The Carr Fire 2018

In 2018, a fire broke out in the Trinity County region of northern California. The fire would spread, becoming a terrifying and destructive fire for hundreds of thousands of acres, thousands of homes, and other structures and threaten the lives, livelihoods, culture, and politics of this region. This work will take a deep dive into the 2018 Carr Fire that burned into the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, state forests, the city of Redding, and the crops, plains, and neighborhoods throughout the region. 

The wildfire dubbed the Carr Fire was started in late July 2018 and lasted 37 days before 100% containment. The Carr fire burned from July 23rd to August 30th of 2018 in the Shasta Trinity Counties of California, US, during the peak of their fire season (Cal Fire et al., 2021).

The official cause of the Carr fire was a flat tire of a vehicle trailer in 100-degree weather on a forest road (NFS, 2018). The wheel is thought to have contacted the pavement sending sparks into the highway median and forest habitat gradient.

At Hwy 299 and Carr Powerhouse Rd in Whiskeytown, CA, the ignition point sparked a forest fire that would burn 229,651 acres over more than a month through both the Shasta and Trinity Counties of California (Cal Fire et al., 2021). 

The fire burned through several ecological gradients and fire scars from the 2004-2008 wildfires. The land experienced low to moderate soil burn and vegetation mortality (BAER assessment, USDA, 2018). Initial assessments showed Moderate to High Severity (USFS 2018).

The severity and impact on vegetation mortality and soil would go on, in the months following the fire, to create hazardous post-fire conditions for the forest and roadways of Trinity County.

This land area makes its home in the Klamath mountain bio-region of northwest California. It is considered one of the most diverse conifer ecosystems in North America (Cheng 2004). 

Home to a high diversity of vegetation and tree species, the lower montane zone burned by the Carr fire is made up of mixed conifer and hardwood forests, woodlands, and shrublands with a developed herbaceous community (Agee, 2006). 

Large Fuels:

• Black Oak
• Oregon White Oak
• Pacific Douglas Fir
• White Fir
• Ponderosa Pine.

Quick Fuels:

• Perennial grasses and shrubs
• annual grasses, and forbs 

This complex and diverse ecosystem is due to terrain topography and lithology; this could cause diversity in fire regimes in this region.

Lake sediment charcoal deposits show evidence of various fire regimes in this region that can be attributed to the changes in climate over the past 15,000 years. This shows that the fire regimes before colonial settlers have been in place for at least the last 1000 years (Mohr et al., 2000; Agee, 2006). 

The land has been under two distinct fire regimes, that of Native Americans, include the pre-historic and early settlement period, and the post-suppression period. They suggest the fire regime over history has been frequent, with low to moderate intensity (Agee, 2006). 

The biological and geological diversity in this region leads to uncertainty in fire return intervals with the historical median interval being anywhere from 15 to 40 years depending on the ecosystem type, altitude, and biological makeup (Frost and Sweeney, 2000).

The fire regimes in place in the post-suppression era are only just emerging. The well adapted vegetation in this bio-region hasn't been exposed to the same frequency of fire it's adapted to. leading to fuel load increase, and large intense fires.

The native people of the region used fire pre-settlement for various reasons, including food, resource production, hunting, and ceremonial uses (Agee, 2006). As the original land managers, the burning they accomplished resulted in the great diversity and beauty that made this land a national park in the first place.

When the Forest Reserve was established in 1905, the suppression era began, especially in the wildland-urban interface and more so in the remote lands a few decades later.

This Era of suppression is attributed to the increase in fire extent, intensity, and severity we see in modern times.

Currently, government organizations, along with tribal lands and leaders, take part in fire-centered management of these lands throughout the region.

The USDA Forest Service, which has management jurisdiction in the Shasta-Trinity national forest, practices various management techniques. These techniques include fuel management, prescribed burning, and suppression (USDA, 2021).

To combat the fire, five crews of over 456 personnel from 7 agencies deployed to help suppress this fire. In addition, 11 engines, 48 bulldozers, and 31 water trucks were assigned to help combat the fire (Cal Fire et al., 2021). 

Agencies

• US Forest Service land
• BLM
• USDA
• City of Redding
• California
• CAL Fire
• NPS and private land. 

Influences:

• mismanagement of fuel load, wildland-urban interface
• clearing land for mining and leaving dry homogenous grasses
• topography

Effects:

• high plant mortality and moderate soil scorching
• high risk of erosion
• tree, and rockfall hazards

Influences:

• height of the fire season
• strong winds

Effects:

• a fire vortex with 165mph winds (F3 Tornado)
• smoke spread

Influences:

• history of fire and cultural suppression that has changed the fire regime over time
• the removal of autonomous use of fire by the tribes 
• goals of suppression and the protection of life and property, without prevention

Effects:

• Agricultural water was also contaminated with excess sediment and turbidity
• lives and property of residents of the wild urban interface. Redding, CA, had to evacuate more than 30,000 residents
• political sentiment to maintain plans and suppression goals is not helped by fighting these high-intensity fires

To lessen the impacts of events like the Carr Fire, more effort could be taken to prevent, collaborate, and care for the land being managed. Interagency cooperation, especially in the federal lands, should prioritize the management, pre-planning, and response to these wildfire events.

CAL Fire. (2021, April 26). Carr Fire, Incident reports

 www.fire.ca.gov/incident/?incident=240b1f55-0f4e-448d-a4ce-3ecfec7a6c9d#incident-contacts 

Cheng, S.T. E. 2004. Forest Service Research Natural Areas in California.

General Technical Report PSW-GTR-188. Pacific Southwest

Research Station, Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture,

Albany, CA.

Mohr, J.A., C. Whitlock, and C. N. Skinner. 2000. Postglacial vegetation

and fire history, eastern Klamath Mountains,

California, USA. The Holocene 10:587–601.

Nick Wallingford, Ryan Masterson, Will Brewer, 2018, Carr Incident,

Damage Inspection Report, CASHU 007808

USDA-Forest Service, 2018, CARR, BAER Assessment, FSH 2509.13

National Forest Service, 2020, Ecological Restoration Implementation Plan: Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region CH6, 98

Whittaker, R.H. 1960. Vegetation of the Siskiyou Mountains,

Oregon and California. Ecological Monographs 30:279–338.