Wildfire

California wildfire burns outside 'Bigfoot capital of the world' with no containment

By Amy Graff

A 3,702-acre wildfire is burning with no containment in California’s Humboldt County, about 8 miles south of Willow Creek, a small mountain town known as the “Bigfoot capital of the world,” officials said. 

The Hill Fire ignited Monday night in Six Rivers National Forest and has triggered a series of evacuations as it tears through parched vegetation in steep remote terrain, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Willow Creek’s downtown, which sits at the junction of state Route 299 (Trinity River National Scenic Highway) and state Route 96 (Bigfoot Scenic Highway), is still several miles from the fire. The town’s Big Foot Museum, with a collection of Sasquatch artifacts and photographs, is a popular attraction. “We feel safe in downtown Willow Creek now,” said Terry Castner, who volunteers at the Big Foot and Willow Creek-China Flat museums, which are housed in the same building. “I had a light dusting of ash on my car this morning. Yesterday, the sky was brown with smoke. Today, looking west toward Eureka — toward the coast — the sky looks clear. Looking east, you can see where the smoke is hanging in there. The smoke is way up high, so I can’t even smell it, which is fantastic.”

Hill Fire activity is expected to pick up this afternoon as temperatures rise. After a marathon heat wave baked California in early July, the state finally saw a few days of below-normal temperatures at the start of this week. But Wednesday marks the start of the temperatures going back up, and California is expected to see another heat wave this weekend and into next week. (Get the California heat wave forecast on SFGATE.) The Forest Service said there’s potential for “a rapid rate of spread and extreme fire behavior.”

Multiple structures are threatened by flames, and the Forest Service said firefighters will be focused on protecting homes “along Route 1 and within the Friday Ridge communities.”