

YCWA Potential future operational damage: The loss of vegetation cover on the steep hill above the Colgate Powerhouse, combined with winter rain runoff, will likely result in substantial landslides. This area is already prone to rock and mudslides due to the steep terrain. The slides could substantially impact project operations by restricting or blocking the only access road to the Colgate Powerhouse and Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Colgate 60Kv switchyard. Also, any slides could result in damage to sensitive electrical equipment associated with the Yuba County Water Agency Colgate Powerhouse, Colgate maintenance facilities and Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Colgate 60Kv switchyard. The powerhouse is manned 365 days a year and the plant site is the headquarters for approximately 25 employees. The Colgate Powerhouse has a capacity of 340 MW and is a key resource for balancing PG&E’s 230 Kv transmission system. PG&E’s 60 Kv switchyard is a key facility for supplying electricity to the local and regional area. Operational damage to either of these facilities could have substantial impact to electric service in the area and possibly regionally.

YCWA General Operations: The fire diverted YCWA crews from their normal operations for about a week and will likely cause additional maintenance activities in the future to deal with future expected impacts such as slides.

California State Park at Bridgeport, Nevada County

The South Yuba River State Park at Bridgeport in Nevada County closed down for several days. On Saturday, when the fire jumped the Middle Fork of the Yuba River and started burning in Nevada County, officials closed the park. During the height of the fire, CAL FIRE used the parking lot as a staging area for firefighting equipment. It reopened partially on Wednesday, after all evacuations and road closures in Nevada County were lifted. The park will be completely open this weekend.

Impact on Community - Generous Offers of Help

The communities of Dobbins and Oregon House were the ones most severely impacted by the fire. The Three Rivers branch of the Red Cross opened an evacuation shelter and a cooling center, providing shelter, snacks and drinks for evacuated residents at the Oregon House Community Center. In Nevada County, an evacuation center was briefly opened at the Nevada City Elks Lodge.

With evacuations and warnings of impending evacuations, all affected communities saw an outpouring of generosity by residents not affected by the fire. YubaNet readers offered spare cabins and bedrooms, posted offers to host pets and
livestock, and shared first-hand information on the fire's progression and updates on evacuated homes. Thank you messages for the firefighters posted in the comment section and directly emailed to YubaNet.com were compiled and forwarded to the fire camp.

For images of the fire as seen throughout the area, go to the Yuba Fire Gallery. A short video of a helicopter water drop near Lake Francis Road is here.

Cooperating Agencies: CAL FIRE, Yuba County Sheriff, Nevada County Sheriff, CHP, Yuba County OES, Yuba County Water, USFS – Tahoe & Plumas National Forests, CalEMA Fire Rescue, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, PG&E, Red Cross, and BLM.

Thank You Firefighters along Francis Lake Road on the Yuba Fire. August 17, 2009 Image: YubaNet

Editor's note: YubaNet.com wishes to thank the CAL FIRE PIOs, the Volunteers In Prevention (VIP) staffing the fire information center and the information officers from all participating agencies who shared their information with us.

A special thank you to our readers for their generous offers to host people, pets and livestock. Also, for posting first-hand information on the state and welfare of evacuees and their residences. We couldn't be prouder to serve this community.

The biggest thank you goes, without question, to the firefighters.

For updates on the Yuba Fire, please visit the Yuba Fire incident page.

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