Siskiyou emergency services reports Butler and Big Cliff fire status, surge in lightning-started fires

Brian Shonadi, director of emergency services for Siskiyou County, updated the Board of Supervisors on two active wildfires and a countywide increase in lightning ignitions.

Shonadi said the Butler Fire, part of the Orleans Complex, is 93% contained. He provided an acreage figure in his remarks but the transcript’s phrasing around the acreage was unclear.

He said the Big Cliff fire is burning in remote wilderness, has not affected populated areas, and was reported at 654 acres and 2% contained. Shonadi said incident commanders reassigned resources from the Orleans Complex to the Big Cliff fire and that nine hotshot crews were on the scene, with extensive aircraft activity the prior day. “The wind was in our favor and was really, positive when it comes to aircraft work,” he said.

Shonadi said the U.S. Forest Service recorded more than 30 lightning-caused fires recently, and Cal Fire reported about 70 additional lightning starts in July. He also told the board that, “as requested by the board,” Emergency Services compiled county impacts from 2015 to 2025; he described assembling that dataset as “a big pull” and did not provide totals during his verbal update.

Shonadi said there is no population currently threatened by the Big Cliff fire and that county and interagency resources remain focused on containment and monitoring. He said crews would continue to use aircraft and ground resources as conditions allow and that staff would bring further operational updates to the board.