Time-sensitive information related to ongoing wildfires
Summary Zeke Lunder provided updates on several fires, starting with Dragon Bravo in New Mexico, which is spreading slowly and interacting with previous fire scars. The fire is expected to hit the Cane fire area, potentially being contained there. Monroe Canyon’s fire, driven by drought and wind, is being managed with firing operations. The Gifford … Read more
The Big Cliff Fire, on the Klamath National Forest, in far NW California, looks like it will be with us for awhile. Here is last night’s IR map. Big Cliff Fire Overview The Big Cliff Fire is on a steep slope, making mapped acreage inacurate. The fire is burning inside the “Whites Fire” from 2014, … Read more
A busy day here at The Lookout, and across the west! We started the day looking at intel for the Dragon Bravo and Monroe Canyon Fires, but quickly got swept up with the developing Big Cliff Fire, on the Klamath National Forest, and finished the afternoon watching the rapidly-unfolding 1-4 Fire, in Susanville. We cover … Read more
Summary Zeke Lunder discussed the Dragon Bravo and Monroe Canyon fires. Dragon Bravo, burning on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, has destroyed the visitor center and is spreading rapidly, with minimal firefighting success. The fire is expected to reach the Kaibab Lodge, with efforts to slow its progression using drones and strategic firing … Read more
Summary Zeke Lunder discusses the Dragon Bravo and Monroe Canyon fires, in Northern Arizona and Central Utah, detailing their spread, weather conditions, and firefighting strategies. Dragon Bravo, starting on the North Rim, is moving north, with strong southwest winds and low humidity. Monroe Canyon Fire, in Utah, had a major run several days ago, when … Read more
Zeke Lunder discussed the Dragon Bravo and Butler Fires. Dragon Bravo, started in the first week of July, has been romping to the NE due to extreme conditions. The fire has destroyed the historic North Rim Lodge and 70-80 structures, with suppression costs reaching $20 million. The fire’s progression is influenced by weather and terrain, … Read more
Zeke Lunder provided an update on the Dragon Bravo fire, which has been active for nearly a month and is now 8,000 acres. The fire has destroyed over 70 structures and is moving northeast under prevailing southwesterly winds. Firefighters have conducted firing operations to manage the fire’s intensity but face challenges due to extreme dryness … Read more
This video shares video, maps, and photos collected in the year since the Park Fire burned over 400,000 acres in Northern California, north of Chico, California. The audio for this episode was recorded on 7/31/2024, during an interview for the Blue Dot Report, a week into the fire. The Blue Dot Report is a science … Read more
UPDATE – Morning of 7/25/2025 The fire is now well-established in the Saddle Mountain Wilderness. It has not breached the 7/21-7/22 firing operations along the northern boundary of the Park into the Kaibab NF, though it has potential to sneak out of the wilderness back onto the Kaibab from the SE. The fire grew in … Read more
Here is our morning intel assessment livestream of the current situation on the Butler Fire, burning around Forks of Salmon, on the Salmon River, in NW California. These maps are based on infrared flights conducted at 11pm, on 7/20/2025. Cover photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service – Klamath National Forest Facebook. The maps are pretty … Read more
Sorry for the small maps, I’m traveling today, no laptop! Here are some infrared maps from last night at 9:41 PM, 7/19/2025. The fire did not spread aggressively down slope into Forks of Salmon as of the time of the mapping the fire was burning intensely on the upper slopes and had advanced significantly up … Read more
The firefighters continue to make good progress on the Green Fire north of Shasta Lake. They’ve now completed firing operations down the ridge between Rip Gut Creek and Fenders Ferry Road, and the firing operation is filling in back towards the main body of the fire. On the south flank of the fire, fire lines … Read more
After days of backing down toward the Salmon River from the south, the Butler Fire crossed the River on the afternoon of the 17th and ran up onto the north side of the canyon. Yesterday the fire continued to grow upcanyon on both sides of the River. It is well-established on the slopes above the … Read more
The Butler Fire jumped the Salmon River late yesterday afternoon and made a run. By 3am the slopover was 285 acres. Firefighting on the new front will be quite the puzzle, there’s a lot of line near the slop from the Jacket Fire, earlier this month, and a 2021 fire upstream on the North Fork … Read more
Today’s Lookout Livestream We look at the potential for continued spread of the Green Fire, north of Shasta Lake, the Summit Fire, in the Marble Mountain Wilderness, near the town of Etna, California, and the Butler Fire, east of Somes Bar, on the Salmon River. Also, we take a first look at the Dragon Bavo … Read more
7/11/2025 – 4pm Intel Update – Green Fire. The fire has been much more active today than the past several days. Watch our livestream, below, and/or scroll down for maps and a quick update. From the 11:45am FIRIS flight, and webcams it looks like the pyrocumulus/column action has been on the south flank of the … Read more
Zeke Lunder provided a detailed update on the Green Fire, Butler Fire, and Summit Fire in Northern California and southwestern Oregon. The Green Fire, between Redding and Burney, showed significant progression with a slope reversal in late afternoon allowing the fire to run up toward the Low Pass area, in the head of Low Pass … Read more
The Butler Fire is spreading freely across the steep and rugged slopes of the Lower Salmon River Watershed, in Northwest California. My friend and colleague, Will Harling lives at the bottom of the mountain, and is watching the fire spread toward his neighborhood. Rather than packing up and running, he is setting up to conduct … Read more
Our 7/6/2025 NorCal Fire Report provided a detailed update on the Green Fire, Butler Fire, and Summit Fires in Northern California. This episode was sponsored by QTAC, WATERAX Pumps, and FyreBx. The Green Fire, located north of Redding, has grown from 96 acres on July 3 to 1,100 acres by July 6, doubling in size … Read more
The Green Fire has been burning for several days in a remote area northeast of Shasta Lake, and poses some special challenges for firefighters. This fire is going to burn for a while, and could reach over 10,000 acres in size. Here is a link to our livestream for this article. Read the material below … Read more
{AI summary, edited lightly by Zeke} Zeke Lunder provides a detailed update on the Madre Fire in Northern California, which has grown to over 72,000 acres. Using satellite imagery and infrared data, he maps the fire’s progress, noting minimal growth between 11 AM and noon. The fire is most active near Caliente Mountain and has … Read more
{Written by a robot, skimmed by Zeke} Zeke Lunder discussed the active wildfires in Northern California on July 4, 2025. Key fires included 2 small fires in Butte County, the Green Fire near Round Mountain/Shasta Lake, the Horse Fire between Lakehead and Trinity Lake, the Helena Fire west of Weaverville, and the Summit, Butler, and … Read more
7/3/2025 California Fire Report Zeke Lunder discussed the current fire situation in Northern California, highlighting several active fires. The Green Fire near Round Mountain is 100 acres, the Horse Fire near Lake Shasta is 220 acres, and the Helena Fire near the North Fork of the Trinity River is in difficult terrain. The Madre Fire … Read more
It is wildfire season in Northern California, yet? I get this question a lot. As of the third week in June, 2025, my answer is ‘not really’. How can I tell? Didn’t we just have Red Flag Warnings last week? Hasn’t the grass been dry for over a month? I need to qualify ‘fire season’. … Read more
Current Situation The Hughes Fire started midday on 1/22/2025 east of Castaic Lake, California. It had grown to 9,000 acres by 6pm, and had spread vigorously to the west, driven by sustained NE winds and very low humidities. The winds are not severe enough to ground firefighting aircraft, and an enormous amount of water and … Read more
UPDATED 10:20pm, 1/8/2025 The Palisades and Eaton Fire were both active today. Both fires made major advances last night, and throughout the daylight hours, today, and with the exception of some growth to the north on the Palisades Fire, the fires largely burned out previously unburned areas and consumed structures within their morning footprints. Lookout … Read more
August 16, 2024: Overall, things are looking good around the fire today. Over the past 24 hours, crews have continued to make progress, particularly on the north and west sides of the fire where mopping up and securing firelines have been the primary focus. The recent cooler temperatures and higher humidity levels have moderated fire … Read more
Boise Fire backing into recent fires – Ryan Stephens After making a significant slope reversal and running to the top of Antenna Ridge, the fire has moderated over the past 24 hours and is now backing into recent fire footprints. Today, crews are working on the fire’s east side with the addition of two new … Read more
8/14/2024 – 6:30am. In yesterday’s post we talked about the high potential for the Boise Fire to cross Boise Creek and make a big run up the north fork of Boise Creek. That happened yesterday evening. We’ve also been talking on the Livestream about how some locals have been pushing for the incident management team … Read more
We have been using the Boise Fire as an opportunity to talk about the social aspects of fire management in the Klamath Mountains. If you missed those stories, you can watch them in the two videos embedded at the end of this post. 5pm UPDATE: The maps below show the fire’s location at 2:40pm, today, … Read more