Fork Fire

Unit Information

Eldorado National Forest
U.S. Forest Service
100 Forni RD Placerville California 95667
Placerville, CA 95667

Incident Contact

Fork Fire Information
Email: enfincident@gmail.com
Phone: 916-500-4712
Hours: 8AM-430PM

Highlighted Activity

09/29/2020 Fork Fire Virtual Community Meeting Tonight at 6pm

The Fork Fire Type 3 Incident Management Team will host a virtual community meeting tonight at 6:00PM on the Eldorado National Forest’s Facebook page. No account is required to view the video. We.

Announcement - 09/29/2020

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The next formal update for the Fork Fire will be on Wednesday September 30th, unless there are substantial changes in conditions on the fire.

The Fork Fire started in the Crystal Basin near Gerle Creek under critical fire weather conditions. Driven by east winds gusting 30-50 miles per hour, the fire grew rapidly to the west. It is burning in the Rubicon River drainage and the 2014 King Fire burn scar. The Rubicon canyon is in an extremely steep and remote area which makes firefighting difficult. This area of the King Fire had burned at high severity with nearly 100% tree mortality, leaving large snag patches of fire killed trees. The standing snags are a significant safety hazard, especially in strong winds. There is also a high concentration of dead and down trees creating a heavy fuel load, as well as dense post-fire regrowth of 4-6 foot tall brush.

Basic Information

Current as of
Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Under Investigation
Date of Origin	Tuesday September 08th, 2020 approx. 11:15 AM
Location	Crystal Basin/Gerle Creek, 15 Miles NE of Pollock Pines
Incident Commander	Matt Brown
Coordinates	38.99 latitude, -120.394 longitude

Current Situation

Total Personnel	135
Size	1,667 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained	70%
Fuels Involved	Fire is burning in King Fire scar, where fuels consist of heavy concentrations of standing snags and 4-6 foot brush.
Significant Events	Minimal creeping, backing and smoldering observed.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Establish direct control lines where possible, utilizing indirect control line where direct control line is not feasible. Hold and monitor existing lines along current perimeter. Provide structure defense to residential structures in the threatened communities. Protect critical utility infrastructure and values at risk.
Projected Incident Activity	Sky and weather will be sunny. Max temperatures between 81-86. Min humidity at 12-17 percent. Wind on the slopes and valleys with east winds up to 7 mph shifting to the west up to 8 mph late in the morning. Ridgetop winds will be east 6 to 8 mph shifting to the west 5 to 9 mph late in the morning. Transport winds, East 6 to 8 mph shifting to the west 5 to 9 mph late in the morning.

Current Weather

Weather Concerns	Very warm and dry conditions will continue the next several days with poor overnight humidity recovery. Humidity values for tomorrow are expected to be quite low, with poor recovery expected for the overnight hours. The combination of these ingredients will lead to critical fire weather conditions.