North Complex

Unit Information

Plumas National Forest
U.S. Forest Service
159 Lawrence Street
Quincy, CA 95971

Incident Contacts

Mt Hough Ranger District
Phone: 530-283-0555

Feather River Ranger District
Phone: 530-534-6500

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Highlighted Activity

11/10/2020 North Complex Fire Update

Incident Start Date: 8/17/2020 Size: 318,935 acres Containment: 96% Total Personnel: 129 Engines:1 Hand crews: 2 Dozers: 2 Helicopters: 0 Water...

News - 11/10/2020

Progression Map for the North Complex Fire. Early days are in blue at NE corner of fire area; yellow shows the single day run.

Image options: [ Full Size ]

Incident Start Date: 8/17/2020 Size: 318,935 acres Containment: 100% Total Personnel: 0

Engines:0 Hand crews: 0 Dozers: 0 Helicopters: 0 Water Tenders: 0

Fatalities: 16 Structures Damaged/Destroyed: 2,455

On December 3, 2020 Plumas National Forest officials announced that the North Complex Fire is 100% contained. The fires within the North Complex began by lightning on August 17, 2020 and burned 318,935 acres.

The fire closure remains in effect until conditions improve. The closure area follows (generally) the actual fire perimeter and affects all national forest land, roads, trails and campgrounds within the fire closure area. County roads and private land within the perimeter are not affected by the federal land closure. For more information about the closure, please check the forest website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/plumas/alerts-notices

Within the closure area, falling trees (often falling without warning), smoldering stump holes, are some of the public safety hazards that exist within the fire perimeter. Longer term hazards include landslides and flash flooding caused by erosion or suppression activities not yet repaired. These hazards may lead to serious injury or death. Fire suppression repair will continue as conditions allow, mitigating these threats to public safety and resource values.

We thank everyone in the local communities and beyond for their past and continued support of the firefighters working on this incident. https://www.facebook.com/USFSPlumas

Basic Information

Current as of
Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Lightning
Date of Origin	Monday August 17th, 2020 approx. 09:00 AM
Location	South of Quincy CA, west of La Porte, north of Challenge, east of North Fork Feather River
Incident Commander	ITC4 Matt Clemins, Plumas National Forest
Incident Description	Complex
Coordinates	40.091 latitude, -120.931 longitude

Current Situation

Size	318,935 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained	100%
Estimated Containment Date	Monday November 30th, 2020 approx. 09:00 AM
Fuels Involved	Brush (2 feet) Closed Timber Litter Timber (Litter and Understory)
Significant Events	Minimal.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Complex suppression repair is planned and ongoing.
Projected Incident Activity	Fire may continue to smolder and creep where sheltered by canopy/topography. Isolated smoke may be visible to public in aforementioned areas.
Remarks	Breakdown of acreage: North Zone/South Zone - 234,340 acres West Zone - 84,595 acres Total - 318,935 acres West Zone: 98% North Zone: 96% (Being the larger portion of the fire the weighted overall containment of the incident) Breakdown of Responders with injuries/illness: North Zone/South Zone - Previous Report Total: 13 Number this Reporting Period: 0 Total number to date: 13 West Zone - Previous Report Total: 2 Number this Reporting Period: 0 Total number to date: 2 Breakdown of costs to date: North Zone /South Zone - $105,194,900 West Zone - $73,741,345 Total - $178,936,245 Breakdown of personnel on the incident: North Zone /South Zone - 326 West Zone - 147 Total - 473 Area Closures: The Feather River Ranger District of the Plumas National Forest along with the North Complex Fire area and the roads and trails within it are under a closure order. Additional Information: The 5 acre slop-over in the Letterbox creek area of the fire is fully contained and the perimeter has been mopped up. There is dozer line around the slop and engines and crews will continue to patrol and mop-up additional areas as needed. A local Type 4 organization (ICT4 Clemins) has assumed command of the North Complex (11/15) and will continue road side hazard tree removal.

Current Weather

Weather Concerns	Below normal daytime temperatures continue with dry conditions through at least Monday afternoon. Winds will generally remain light over the next few days. A series of weather systems will impact the fire area beginning Tuesday and into Thursday of next week, with periods of rain, mountain snow.