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Rocky Fire
The Rocky Fire was a large wildfire in Lake, Colusa, and Yolo counties in Northern California in 2015. The fire burned 69,438 acres (28,101 hectares) between its ignition on July 29 and its containment on August 14. Caused by a malfunctioning water heater being used for illegal cannabis cultivation, the fire destroyed 96 structures and was the fifth largest fire of the 2015 fire season in California.
The Rocky Fire burn area largely comprised rough terrain with oak woodlands, grasslands, and chaparral, and had no prior wildfire history going back "several decades", per state officials. This absence was partly attributable to fire suppression policies that prevented wildfires from periodically reducing the build-up of vegetation. Dense chaparral—more than six feet (1.8 m) tall in some areas—flourished in the meantime, providing plentiful fuel for fire growth. A multiple-year drought then began in 2011. Moisture levels in chamise brush, one of the vegetation types in the Rocky Fire burn area, reached near-record lows by July despite September and October typically being the driest months of the year.
California's 2015 wildfire season was characterized by aggressive fires that, aided by drought conditions, remained active through the night instead of abating. By August 8, as the Rocky Fire was underway, the amount of state land burned in wildfires year-to-date was more than double the five-year average. The Rocky Fire was one of 52 wildfires to exceed 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) in the United States in 2015. In California, 8,283 wildfires burned a total of 880,899 acres (356,487 ha).
The Rocky Fire began at a property on Morgan Valley Road, east of Clearlake in Lake County, at about 3:30 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, July 29, when a gas-powered water heater in an outbuilding caught fire and set nearby vegetation alight. Firefighters were initially dispatched to the incident based on a report of a structure fire on Rocky Creek Road; a second fire was later reported on Morgan Valley Road with an unknown cause. The fire was named the Rocky Fire for its proximity to Rocky Creek, which flows north of Morgan Valley Road.
High temperatures and winds helped the ensuing fire spread rapidly as it entered thick brush and woodlands, advancing forward by ember spotting. In several hours, the fire grew from 150 acres (61 ha) to 3,000 acres (1,200 ha), destroying several outbuildings and necessitating mandatory evacuation orders for about 500 people. A total of 350 firefighting personnel engaged the fire in the first day, joined by eight air tankers and eight helicopters.
By the following afternoon, the fire had burned 8,300 acres (3,400 ha) and forced residents of Lower Lake and nearby roads to evacuate while pushing into the Cache Creek Wilderness and the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. By that night, the Rocky Fire spanned 13,500 acres (5,500 ha) in area and was the largest active wildfire in Northern California.
Originally confined to a rugged area bounded by California State Route 29 to the west and Route 16 to the east, the fire became much more active on Saturday, August 1. Temperatures reached more than 100 °F (38 °C) and relative humidity levels approached zero percent. Using bulldozers, firefighters built containment lines ahead of the Rocky Fire's northern and eastern flanks. Toward the end of the day, the fire's rate of spread vastly exceeded what had been predicted by computer modeling, consuming 20,000–22,000 acres (8,100–8,900 ha) in a five-hour period. A Cal Fire public information officer described the growth as "really unprecedented in recent times, or in even veterans of our department’s recollection" for a wildfire not influenced by strong winds. The fire produced large pyrocumulus clouds that reached 35,000 feet (11,000 m) in altitude, which had a tendency to collapse and spread the fire erratically when downdrafts reached the surface.
The Rocky Fire continued to burn actively that night and through the following day. Fire personnel abandoned the containment lines they had built on the northern/eastern flanks, retreating several miles further north to California State Route 20 (CA 20) and further east to California State Route 16 (CA 16). There, they conducted firing operations, burning off fuel between the highways and the fire itself so as to halt its growth in those directions. The Rocky Fire reached approximately 54,000 acres (22,000 ha) in burned area with five percent containment by the end of Sunday, August 2.
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Rocky Fire
The Rocky Fire was a large wildfire in Lake, Colusa, and Yolo counties in Northern California in 2015. The fire burned 69,438 acres (28,101 hectares) between its ignition on July 29 and its containment on August 14. Caused by a malfunctioning water heater being used for illegal cannabis cultivation, the fire destroyed 96 structures and was the fifth largest fire of the 2015 fire season in California.
The Rocky Fire burn area largely comprised rough terrain with oak woodlands, grasslands, and chaparral, and had no prior wildfire history going back "several decades", per state officials. This absence was partly attributable to fire suppression policies that prevented wildfires from periodically reducing the build-up of vegetation. Dense chaparral—more than six feet (1.8 m) tall in some areas—flourished in the meantime, providing plentiful fuel for fire growth. A multiple-year drought then began in 2011. Moisture levels in chamise brush, one of the vegetation types in the Rocky Fire burn area, reached near-record lows by July despite September and October typically being the driest months of the year.
California's 2015 wildfire season was characterized by aggressive fires that, aided by drought conditions, remained active through the night instead of abating. By August 8, as the Rocky Fire was underway, the amount of state land burned in wildfires year-to-date was more than double the five-year average. The Rocky Fire was one of 52 wildfires to exceed 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) in the United States in 2015. In California, 8,283 wildfires burned a total of 880,899 acres (356,487 ha).
The Rocky Fire began at a property on Morgan Valley Road, east of Clearlake in Lake County, at about 3:30 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, July 29, when a gas-powered water heater in an outbuilding caught fire and set nearby vegetation alight. Firefighters were initially dispatched to the incident based on a report of a structure fire on Rocky Creek Road; a second fire was later reported on Morgan Valley Road with an unknown cause. The fire was named the Rocky Fire for its proximity to Rocky Creek, which flows north of Morgan Valley Road.
High temperatures and winds helped the ensuing fire spread rapidly as it entered thick brush and woodlands, advancing forward by ember spotting. In several hours, the fire grew from 150 acres (61 ha) to 3,000 acres (1,200 ha), destroying several outbuildings and necessitating mandatory evacuation orders for about 500 people. A total of 350 firefighting personnel engaged the fire in the first day, joined by eight air tankers and eight helicopters.
By the following afternoon, the fire had burned 8,300 acres (3,400 ha) and forced residents of Lower Lake and nearby roads to evacuate while pushing into the Cache Creek Wilderness and the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. By that night, the Rocky Fire spanned 13,500 acres (5,500 ha) in area and was the largest active wildfire in Northern California.
Originally confined to a rugged area bounded by California State Route 29 to the west and Route 16 to the east, the fire became much more active on Saturday, August 1. Temperatures reached more than 100 °F (38 °C) and relative humidity levels approached zero percent. Using bulldozers, firefighters built containment lines ahead of the Rocky Fire's northern and eastern flanks. Toward the end of the day, the fire's rate of spread vastly exceeded what had been predicted by computer modeling, consuming 20,000–22,000 acres (8,100–8,900 ha) in a five-hour period. A Cal Fire public information officer described the growth as "really unprecedented in recent times, or in even veterans of our department’s recollection" for a wildfire not influenced by strong winds. The fire produced large pyrocumulus clouds that reached 35,000 feet (11,000 m) in altitude, which had a tendency to collapse and spread the fire erratically when downdrafts reached the surface.
The Rocky Fire continued to burn actively that night and through the following day. Fire personnel abandoned the containment lines they had built on the northern/eastern flanks, retreating several miles further north to California State Route 20 (CA 20) and further east to California State Route 16 (CA 16). There, they conducted firing operations, burning off fuel between the highways and the fire itself so as to halt its growth in those directions. The Rocky Fire reached approximately 54,000 acres (22,000 ha) in burned area with five percent containment by the end of Sunday, August 2.