July 29, 2025:
Summary:
There is currently no threat to the Lakehead area or any of our vacation homes from nearby wildfires. Shasta Lakeshore Retreat remains safe and fully operational.
The Green Fire, located approximately 20 miles southeast of us, is now over 82% contained and for the most part has not grown for over a week.
The only other major fire at this time is the Butler Fire which is about 100 miles northwest of our homes. This fire is also of no risk to our homes or area.
Air Quality:
The eastern side of Shasta Lake, including the Squaw and Pitt Arms, is experiencing heavier smoke. We recommend avoiding these areas. Thanks to prevailing south and southwest winds, the Lakehead area and other western arms of the lake continue to enjoy good to moderate air quality, with mostly of blue skies and occasional haze.
What to Expect:
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You may notice distant smoke and light haze, but conditions in Lakehead remain comfortable and safe.
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As always, wind patterns can shift, potentially bringing more smoke into the area temporarily.
Rest assured, there is no current risk of evacuation or impact to your stay. If conditions change significantly, we will provide timely updates.
We look forward to welcoming you to Shasta Lake and encourage you to come relax, explore, and enjoy the beauty of the lake.
Past Updates (Summarized form) for Current Year
July 23, 2025:
The Green Fire, located approximately 20 miles southeast of us, is now over 60% contained and for the most part has not grown for multiple days. For the fire to reach Lakehead, it would need to cross the lake twice, and weather conditions would need to shift drastically. Both are highly unlikely.
July 21, 2025:
The Green Fire, located approximately 20 miles southeast of us, is now over 50% contained and its growth has slowed down significantly. It is moving primarily in a southward direction—away from our area but is getting trapped between those eastern arms of the lake.
July 18, 2025:
The Green Fire, located approximately 20 miles southeast of us, continues to burn at a much slower pace than major fires from past years. While still active, the fire is now 27% contained (up from 0% just four days ago)
July 13, 2025:
Although the Green fire is still burning and only partially contained it continues to burn much slower than the big fires of years ago and primarily in a north and south direction. It is about about 20 miles southeast from us and would have to jump the lake twice (very unlikely).
We have heard the smoke is bad on Squaw and Pitt Arms of the lake but not the Lakehead area or the other arms of the lake. The winds are blowing primarily to the south. As always, shifting winds can create changes in the smoke level. Current air quality in Lakehead is Moderate.
July 9, 2025:
The closest fire of several days ago, the Horse fire which was about 10 miles from the lake is contained and only got to 385 acres in size.
The Green fire is about 20 miles from us but is larger and they have evacuated that area (not anywhere near us). This fire might be creating some smoke in the general area at the other end of the lake (The Pitt and Squaw Creek arms) but have not heard of anyone reporting smoke.
July 3, 2025:
Although there have been some small fires in the general area, there is no impact to the lake or risk to the area. We will update this if there is a change. Enjoy your stay at Shasta Lake.
OVERVIEW:
As we communicate with our guests transparently, fires are unfortunately common in this area and more frequently throughout California. Fires in the general area can bring smoke in at times and you should plan for this during the summer (especially late summer) and fall as it is unpredictable. We cover this in our welcome book, rental agreement and cancelation policy to make guests aware. Although most days are beautiful blue skies, your stay may include smoke. People who would like to avoid smoke or are sensitive to smoke or poor air quality should avoid booking our homes and other places in Northern California summer/fall.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We are providing this as additional information for our guests and other people that use our website as a source of information. We are not experts, please use other sources of information as desired. We can’t be liable for the information we provide.
We want to thank all the hard working firefighters and first responders for their service and our thoughts are with those impacted by California and Oregon fires.
We can’t be responsible for smoke in the area and smoke is not a valid cancelation reason.
Shasta County Fire DepartmentCAL FIRE MAPAir QualityWatch Duty Fire AppCancellation Policy
ABOVE: Smoke can very greatly. Here is a photo with a fire only 5 miles away and yet Clear Skies. Its so dependent on the wind direction. (July 2021). Â
ABOVE: Smoke can vary greatly. Here the fire is 10x a distance away at 50 miles and it produced a bad day. Very dependent on wind direction.  (August 2021)
