The fire's size remained at about 13,300 acres — about 20 square miles — with containment dropping to 19% from 20% earlier Tuesday.
Officials say 927 personnel are assigned to the fire, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a grant late Tuesday to allow firefighting agencies to apply for up to 75 percent reimbursement of the costs of battling the blaze.
The fire began last week with a lightning strike near an old lava flow and burned out into rural communities and large marijuana growing sites, forcing evacuations in Lake Shastina and Juniper Valley and resulting in the death of one man who was shot by authorities Monday night at a road closure.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office said the shooting occurred at 8:36 p.m. at Shasta Vista Drive and County Road A-12, where deputies, officers from the Etna Police Department and at least one warden from the California Fish and Wildlife Department were helping with evacuations.
"Law enforcement officers closed the southbound lane of County Road A-12 to prevent traffic from entering a fire hazard area in the evacuation zone," the sheriff's office said in a Facebook update late Tuesday. "Officers were directing traffic north on County Road A-12 towards Grenada, away from the evacuation zone.
"As a GMC pickup approached County Road A-12 from Shasta Vista Drive, law enforcement officers instructed the driver of the GMC to turn north on County Road A-12 out of the evacuation zone. The driver of the GMC ignored numerous directions by officers and attempted to drive around the roadblock and head southbound on County Road A-12 toward the evacuation zone.
"While the law enforcement officer was communicating with the driver, the driver raised his hand and pointed a semi-auto handgun at the officers. Peace Officers from the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Etna Police Department shot the driver.
"In addition to pointing the firearm at officers, initial information indicates the suspect may have fired several rounds from the gun at the officers during the incident."
The driver died at the scene and sheriff's officials said the four officers involved in the shooting have been placed on paid leave pending an investigation by the district attorney's office.
A firefighter who witnessed the shooting told The Sacramento Bee it appeared the driver was trying to turn right when authorities were directing traffic to the left, and a game warden hit the truck's hood to direct him to turn.
"I think he popped on the gas a little bit and it just went all bad," said the firefighter, who did not see whether the driver had a weapon and asked not to be named.
The shooting came amid tensions between Siskiyou County authorities and Hmong and Chinese marijuana growers over county restrictions on water being delivered to the grow sites, and some community members said officials were preventing growers from using water to help battle the flames.
Lawyers for the growers have been seeking an injunction against the water restrictions in federal court in Sacramento, and late Tuesday they filed papers saying that "law enforcement officers have blocked water trucks from entering the Shasta Vista Subdivision that were attempting to help eradicate the fire and prevent property damage in the subdivision."
Lawyers for the growers said they "are currently investigating whether the shooting had any relation to attempts to bring water into the Hmong community, or attempts by Sheriff Deputies to block access to water," adding that "relations between the Hmong community and Siskiyou Sheriffs have become very tense due to enforcement of the ordinances."
Gov. Newsom met with fire officials in Siskiyou County on Tuesday, and Wednesday morning is scheduled to take part in a briefing with the president and governors from Oregon, Wyoming, New Mexico, Washington, Utah, Nevada and Colorado on western wildfires and the catastrophic heat wave that has enveloped the Northwest.
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