The Carr Fire of 2018 and Ongoing Recovery

 

The Carr Fire and Whiskeytown Lake. USFS Photo.

The Most Destructive Fire in National Park System History

At 1:10 pm on July 23, 2018, with air temperatures a record-tying 111-degrees inside Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, metal parts of a traveling vehicle scraped against pavement on Highway 299 and sparked a fire near Carr Powerhouse Road. While immediate and aggressive response by emergency services personnel saved lives and property, extreme fire behavior including extreme winds occurred on the night of July 25th. Inside the park, 97 percent of the national recreation area burned and over 100 structures were destroyed, making the Carr Fire the most destructive fire in National Park System history. Outside the park, 1,600 buildings were destroyed equaling $1.6 billion in damages. Eight people including three firefighters were killed overall, and 229,651 acres burned.

Megafires are defined as fires larger than 100,000 acres, and the number and violence of megafires are increasing throughout California. NASA, NOAA, and other governmental agencies specializing in science note that human-caused climate change is a major contributing factor. Whiskeytown’s first megafire occured in 2018. Will another megafire occur here, and if so, when? The answer to this question might come from how much we as a society choose to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions.

 

Whiskeytown National Recreation Area directly after the fire. Much of the park's forest had 100% tree, shrub, and grass mortality.

Unprecedented Destruction

The Carr Fire was one of several large wildfires burning across the western United States during the summer of 2018. The fire ultimately burned an area larger than the physical sizes of San Francisco and Oakland combined.

The fire began at the peak of summer heat and drought conditions. Temperatures throughout the first week of firefighting tied local records, topping out at 111 degrees Fahrenheit on several straight days inside the park. Vegetation was extraordinarily dry and some fire danger indices were at or near historic levels.

Despite a swift full-suppression response, the fire underwent dramatic growth, particularly on the night of July 25. Extreme fire behavior included a fire tornado with an “F3” rating occuring within Redding.

The national recreation area’s infrastructure was profoundly affected. Seven of the park’s nine residences, 10 cabins at Whiskeytown Environmental School, six water treatment pumphouse buildings, the park’s law enforcement office, several historic buildings and 1800s fruit trees, and 16 park benches were destroyed. Numerous footbridges, boats, boat docks, and signs also burned up, as did other park infrastructure.

The fire was also a traumatic event for many park staff, as several employees residing just outside the national recreation area lost their homes and belongings.

While the wildfire was challenging in itself, the winter after the Carr Fire provided additional setbacks. With almost 100 inches of rain and snow within the burn scar (40 inches above average!), erosion, flooding, washouts, and landslides ran rampant across park roads and trails, as the forest was no longer in place to hold soil in place. Winters since 2018/2019 have also posed challenges within the burn scar.

 

Whiskeytown wildland firefighter conducting a prescribed burn.

The Promise of Prescribed Fire

With the exception of Whiskeytown Lake and a couple hundred acres of vegetation around Park Headquarters and the Visitor Center, the entirety of Whiskeytown's forest and chaparral environments burned during the Carr Fire. As destructive as this sounds, it's important to understand that fire is nature's recycling system on a grand scale. Wildland fire is generally recognized by the National Park Service as a natural process, and ever since the Carr Fire, vegetation has been slowly but surely restoring itself onto the landscape. Ecosystems are not stagnant but rather always changing. In time, Whiskeytown's woodlands will once again be home to tall trees - but then they will burn again.

Another important point to be made in regards to fire and the forest is that the Carr Fire did not burn equally thruoghout the park. Fire intensity and fire severity differed throughout Whiskeytown due to factors including but not limited to specific topography, land use history, vegetation, and weather. In other words, a fire mosaic was created where some patches of trees were burned to the ground while other stands only minimally burned.

To see some of the greener areas of the fire mosaic, hike the trail to Whiskeytown Falls or walk the paved path to Crystal Creek Falls. These areas of the park are within the upper Crystal Creek drainage, and in part because of its steep topography and cooler, wetter north-facing slope, most trees survived. Another good area to see the fire mosaic is along the Buck Hollow Trail off of Mule Town Road. Park fire management staff conducted a prescribed burn along the trail just prior to the Carr Fire, and because of this, some green vegetation remains.

 

A baby fern regrowing right after the Carr Fire.

Life From the Ashes

Although you will not see tall trees within the vast majority of Whiskeytown National Recreation Area again for decades, park staff have been amazed at the abundant regrowth of plants, particularly shrubs and wildflowers, occurring in the first several years after the megafire. Many native plant species grow back stronger after fire, and some seeds even lie dormant in the ground for years until conditions are just right to resprout. Because of this, and because the megafire opened up the forest floor like never before, as of May 2023 park natural resource management staff have found 202 plant species that had previously never been seen or recorded in the park. Moreover, 256 rare plant populations have been mapped, including two new endangered species in the park and two plant species new to science!

 

Park maintenance staff constructing a new footbridge on the James K. Carr Trail to Whiskeytown Falls. The former footbridge burned in the fire. NPS Photo.

Whiskeytown Today

The employees of Whiskeytown have been working hard since the fire to reopen the park. As a result, the vast majority of the national recreation area has reopened. One particular accomplishment has been the removal of tens of thousands of hazard trees. While the majority of burned trees have been left upright in the forest to provide habitat and further encourage regrowth, hazard trees standing dangerously along roads, trails, and day use areas have been removed to protect visitors, staff, and park infrastructure.

Most park trails have been restored and reopened and this includes the paths to Crystal Creek Falls, Whiskeytown Falls, and Boulder Creek Falls. One of the only remaining trail segments still in need of restoration is the final approach to Brandy Creek Falls. The winter after the fire, the park received substantially more rain than normal, and because trees upstream had been burned and no longer held soil in place, all the bridges and guardrails and the dirt trail itself were completely washed out near the waterfall. Winters since have wrecked even more havoc in this localized area of Whiskeytown.

The Carr Fire was unprecedented in its destruction to the National Park System and to Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. The megafire changed the park landscape forever. Now Whiskeytown serves as a laboratory for post-fire science, and it also serves as ground zero for global warming-climate change. We must learn from the fire and work towards a more sustainable, healthy American earth.

To learn more about anthropogenic climate change and sustainbility at Whiskeytown, visit www.nps.gov/whis/learn/nature/climatechange.htm.

To schedule a “Climate Change & Sustainability at Whiskeytown” program for your middle school or high school class or organized group, or to schedule a “Whiskeytown, Wildfire, & You” program for 5th graders, email [e-mail].

 

In this era of post-Carr Fire, be aware of some of the hazards in entering Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.

Safety is Up to You

While out and about in the park, you can do your part to remain safe and support ongoing post-Carr Fire restoration efforts. Please remain only in open areas of the park and please follow all park regulations. Finally, even within the reopened areas, be aware of the new hazards that were created by the megafire. Specifically this includes falling trees. While tens of thousands of hazard trees have been removed around the park since August 2018, and while park staff clear trails several times each year, dead trees continue to come down when it rains and when it is windy. This will continue for years as the land restabilizes.