The beginning of the Creek Fire was first spotted in the valley along Clear Creek (here, looking down from the water tank at the intersection of Clear Creek and Cloverdale roads).
The Igo Ono Creek Fire of 2018
The Creek fire started June 24, 2018 and burned at least 1,300 acres. There was a particularily swift response to this fire which kept it from being much more dangerous and covering much more ground. We owe a great thanks to the firefighters who labored through a 107 degree day and through night to get this fire under control.
Some of the pictures are self-explanatory (or I simply couldn't find the words) and simply marked with "******".
The beginning of the Creek Fire was first spotted in the valley along Clear Creek (here, looking down from the water tank at the intersection of Clear Creek and Cloverdale roads).
A this point, the Creek Fire is a small blaze 400 to 500 yards below the small Happy Valley house at the top of the hill where there is lots of new brush and grass growth since the Clover Fire of 2018.
The morning after the fire, the house site looks like this. The home was lost to the heat of an upslope fire with generous a generous fuel supply. While firefighters fought hard to save the home, there efforts were overwhelmed by the wall of flame that came up the hill.
From the air, the devistation is clear. The home and everything around it is lost.
The first spotter plane seemed to appear within 10 minutes of the fire being first reported.
Thirty minutes after the spotter plane was seen and a mile away, firefighters were already moving into positons. At this point, the winds were less than 10 knots from the east at their location a mile west of the fire.
Less than an hour after the fire was spotted, helicopters were beginning their work as the smoke was beginning to fill the sky.
While no fire could be seen from the position of the camera, the rapidly blackening sky was evidence that it was on the move and coming rapidly.
The Creek fire was drawing more and more aircraft operating in layers above the fire.
At an hour and half after spotting the fire, it seemed that the entire eastern and southern skies were pillars of smoke.
Soon, helicopters began spraying small spot fires that hadn't even begun to make smoke yet.
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Just north of Clear Creek Road, the fire presented itself as a wall of flame.
Smaller, but intense, spot fires sprung up ahead of the main blaze.
More to the east, just south of Cloverdale Road and west of Clear Creek Road, the fire was consuming all vegetation in its path.
Watching the fire advance through the vegetation was nothing less than frightening.
Major outbursts sprang up from small burns with surprising noise and heat.
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A helicopter coming in the land.
Landing is not simple with the water bucket and long cable hanging from below.
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Other helicopters circle while one sits on the ground.
A helicopter is being fueled close to the fire line.
With a fresh load of fuel, a helicopter heads off to re-engage the fire.
Looking at the fire line crossing a ridge west of the water tanks along Clear Creek Road.
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This picture provided by Steve Rosenburg shows a helicopter filling up at his pond less than a quarter mile from the fire.
With a full bucket of water, the helicopter is back to the fight.
A firefighter moves to join the others intercepting the blaze just down the hill.
The late afternoon sunlight was heavily filtered by the smoke and sometimes, not visible at all.
As morning came, most of the Creek Fire was contained and the focus shifted to keeping it that way.
Already exhausted firefighters hauled spools of water hose thousands of yards up and down hillsides to help kill what was left of the fire.
With the fire mostly under control, helicopters still had a role fighting dangerous flare-ups.
Yes, the fire was declared 95% contained, but things were still burning like the core of this Grey Pine which eventually collapsed.
The morning after.
At times the charred landscape seemed calm and peaceful even with the acrid smell of smoke.
The sun is about to come up behind the water tank at Clear Creek and Cloverdale Roads.
The still of morning.
One point where they stopped the blaze.
For the firefighters, the work isn't over just because the fire is contained.
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The pink residue of borate.
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It's hard to imagine that a wedding took place here once.
Firefighters who had worked all night are still working hard at mid-morning the next day.
This crew came in from Weaverville.
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Fallers hike the area looking for trees that will pose a danger to people or cause the fire to re-start.
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Exhaustion has to hit sometime.
The end of the fireline.
Here, the fire was stopped 100 yards from a residence.
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This firefighter from Sacramento takes a well-deserved break.
One of those trees a faller has taken down.
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Some survivors have no idea what to do.
While animals in the burn area seem confused, others outside the burn area act as if nothing has happened.
Half a mile from the fire line, a young bear moves along in the middle of the day.
At the edge of the fire line, a buck in velvet is yet another indication that the animals are on the move and perhaps, confused.
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Yes, the roads are closed.
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Late afternoon the day after and still on the job.
One Story of The Creek Fire Near Igo and Happy Valley in Shasta County