Delta Fire

File:Delta Fire-090518-CHP-I5closed.jpg

The Delta Fire ignited on September 5, 2018, at approximately 12:51 PM PDT, 2 miles north of Lakehead, California. The fire rapidly grew in size, crossing over Interstate 5 between Lakehead, California, and Castella, California, which forced the interstate to be shut down from September 5 to September 10. On September 10, the fire merged with the nearby Hirz Fire to the east, and by September 11, the fire was only a few miles away from burning into the already-contained Carr Fire to the southwest.{{Cite web|url=https://krcrtv.com/news/shasta-county/delta-fire-tuesday-september-11-remains-5-percent-contained-53311-acres-burned|title= Delta Fire|last=Pike|first=Haleigh|website=krcrtv.com|language=en|date=September 11, 2018|access-date=September 11, 2018}}

On September 12, the Delta Fire reached {{convert|57,253|acre|km2|0}} and was only 17% contained. On September 13, the northern flank of the fire flared up again and shut down Interstate 5 again for six hours during the afternoon. During the next few days, the Delta Fire continued to grow in size, albeit at a slow rate, while firefighters continued making progress on containing the wildfire, with the fire reaching {{convert|60,277|acres|km2}} and 76% containment by September 17.{{cite web|url=https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/6191/47999/|title=Delta Fire Daily Update 9-17-18|website=inciweb.nwcg.gov|date=September 17, 2018|access-date=September 18, 2018}} On September 18, firefighters had contained most of the Delta Fire's northern flank, while flames on the fire's southwestern flank continued to spread, nearly reaching the Carr Fire's burn area.{{cite web|url=https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/map/6191/1/88882|title=Delta Fire PIO Map 9-18-18|publisher=InciWeb|date=September 18, 2018|access-date=September 19, 2018}} Late on September 19, the Delta Fire had grown to {{convert|60,592|acres|km2}}, while containment increased to 88%, with the southwestern flank of the wildfire being the only active portion of the fire. On September 24, the Delta Fire had grown to {{convert|60,751|acres|km2}}, while containment increased to 98%.

On September 25, a spot fire broke out in Bear Gulch, outside of the southwestern perimeter of the Delta Fire, which quickly reached {{convert|1,000|acres|km2}} by the next morning.{{cite web|url=https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/6191/48308/|title=Delta Fire Daily Update for Wednesday, September 26th|website=inciweb.nwcg.gov|date=September 26, 2018|access-date=September 29, 2018}} On September 27, a second, smaller spot fire had broken out to the south of the larger spot fire, situated south of Damnation Creek, which was estimated at {{convert|14|acres|km2}}.{{cite web|url=https://krcrtv.com/news/shasta-county/delta-fire-update-thursday-september-27-acreage-grows-from-aerial-mapping|title=Delta Fire Update Thursday, September 27: Aerial mapping shows more accurate acreage|author=Christian Wohlfeil|publisher=KCRC|date=September 27, 2018|access-date=September 28, 2018}} The first spot fire continued to spread uncontained, while the main body of the Delta Fire was contained; by September 29, the first spot fire had exceeded {{convert|2,376|acres|km2}} in size, increasing the total burn area of the Delta Fire to {{convert|63,093|acres|km2}}, and dropping the overall containment of the Delta Fire to 97%. The spot fires were at 0% containment.{{cite web|url=https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/6191/48464/|title=Delta Fire Update for September 29th, 2018|website=inciweb.nwcg.gov|date=September 29, 2018|access-date=September 30, 2018}} On September 30, the Delta Fire expanded to {{convert|63,293|acres|km2}}, with containment remaining at 97%.{{cite web|url=https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/6191/48491/|title=Delta Fire Daily Update for Sunday, September 30th|website=inciweb.nwcg.gov|date=September 30, 2018|access-date=October 1, 2018}} The fire did not experience any further growths for the next several days, while containment generally remained at 97% up until October 5.{{cite web|url=https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/6191/48600/|title=Delta Fire Update for Friday, October 5, 2018|website=inciweb.nwcg.gov|date=October 5, 2018|access-date=October 7, 2018}} Afterward, the Delta Fire experienced another small growth, increasing to {{convert|63,311|acres|km2}}. On October 7, the Delta Fire was fully contained, without any further increases in size.{{cite web|url=https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/6191/48631/|title=Delta Fire Update for October 7, 2018|website=inciweb.nwcg.gov|date=October 7, 2018|access-date=October 7, 2018}}

The fire was determined to be man-made, although the exact cause remains unclear.{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/delta-fire-latest-maps-and-road-closures/591289213|title = Delta Fire: Latest maps and road closures| date=5 September 2018 }} On May 5, 2021, Shasta County District Attorney, Stephanie A. Bridgett announced that a Cynthia Ann LeRoux had been arrested and faces charges for starting the Delta Fire.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

File:After a wildfire is out, our Burned Area Emergency Response teams assess dama....webm about the Delta / Herz fires]]

File:Hot shot spraying water on the Delta Fire (42894188060).jpg

• 2018 California wildfires
• Carr Fire
• Hirz Fire

{{commons category|Delta Fire}}

• [https://krcrtv.com/news/shasta-county/delta-fire-tuesday-september-11-remains-5-percent-contained-53311-acres-burned Record Searchlight Delta Fire Updates]
• [http://redding.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=94b379a91e0f47cb91712da22f603d39 ArcGIS Delta Fire Activity Map]
• [https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6191/ InciWeb Delta Fire Map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919233958/https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6191/ |date=2018-09-19 }}
• [https://calema.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=33c284a58166427bab05a115414930ed Cal OES Delta Fire Live Map]

{{California wildfires}}

Category:2018 California wildfires

Category:Wildfires in Shasta County, California

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