Redding residents awoke Thursday to the tang of wildfire in the air, as smoke from the Coffin Fire in Trinity County blew over the valley.
The fire southwest of Lewiston erupted Wednesday afternoon and quickly spread to 1,200 acres on gusty winds. Firefighters had the fire 30 percent controlled by nightfall. Scores of homes were threatened, but mandatory evacuations were lifted during the night.
Wednesday afternoon and evening, smoke rose from the fire in a white plume beyond Shasta Bally, then blew eastward over Redding and the surrounding valley. I was driving back from Sacramento, and noticed the smoke as far south as Corning, 50 miles away.
Meanwhile, the wildfires that have burned vast stretches of eastern Shasta County over the past two weeks are mostly controlled. The SHU Lightning fire complex, which has grown to around 17,000 acres, is 69 percent controlled, CalFire said, and the Hat Creek fires, which burned more than 11,000 acres, are 90 percent contained.
People in smoky areas are reminded to protect their health: Stay indoors and run air conditioners. Evacuate the area if necessary.
For the latest wildfire information, click here.
- It’s breezy today, so maybe the smoke will be gone in time for this evening’s MarketFest at Library Park downtown. San Diego bluesman Bill Magee, former bandmate to Jimi Hendrix (!), will provide the entertainment. The weekly farmer’s market/mingle runs from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Heavy equipment workers and other contract employees who battle wildfires must go through annual education updates, and the next one at Shasta College is scheduled for Aug. 22. The all-day class costs $85. For more information, click here.
- The city of Shasta Lake soon will receive more than $757,000 from the California Department of Transportation’s “Safe Routes to School” program. The money, part of $48.5 million allocated statewide, will be used to install gutters, sidewalks, crosswalks and bike paths along Cabello Street. Overall, the project is expected to cost $841,500.
- What I’m Reading: I’ve tossed a lot of books aside lately, but finally got snagged by “Grifter’s Game,” a re-release of a 1961 hard-boiled crime novel originally called “Mona,” by Lawrence Block. Good pulp.
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