Tag Archives: Hog Fire

History

Hog Fire – One Year Later

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Hog Fire on the evening of July 18, 2020 as seen from the Hulsman Ranch—-Courtesy of Hulsman Ranch

It was a year ago, on Saturday afternoon July 18, 2020 a fire was reported in the vicinity of Hog Flat Reservoir. By Sunday the fire quickly spread over 5,000 acres. For the next few days the smoke was horrendous. The fire damaged a fire optic line and that it turn many lost cellphone and internet service. Once repaired, two days later the Hat Creek Transmission line was damaged, and the area went without power.

Initially, it appeared the fire was heading east towards the Lake Forest Estates subdivision, which mandatory evacuation was imposed. Conditions changed, the fire then headed south towards Devils Corral, causing more mandatory evacuations along the Highway 36 corridor. The fire ultimately jumped Highway 36, and prompting initial fears that it would head up Cheney Creek, but that did not happen.

Map of the Hog Fire.

By the end of the month, the fire was contained to 9,564 acres. Cause of the fire, never determined.

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History

Hog Flat Reservoir

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Hog Flat Reservoir, April 1940. Courtesy of Lola L. Tanner

Note: With Hog fire raging out of control just west of Susanville. I went into the archives to retrieve a past post on the origin of Hog Flat Reservoir. Normally, Tuesday is a dark day for the daily post, this is an exception.

Constructed in 1889 as part of Benjamin Leavitt’s expanding reclamation enterprise and now part of the Lassen Irrigation District. Lassen National Forest Service Supervisor, A. G. Brenneis, wrote an article about the origin of its name that was published in the California Ranger, August 1938: “Many years ago the residents of Honey Lake Valley joined together to start the Susan River Irrigation District and, as a first step, began the construction of the dams at the present sites of Hog Flat and McCoy Flat Reservoirs. The first winter this country received heavy storms and as a result the dam at Hog Flat was destroyed. The entire meadow, which should have been a lake was covered with a rank growth of vegetation and in order to salvage something from the reservoir, the farmers of the district banded together, placed a huge herd of hogs on the meadow, fattened them, and made some money to repay them for the loss of the dam. Ever since then the reservoir has carried its name of Hog Flat.”

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