First discovered: 2 hours ago, 4:23 p.m. April 5

Initial location: Trinity County, Calif.

Fire type: Wildfire, Type 4

Fire name: Whalan

A new wildfire was reported today at 4:23 p.m. at in Trinity County, California.

Since its discovery two hours ago, Whalan Fire has burned 1.3 acres of private land. The cause of the wildfire is attributed to human activity, although the specific event that set it off remains unidentified. At this time, details about the containment of the fire are unknown.

Historic data

NIFC statistics for 2024 show that 8,011 fires in California were caused by humans, resulting in 990,939 acres of wildland burned.

NIFC Fire Complexity Analysis

This wildfire is considered to be a Type 4 incident. What it means:

• Command staff and general staff functions are not activated.

• Resources are local and vary from a single module to several resources.

• The incident is usually limited to one operational period in the control phase.

• No written incident action plan (IAP) is required. However, a documented operational briefing will be completed for all incoming resources.

Source: National Interagency Fire Center