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Taylorsville Threatened By Cussed Spot Hearth; Firefighting Drones To Be Deployed – CBS San Francisco

TAYLORSVILLE, Plumas County (CBS SF) – Firefighters fighting the massive Dixie Fire that is burning in five northern California counties will use drones to drop fireballs from the sky to prevent flames from reaching the Taylorsville community.

On Monday, Jeff Surber, chief of operations for the East Zone, said Taylorville, which has seen flames approaching from three sides for the past few weeks, is currently threatened by a point fire from the Genesee Valley that has “slid” over a ridge and into sheer steep slopes , largely inaccessible avalanche terrain for crews and too dangerous to misfire.

CONTINUE READING: Caldor Fire Update: Neighborhood Fire Fight in Meyers; Flames advancing toward South Lake Tahoe

“Instead of doing that, we built a bulldozer here over Taylorsville, expecting that over time [the wildfire] will move and it will align itself to a point where we are ready to burn [along the dozer line] to protect the Taylorsville community, ”said Surber.

Dixie Fire is slowly withdrawing near Taylorsville on August 28, 2021. (US Forest Service)

Surber said firefighters expect they will be able to deploy drones that can drop a line of fire over a path to create a firebreak.

“It’s a drone that drops so-called ‘ping pong balls,’ which are very small incendiary devices,” he said. “We plan to burn this at night in the coming days when we have access to this equipment, and when the time is right and the wind is right, we plan to burn this in a controlled manner to tie it down and protect Taylorsville . “

Until then, Surber says crews will continue to use helicopters to dump water along the fire site southwest of Taylorsville to keep the flames at bay.

“It wasn’t moving at the end of the shift last night,” said Surber. “It won’t go away. We assume that it will continue to be a problem area for us, but it is currently being kept in check. “

Other point fires have crossed the fire lines along Grizzly Ridge south, and the crews have bulldozed new emergency lines before additional point fires could arise that could threaten communities along Highway 70 such as Greenhorn, Sloat, and Cromberg. Additional emergency lines were built north of Lake Davis to protect homes.

In Butte County, the sheriff’s office on Monday was able to end the county evacuation warnings for the Jonesville, Butte Meadow, Lower Butte Meadows, Snag Lake and Lake Philbrook areas, among others.

CONTINUE READING: Massive Dixie Fire Exceeds 800,000 Acres; New evacuations ordered; Fire brigade train helping crews

Dixie Fire evacuation update
8.30-21 12:00 p.m.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Office REMOVED all remaining EVACUATION WARNINGS in Butte County to include Jonesville, Butte Meadow, Lower Butte Meadows, Snag Lake, and Lake Philbrook. #ButteSheriff #DixieFire pic.twitter.com/byAPhoZmD9

– Butte County Sheriff (@ButteSheriff) August 30, 2021

By Monday morning, the Dixie Fire had burned 771,183 acres, more than 1,200 square miles in Butte, Lassen, Plumas, Shasta, and Tehama counties. It is the second largest forest fire in California history.

More than 1,200 buildings, including nearly 700 residential homes, have been destroyed since the fire started on July 14 over the Cresta Dam in the Feather River Canyon area of ​​the Sierra-Cascades region. It is currently 48% included.

As with the Caldor fire further south, firefighters were closely monitoring the wildfire on Monday as a red flag warning is due to take effect. Gusts of wind and low relative humidity are expected for most of Tuesday night.

MORE NEWS: UPDATE: Santa Clara County’s supervisors unanimously support the “No Trust” vote for Sheriff Laurie Smith

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