CHALLENGE — The North Complex fires destroyed multiple communities as the blaze roared through Northern California in 2020, but had the wind shifted just slightly, it would have destroyed even more. “(The fire spread) From east of La Porte, all the way down to where it spotted over Lake Oroville,” said Plumas County National Forest Division Chief James Lico. “So 30-plus air miles and hundreds of thousands of acres, and it did that from 10 a.
m. when it was spotted and down (past Lake Oroville) probably by 9 p.m.
at night. So that is an extreme run in less than 12 hours.” The people of Challenge, Brownsville and surrounding communities have had fire on their doorstep plenty of times in recent years and in 2022, the funding finally came in for the Plumas National Forest Service to clear fire fuels that have clogged up forest space and significantly increased the risk of wildfires.
Much of the work done in the area is a combination of two projects: the Pike and Challenge Integrated Resource Service Contracts. The Challenge project, which was awarded in 2019, covers 800 acres and so far, 760 acres have been treated. The Pike project was awarded in 2023 and so far the Forest Service has treated 970 of the total 1,421 acres associated with that contract.
JW Bamford Inc. has been the contractor for both projects. At the Challenge ranger office, Lico and the service’s Timer Management Officer Eric Murphy laid out maps Thursday morning showcasing both the spread of the Nort.
