September 4–5

According to the U.S. Forest Service, the Creek Fire began at approximately 6:45 p.m. PDT on Friday, September 4, 2020, in the Big Creek drainage area between Shaver Lake, Big Creek, and Huntington Lake, California. The fire had burned 2,000 acres (810 ha) by the following morning and 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) by that afternoon.^[11]

Driven by powerful diurnal up-canyon winds within the San Joaquin River drainage, the Creek Fire quickly became a firestorm. Roughly eighteen hours after the fire had begun, the Creek Fire began producing a pyrocumulonimbus cloud, which, observed by radar and satellite, became one of the largest such events on record in the United States, or even North America.^{[12][13][14][lower-alpha 1]} The fire was fed in part by these cloud formations, which generated downdrafts that supplied the fire with additional oxygen and pushed it across fire lines.^[15] The fire has been characterized as a plume-dominated blaze, where the environment allows for the continued upward blowing of smoke and the vertical transfer of heat, causing extreme fire behavior, such as multiple fire tornadoes observed using Doppler weather radar data.^[5]

The Creek Fire also spawned two fire tornadoes on September 5; the first was rated EF2 near Huntington Lake with approximately 125 mph winds, and the second was rated EF1 near Mammoth Pool with approximately 100 mph winds. Damage included uprooted pine trees as well as stripped bark. These "firenadoes" formed due to the intense heat the fire had generated, which pulled in air, creating rotational vortices.^[16] The Mammoth Pool firenado trapped hundreds of campers in the area, while the Huntington Lake one caused severe damage to trees in the Camp Silver Fir, B.S.A. & Kennolyn Camps area, and continued to attack their root systems a week later, burning underground at over 1,500 °F (820 °C).^[17]

The fire had initially trapped about 1,000 people near Mammoth Pool Reservoir after it jumped the San Joaquin River, with at least 200 individuals trapped at a boat launch.^[5] The California National Guard, using CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and night goggles, flew multiple sorties to evacuate people from near Mammoth Pool Reservoir.^[18] The Chinook flew three flights, carrying 67, 102, and 37 people each time (not including crew). The Black Hawk flew another three times, carrying 15, 22, and 21 people each time. Evacuees were taken to an airfield in Fresno.

September 6–9

Within the first four days, the Creek Fire rapidly exploded, expanding anywhere between 20,000 acres (81 km²) to 50,000 acres (200 km²) each day from September 4–9. Reasons for this explosive behavior included strong, gusty winds pushing east from the Central Valley into the Sierra Nevada and a pileup of dead trees due to the 2011–17 California drought and subsequent bark beetle infestation.^[19]

September 10 onwards

Thick smoke lying over the fire, as well as reduced winds and lower temperatures, allowed firefighters to notch six percent containment by September 10.^[20]

With over 290,000 acres (1,200 km²) burned on September 23, the Creek Fire became the largest single blaze in the history of California, though it was surpassed the following year by the 2021 Dixie Fire.^[21]

Over the next month, the Creek Fire continued to grow in size, exceeding 300,000 acres (120,000 ha) on September 27. In October, most of the new growth in the Creek Fire was coming from the eastern flank of the fire, which was expanding towards Mono Hot Springs and Lake Thomas A Edison. On October 26, the Creek Fire had grown to 369,362 acres (149,475 ha), while containment was at 63 percent.

Full containment was expected around November 30,^[22] however, the fire persisted for another month, before it was fully contained on December 24.^[23]

Damage

The cost of the Creek Fire exceeded $500 million. The Sierra National Forest calculated the cost of fighting the fire at $193 million, and Fresno county supervisor Nathan Magsig put the cost of private property damage at no less than $250 million and the cost of damage to county assets (such as roads) at $20–30 million.^[24]

The Creek Fire destroyed 856 structures in total, damaging a further 71.^[28] Half the homes in Big Creek were reported to have been destroyed by the fire.^[30][31]

On September 17, the Boy Scouts of America - Southern Sierra Council announced that the fire had badly damaged Camp Kern, with some significant structures fully destroyed by the fire.^[32]

On September 9, at least 60 homes were destroyed and 278 commercial-residential structures were destroyed along with the historic Cressman's General Store, a local-landmark.^[33] On September 9, the fire reached explosives stored by the China Peak Mountain Resort, used to control avalanches. The cache exploded, doing some damage to the resort. Firefighters had been warned of the cache and evacuated prior to the fire reaching the explosive materials, and no injuries resulted.^[34][20]

Closures and evacuations

On September 5, hours after the fire broke out, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office closed Shaver Lake, a popular destination for boating and camping. The California Highway Patrol also shut down California State Route 168 for access only to emergency responders and evacuees.^[35]

On September 7, California governor Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency for the Creek Fire in the Fresno, Madera, and Mariposa counties, as the fire crossed State Route 168 and was rapidly moving southward, threatening the community of Shaver Lake. The town of Big Creek was already decimated on September 5. 1,000 firefighters were called to fight this fire, which was already 78,000 acres (320 km²) large with no containment, moving quickly towards cabins, homes, and shops.^[36]

Firefighters extinguish a controlled burn to stop the spread of the Creek Fire

A color-coded map of the Creek Fire's day-by-day progression as of October 26, 2020

Scores of people were airlifted from hiking trails within the Sierra National Forest in the early days of the fire, with at least 150 people and some dogs evacuated by September 8.^[37]

Evacuations were issued in North Fork, Bass Lake, Big Creek, Shaver, Huntington Lake, Tollhouse and Auberry, California.^[38]

By September 22, the fire had forced the evacuation of over 30,000 people in Fresno and Madera Counties.^[1][39]

Multiple organizations and locations housed pets and livestock during the evacuations, such as the Fresno Fairgrounds,^[40] Clovis Rodeo Grounds and local high schools.^[41] The Red Cross organized hotel rooms for evacuees; group shelters were not an available option due to COVID-19 pandemic social distancing requirements.^[33]

Two people were arrested for entering evacuation zones illegally on September 9.^[34]

Environmental impacts

Smoke from the fire worsened the air quality in the Central Valley area and caused an increase in at-risk individuals and children to be affected by respiratory issues and an increase in the use and prescribing of inhalers.^[42]

A study published in Forest Ecology and Management in 2022 found that 41% of the area burned in the Creek Fire did so at high severity, 35% at moderate severity, 21% at low severity, and 3% at a severity that left the area unchanged.^[6]

Political response

On September 15, Gavin Newsom and California senator Kamala Harris travelled to Fresno County to survey Creek Fire damage. They were met with both supporters and protestors. They talked to first responders about their efforts to fight the fire, as well as wildfire evacuees.^[43] They also addressed climate change as a major problem facing California and the country, helping to fuel wildfires like the Creek Fire.^[44] However, an Auberry family accused the pair of using their property for photo-op purposes, merely to push their political agenda, before even the family themselves could survey the damage.^[45][46]

Notes

Citations