Fewer homes threatened, containment increases, PG&E rebuilding power lines

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© Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight
Cars burned down along Ono Road on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 27, 2020.

With little growth since Thursday night, firefighters were able to get more control lines around the Zogg Fire, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported Friday.

Only 101 structures are now under threat by the Zogg Fire, down from the 1,538 structures that were in peril at the blaze’s peak.

The fire, which started Sunday afternoon, is 56% contained after growing on Friday night to 56,168 acres — a gain of only 365 acres from Thursday night.

Cal Fire released the following new figures:

• The number of structures destroyed rose to 170, up from the 153 reported Friday morning. The number of structures damaged rose to 23 from 21.

Also, power company PG&E announced that its crews have been rebuilding poles and power lines since Tuesday as they get access to more sections within the Zogg Fire evacuation and burn areas. 

Work to remove fire-damaged hazard trees and rebuild the electric infrastructure will continue through the weekend.

Much of the containment growth around the fire, as of Friday morning, happened in the south in the Highway 36 corridor in the area of Tehama County, Cal Fire said.

The north portion of the fire on Friday morning was still burning. It includes west of Clear Creek, according to a map released by Cal Fire on Friday morning. Firefighters, though, have managed to keep the fire from crossing the creek and into more populated areas west of Redding.

Cal Fire officials at their Friday press briefing announced that more residents who’ve been evacuated can start returning home.

Evacuation orders were lifted for Platina and residents can access the town via Highway 36 from Red Bluff or Highway 3 from from Hayfork.

A road closure remains in effect for westbound traffic on Highway 36 at the intersection of Highway 36 and Highway 3 in Trinity County. Also an evacuation order and roadway closure remain in effect at Platina Road east of Highway 36.

Sean Kavanaugh, incident commander for Cal Fire, urged residents to do a thorough safety check of their property once they return home to make sure there are no hazards like downed power lines.

Meanwhile, Chris Waters, a Cal Fire operations chief, said officials are a little more optimistic about keeping the fire west of Clear Creek and not crossing into more populated areas west of Redding.

“We’re feeling a little better now that it’s going to stay put and we have resources now mopping up around Clear Creek to make sure it doesn’t cross to the east side of the creek,” Waters said.

Grant School, which is less than five miles from Clear Creek, is once again closed Friday.

Some areas that were under evacuation orders west of Redding due to the Zogg Fire reopened as of 10 a.m. Friday.

The re-entry points are at Placer Road between Muletown Road and Texas Springs Road, and Gas Point Road between Foster Road and Clear Creek Road (four corners intersection).

The repopulation will include all roadways and residences along the corridor of Placer Road west from Texas Springs Road to the intersection of Cloverdale Road. That includes Cloverdale Road south of Placer Road to Clear Creek Road.

An evacuation order and roadway closure remains in effect for westbound traffic on Placer Road west of Cloverdale Road. Cloverdale Road is open.

Cal Fire describes the repopulation of residences and roadways as follows:

• Repopulation of all residences along the Clear Creek Road corridor west of Cloverdale Road to the intersection of Placer Road and Gas Point Road.
• Repopulation of Gas Point Road and the Lower Gas Point Road area. This will include all roadways and residences along the corridors of Gas Point Road and Lower Gas Point Road north of Foster Road and south of Clear Creek Road.

© Cal Fire
Zogg Fire map as of Friday, Oct. 2, 2020

Evacuation orders and roadway closures are as follows:

• Evacuation orders and roadway closures will remain in effect on Foster Road west of Gas Point Road, Placer Road north of Platina Road and Platina Road west of Placer Road.
• An evacuation order and roadway closure will remain in effect for westbound traffic on Platina Road.
• An evacuation order and roadway closure will remain in effect for northbound traffic on Placer Road

Here are answers to other questions about the Zogg Fire:

How many acres has the fire burned?

In its first half hour, the fast-moving Zogg Fire consumed 400 acres. Starting out as a vegetation fire, it broke out at 2:49 p.m. last Sunday on Zogg Mine Road and Jenny Bird Lane north of Igo in Shasta County. By Monday night it had morphed into a 31,237-acre wildfire with 0% containment that was threatening more than 1,500 structures. As of Friday night, the fire had burned 56,168 acres.

Have the fire victims been identified?

The Shasta County Coroner’s Office on Thursday released the names of two of the four victims.

The first fire victim, Karin King, 79, of Igo, was found and reported dead about 7 a.m. on Monday on Zogg Mine Road in Igo. The cause of her death is still under investigation, the coroner’s office said.

The most recent victim, Kenneth Vossen, 52, died on Sept. 29 at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where he had been taken for treatment of significant burns.

Two other individuals discovered within the fire area have not been positively identified, officials said.

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This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Zogg Fire: Fewer homes threatened, containment increases, PG&E rebuilding power lines