Firefighters have not contained any part of the fire, which is moving north. The Humboldt County Office of Emergency issued an evacuation order and warnings for the area and firefighters are struggling to reach the blaze because of steep, difficult-to-navigate terrain.
"Within that area located, there's very steep terrain, so there's a lot of air resources on scene and so they were performing retardant drops and then today, fire crews are going to start working to provide structure protection," Adrianne Rubiaco, a spokesperson with the U.S. Forest Service said.
As of Wednesday morning, there was a single evacuation order for the zone HUM-E077, which is north of White Oak Creek/Grouse Creek, south of Friday Ridge Road, Forest Route 6N08A, east of Titlow Hill Rd, Twin Lakes Creek, and west of Mosquito Creek/Madden Creek.
"Those in this zone should leave now for their safety," a sheriff's office post on Facebook stated Wednesday morning.
Wednesday afternoon, Six Rivers National Forest announced a full closure.
"To provide for public and firefighter safety the U.S. Forest Service is temporarily closing all roads, trails, and land within the area impacted by the Hill Fire on the Lower Trinity Ranger District of the Six Rivers National Forest, effective July 18, 2024," the U.S. Forest Service posted on Facebook. "This closure also applies to entering or using East Fork Campground or Big Rock River Access."
This is not this fire season's first incident in Humboldt County. The Point Fire in Southern Humboldt County is burning through 85 acres but is 90 percent contained and all evacuation orders have been rescinded.
Most of Humboldt County still has clean, breathable air, according to the U.S. government's air quality index, but a change in the fire's size and wind direction could change that.
"We don't have a prediction at this time of how far the fire could travel. What we are seeing though, is that the fire is growing to that northern side and depending on weather conditions, that rate of spread can determine that, but we are expecting today, with a hot and dry condition, that there is a potential for rapid, rapid spread of fire," Rubiaco said.
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