HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.02.20 Email from Mike Ramsey -North Complex Fire EOC morning briefing for October 2nd
From:Ramsey, Mike
To:Alpert, Bruce;Bennett, Robin;Clerk of the Board;Connelly, Bill;Cook, Holly;Lambert, Steve;Lucero, Debra;
McCracken, Shari;Paulsen, Shaina;Pickett, Andy;Ring, Brian;Ritter, Tami;Rodas, Amalia;Sweeney, Kathleen;
Teeter, Doug
Cc:Pickett, Andy;Gosselin, Paul;Ring, Brian
Subject:North Complex Fire EOC morning briefing for October 2nd
Date:Friday, October 2, 2020 12:32:40 PM
Good afternoon from your EOC Director for today with your morning update (now in the Mira Loma
facility in Oroville):
FIRE UPDATE:
Everything remains static and good in the West Zone (Butte County) side of the fire. Up in the
Feather River Canyon, USFS stated that last night’s winds were calmer than expected with crews
“monitoring” for any spotting across Highway 70 in the area of concern (Grizzly Dome). The fire has
come down to the highway. As of this morning, no fire spotting across the highway. Smoke is
expected to clear enough later today to get up helicopters. The plan for today is to strengthen fire
lines in the area and to get helicopters with retardant to do drops in the area. (Retardant is stickier in
the steep areas.) No fixed wing drops planned because of the steepness/narrowness of the canyon
walls. Also USFS said they now have a “mobile retardant” station set up in the Canyon to fill the
helicopters. Additionally USFS said that Union Pacific Railroad has a “water train” standing by to pour
water on any areas of fire near their tracks. Cal Fire is assisting with putting in contingency dozer
lines across the Canyon in case of spotting over. Cal Fire reports they are “over planning” in the area
“just in case” but are drawing down resources in the rest of their area of responsibility with
confidence those areas are stable.
LAW ENFORCEMENT:
The sheriff has a deputy embedded with the Forest Service to monitor the situation up in the
Canyon. (I get the impression the USFS has not been as forthcoming with real time information as
they could, so your county teams are improvising to get the most up to date situational awareness
possible to protect Butte County from another “blowout”.) Highway 70 is still closed as of this
morning at Cherokee, but CHP is monitoring for reopening.
CARE AND SHELTER:
As of this morning 658 survivors are still in hotels/motels throughout N. California. There is an effort
ongoing to relocate folks closer back to Butte County. There are 468 animals (large and small) being
housed. The Gridley site for animals is being closed and no more animals are being accepted at the
county sites unless found injured by responders in the burn area. There are 125 animals on
“unclaimed” status and the Parvo outbreak is still confined to the seven (7) “Parvo Puppies”
referenced in last night’s press conference. The veterinarian team from Texas A&M and U.C. Davis
believe they are containing the outbreak. (There was an unconfirmed report of a mountain lion in
the Mira Loma area of the EOC, having possibly been driven down here by the fire(s). In other duties
as assigned, your EOC Director has his duty shotgun at the ready to protect your dedicated EOC
personnel.)
RECOVERY:
Cal OES noted that haz mat teams from DTSC and a private contractor (U.S. Ecology) will begin a
sweep through the burn area to remove household hazardous waste this coming Tuesday.
PUBLIC WORKS:
Rain is possible for next weekend which will be a challenge to stabilize and protect roadways in the
burn area. PG&E is talking about undergrounding their lines in the burn area. The guardrail
contractor is replacing guardrails a 500-1000 foot clip per day.
Mike Ramsey
From: Gosselin, Paul <PGosselin@buttecounty.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 1, 2020 10:03 AM
To: BOS <BOS@buttecounty.net>
Cc: Pickett, Andy <APickett@buttecounty.net>
Subject: North Complex Fire EOC morning briefing for October 1st
Good morning Board –
Here is the update from the EOC Briefing from this morning.
Fire Update
Weather will remain favorable for the next 2 days. Winds are expected to slightly increase after
that. There are no changes in the West Zone. Butte CalFire continues to mop up hot spots. They
set up incident command at the Forebay. In the USFS area (northwest), the fire remains problematic
and active. Crews are tracking down hot spots. Retardant drops will be made to hot spots today to
secure the line along highway 70. Work continues on secondary and contingency lines in the trouble
spot in the northwest area.
No change has been reported on the closure of Highway 70 between Deadwood (near Pulga) and
the tunnel towards route 89.
Care and Shelter
There are 673 individuals in non-congregate shelters in 309 rooms. There have been 2071 calls
received at the call center.
There are 288 animals in Camelot, 94 in Cal Oaks, 107 at Del Oro and no animals in Gridley.
29 National Guard troops are being trained to assist with animal care and will begin assistance
tomorrow. Texas A&M veterinarians have arrived to assist. A parvo outbreak was reported at the
animal shelter. Such an outbreak can occur when unvaccinated animals are placed in a stressful and
congested situation. A report on this situation will be made at the press conference at 4PM today.
A mountain lion carcass was found in the burn area. That shows how fast the fire moved.
Public Works
Progress continues on replacing guard rails. Public Works continues to do damage assessment and
drainage work ahead of rain. They are coordinating with DTSC who will begin collectinng household
hazardous waste next week. Oro Quincy Highway is closed from Lake Madrone due to extensive
damage and guard rail replacement.
Press Conference – A press conference will be held at 202 Mira Loma, Oroville at 4PM on Thursday
st
October 1. The press conference will be live streamed on the Butte County Facebook page. A
press release will be sent out soon.
EOC Planning – We are currently in Op Period 13 until 8:00 on Friday October 2nd. The EOC will
move operations to 205 Mira Loma, Suite 20, Oroville today at 1:00. The EOC will go virtual on today
at 1:00PM and resume in person on Friday morning.
If you have any questions please let me know.
Have a good day.
Paul Gosselin